49ers To Interview Tom Coughlin

TUESDAY, 11:23am: The 49ers will meet with Coughlin today, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).

MONDAY, 2:36pm: After resigning last week from his job in New York, Tom Coughlin is meeting today with one of the team’s division rivals in Philadelphia, and it appears the Eagles won’t be the only team to interview the former Giants head coach. According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link), the 49ers have been granted permission to speak to Coughlin about their head coaching vacancy.

[RELATED: Eagles interview Doug Pederson, will meet with Tom Coughlin]

Having stepped down from his head coaching position with the Giants last week, Coughlin was offered the opportunity to remain with the organization in a new role, but suggested at the time that he wasn’t closing the door on continuing to coach. At age 69, if Coughlin is going to get a new head coaching job, it probably makes sense for him to explore new opportunities sooner rather than later, so he didn’t waste much time in lining up interviews with potential suitors.

Coughlin, who previously served as head coach of the Jaguars, led the Giants to a 102-90 record during his 12 seasons with the team. He also added eight victories in 11 postseason contests, with all of those wins coming in two seasons – 2007 and 2011 – during which the Giants won the Super Bowl.

In recent years, however, Coughlin’s Giants struggled, having failed to earn a postseason berth since that 2011 Super Bowl season. After going 9-7 in 2012, New York has had three straight losing years, finishing 6-10 in a weak NFC East in 2015 and sealing Coughlin’s fate — the Giants were expected to make a change if the veteran head coach hadn’t resigned.

The 49ers have interviewed five candidates for their head coaching opening so far — Anthony Lynn (Bills), Chip Kelly (ex-Eagles), Dirk Koetter (49ers), John DeFilippo (Browns), and Hue Jackson (Bengals) have all met with the team, though DeFilippo is believed to be targeted as a potential offensive coordinator rather than a head coach.

Of those candidates, Jackson is viewed as the front-runner, but he is also being pursued by the Browns and Giants, so it appears the Niners are trying to come up with a strong Plan B. Reports have suggested that San Francisco could also double back to candidates that interviewed for the team’s HC position a year ago. Teryl Austin, Doug Marrone, Josh McDaniels, and Mike Shanahan all fall into that category.

[RELATED: Hue Jackson Favorite For 49ers’ Job]

Coughlin’s interview with the Niners hasn’t been formally scheduled yet, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, who tweets that it could happen in Houston this week, with team owners there for Los Angeles meetings. Those relocation discussions could have an impact on a few teams’ coaching searches, with owners focusing their attention for a couple days on the respective futures of the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.