San Francisco 49ers Call Jim Tomsula Their Steve Kerr

Jan 15, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula (L) shakes hands with owner Jed York (R) in the locker room after a press conference for the introdution of Tomsula as the head coach at Levi

Jed York is a smart man. One usually has to be when owning a professional sports franchise. So whenever he decides to make a statement on something regarding his team, people take it a little more seriously than other people. That is why his latest comparison regarding new head coach Jim Tomsula was interesting, and more than a little bold.

"“Culture is huge. That’s the difference between a championship-caliber team and a championship team. You look at the Golden State Warriors. They were the dumbest team in the NBA for letting Mark Jackson go, who won the most games in the franchise’s history. How could you be so dumb? They bring in Steve Kerr, who has been around the game for a long period of time but has never coached before. Kerr changes the culture, comes in with a different perspective, and look what happens.”"

NFL.com writer Kevin Patra was quick to point out that successful culture changes derive from communication. Kerr had the advantage of working in the media prior to his arrival in Golden State. Tomsula didn’t exactly light up his first press conference..

However there is another part of this argument that hasn’t been raised. When Kerr took over the Warriors, they were a team that was peaking in terms of roster talent with guys like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala all in or entering their primes.

The 49ers don’t have that same look. Their once formidable core of stars like Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, Justin Smith and Mike Iupati have either retired or left in free agency to other teams. In their place are an assortment of backups taking over as starters who, while talented, are almost totally unproven in larger roles.

Can Carlos Hyde duplicate what Gore did?

Is Michael Wilhoite even in the same zip code as Willis?

These answers hover between unknown and highly unlikely. The psychology of what York is saying is understood. He has the utmost faith in Jim Tomsula and wants the players to know that too. There is good reason to believe he can have success given his extended experience and prior knowledge of the players he’s coaching.

Still, to compare him to what Steve Kerr accomplished may be overstepping the bounds of reality a tad.

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