Good News: 49ers Hire Another Offensive Coordinator

According to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, Mick Lombardi, the former offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, is reportedly being hired by the San Francisco 49ers.

It’s unclear right now what function Lombardi has been hired by the 49ers to fulfill. It should be made public shortly, but my expectation is that Lombardi will take over as the 49ers’ passing game coordinator in place of the late Klint Kubiak.

Kubiak joined the New Orleans Saints as their offensive coordinator after leaving the 49ers.

In terms of his NFL coaching career, Lombardi has formally completed a full circle. In 2013, the 49ers were the first squad he ever worked as a coach for.

He started out as head coach Jim Harbaugh’s assistant before moving on to become an offensive assistant in 2014, a defensive assistant in 2015, and, in his last year, an offensive quality control coach in 2016.

In retrospect, Lombardi’s first season with the 49ers was essentially a musical chair game.

Following his tenure in San Francisco, Lombardi spent 2017–2018 as an offensive assistant with the New York Jets.

After that, in 2019, he joined the New England Patriots, where he served as wide receivers coach in 2020 and 2021 in addition to his assistant quarterbacks coach role.

Lombardi succeeded Josh McDaniels as the Raiders’ head coach in 2022, serving as the coordinator of offense until McDaniels fired him in the middle of the previous campaign.

With the Raiders, Lombardi was never the play-caller. During their time as Raiders, McDaniels was responsible for such tasks.

Once more, I think Lombardi will join the 49ers as their coordinator of the passing game. If nothing else, he will be named assistant coach, just like Anthony Lynn was before he signed on with the Washington Commanders.