5 Biggest Questions Facing the San Francisco 49ers Coaching Staff in 2015

You could make a lengthy list of questions facing the San Francisco 49ers, even if you limit the list to players only.

NaVorro Bowman is a question mark after missing the 2014 season with a torn ACL and MCL. The inside linebacker position, in general, is a question mark after the retirements of Patrick Willis and Chris Borland. Right tackle is a question mark after the retirement of Anthony Davis. Tight end is a question mark after Vernon Davis’ disappointing 2014 season.

And quarterback is a question mark until Colin Kaepernick finally improves.

But this article isn’t about the biggest question marks on the roster. This is about the biggest questions facing the Niners' new coaching staff. Here are its five biggest questions as training camp approaches.

Is Jim Tomsula Ready to Coach an NFL Team?

George Nikitin/Associated Press

Jim Tomsula has been a head coach in the NFL for one game—Week 17 of 2010, just after the 49ers fired head coach Mike Singletary. Tomsula led the Niners to a 38-7 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

He gets credit for that win, even though it came at the end of the season and the game didn't matter—the Niners didn't go to the playoffs in 2010.

Can Tomsula lead an NFL team for an entire season? Can he keep the 49ers motivated and confident in him after a couple of losses? Will he have answers if things go badly? Can he stop a losing streak?

Former head coach Jim Harbaugh could—he lost more than two games in a row only once in four seasons with the 49ers. Stopping losing streaks was his specialty.

Can Offensive Coordinator Geep Chryst Improve the Clock Management?

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Clock management may have been the biggest weakness of Harbaugh’s offensive coaching staff.

“#49ers averaged 9.5 delay-of-game penalties a season (reg. season only) over the last four years, easily a league high,” Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee tweeted recently.

This offseason, during OTAs and minicamp, new offensive coordinator Geep Chryst emphasized getting players to the line of scrimmage with as much time on the play clock as possible. Sometimes the players would break the huddle with as many as 30 seconds left on the clock.

Can Chryst continue to call plays that quickly once the pressure increases during the regular season?

Will Defensive Coordinator Eric Mangini Use Zone Coverage Primarily?

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

In the past four seasons, former 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio mostly used man coverage—Cover 1 Free or 2-Man.

He was able to use these schemes because he had quality corners like Chris Culliver and Tramaine Brock as well as two of the best coverage linebackers in the NFL: Willis and Bowman.

This offseason, Culliver signed with the Redskins, and Willis retired. Bowman and Brock are still with the team but are coming off serious injuries. Bowman didn’t play last season, and Brock missed 13 games because of toe and hamstring injuries.

Will the limitations of the 49ers’ defensive personnel force new defensive coordinator Eric Mangini to use zone coverage and combo schemes next season?

How Will Eric Mangini Do Without Bill Belichick?

CHITOSE SUZUKI/Associated Press

Next season will be Mangini’s second season as a defensive coordinator. His first was 2005 with the New England Patriots under head coach Bill Belichick, one of the top defensive coaches in NFL history.

How much did Mangini do that season? How much did Belichick help him?

The New York Jets hired Mangini in 2006 to be their head coach, and they fired him after three seasons. Then the Cleveland Browns hired him to be their head coach, and they fired him after only two seasons.

In five seasons as a head coach, Mangini never had a defense that ranked better than 16th in yards allowed. Three times, his defenses ranked worse than 20th.

After the Browns fired him in 2009, Mangini spent two seasons out of the NFL, one season as a senior offensive consultant with the Niners and one season as their tight ends coach. How much has he improved as a defensive coach since 2005? How is he an upgrade over Fangio?

Can Quarterbacks Coach Steve Logan Help Colin Kaepernick?

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Steve Logan, the Niners' new quarterbacks coach, was a running backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011. That’s his entire NFL experience. Next season will be his first coaching quarterbacks for an NFL team.

He did, however, coach a few NFL quarterbacks in college: Jeff Blake and David Garrard at East Carolina and Matt Ryan at Boston College. All three became successful NFL quarterbacks after playing for Logan.

Logan seems like a quality coach. But how much can he help Kaepernick? Several quality coaches have worked with Kaepernick over the past few years, and none of them has improved his game.

Since the Niners drafted Kaepernick in 2011, he has worked with six different coaches/gurus: Harbaugh, Greg Roman, Chryst, George Whitfield Jr., Dennis Gile and Kurt Warner. Logan will be No. 7.

What makes Logan better than the rest? How can he get through to Kaepernick in ways the other six could not?

All quotations and practice observations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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