The 49ers‘ summit with Josh McDaniels occurred today, but the team did not meet with Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio, whom it was curious about pairing with the 40-year-old coach. A Caserio/49ers summit — one the team requested — did not appear on the San Francisco brass’ docket, either because the Patriots denied an interview request or Caserio turned down the offer, Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee notes.
A Patriots staffer since 2001, Caserio was a college teammate of McDaniels’ at John Carroll University. The longtime Patriots employee is signed through 2020 and interviewed for the Dolphins’ GM job in 2014. He makes approximately $2MM per year, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reports, adding that a 49ers job could interest the 41-year-old personnel man.
Howe notes the 49ers are hoping to bring Caserio aboard as their GM, writing interview requests will continue to come his way due to the Patriots’ success and his current job title permitting those requests. ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, Colts VP of football operations Jimmy Raye III, Panthers assistant GM Brandon Beane, Packers director of football operations Elliot Wolf and Vikings assistant GM George Paton represent the other candiates for the 49ers’ GM position. Raye will interview with the team on Sunday.
Here’s more from the NFL hiring period as the playoffs commence.
- Bears outside linebackers coach Clint Hurtt agreed to a two-year deal with the Jets to lead their outside ‘backers, Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). A Bears staffer for three seasons, Hurtt declined a contract extension in Chicago this week. The Bears denied Hurtt permission to interview with the Dolphins last season.
- The Panthers do not plan to make any coaching changes despite being the latest Super Bowl loser to miss the playoffs the following season. “This is a damn good coaching staff,” Dave Gettleman said, via David Newton of ESPN.com. “We went 17-2 last year. We didn’t get stupid overnight.” Carolina could have to deal with at least one change if DC Sean McDermott lands a head coaching job. He’s booked a second interview with the Chargers. Secondary coach Steve Wilks also will interview with the Redskins for their DC job.
- A Kyle Shanahan defection to become a head coach would leave the Falcons with an OC vacancy, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (on Twitter) quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur and offensive assistant Mike McDaniel are in-house candidates to ascend to that position. Of course, Shanahan could want to take a Falcons staffer with him, and Matt Miller of Bleacher Report tweets McDaniel would be a name to watch in that event. McDaniel has worked with Shanahan with three teams, joining him on the Redskins’ and Browns’ staffs before coming to Atlanta in 2015.