San Francisco Offers Scott Linehan Offensive Coordinator Job

It appears former St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan is about to find himself a new job, as the 49ers have offered him their offensive coordinator position as reported by Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Should Linehan accept, he'll become the 49ers' seventh offensive coordinator in the past seven seasons, replacing Mike Martz.

The 49ers were also considering former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, as well as Rick Dennison and Clyde Christensen. Linehan was fired as Rams head coach on September 29, compiling an 11-25 record in his three seasons.

Linehan has quite a track record as an offensive coordinator including stints in Minnesota and Miami. As Josh Alper over at PFT points out, Linehan's Minnesota offenses all ranked in the top-five from 2002 to 2004, while the Dolphins showed considerable improvement during his one year on the job in 2005.

Under Martz, the 49ers offense improved from the worst in the league in 2007 to 23rd in 2008. Still, there seemed to be some clonflicting reports as to why he was let go. Initially, word surfaced that Mike Singletary and Martz were a clash of personalities because Singletary wanted to run the ball, while Martz is known for his pass-happy, throw first, ask questions later type of offense.

However, in the wake of Singletary having the interim tag removed from his title, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported that Singletary considered keeping Martz, only to have ownership urge him to go in another direction.

Either way, Martz is out and Linehan, it appears, is in.

Shaun Hill, San Francisco's starting quarterback for the second half of the 2008 season, was a member of the Vikings during Linehan's coaching tenure in Minnesota.