Leavitt, Chryst hired as 49ers assistants
http://www.csnbayarea.com/01/19/11/...obile_landing.html?blockID=393961&feedID=5936
Former South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt and longtime NFL assistant Geep Chryst are the latest coach to join Jim Harbaugh's staff.
Leavitt is another coach to make the jump to the 49ers from college football to join the staff. He will become the 49ers' linebackers coach. The St. Petersburg Times was first to report Leavitt's hiring.
Chryst, who spent the past four seasons as tight ends coach with the Carolina Panthers, has been hired to coach quarterbacks, a league source told Comcast SportsNet.
[RELATED: Harbaugh will be multi-tasking at Senior Bowl]
Chryst's history with the new 49ers head coach dates to Harbaugh's playing days, when Chryst worked for the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers.
Leavitt was the first head coach at South Florida, and immediately built a solid program. The Bulls went 95-57 under his guidance, including a 3-2 record in bowl games.
Leavitt was fired a year ago after a school investigation concluded he grabbed one of his players by the throat, slapped him in the face and then lied about it. Leavitt called the allegations "absolutely false," and last week USF settled with Leavitt, paying him $2.75 million to end his wrongful termination lawsuit.
[NEWS: NFL headlines]
Leavitt, 54, and Tim Drevno, who will share offensive line responsibilities with Mike Solari, are the only known hires to Harbaugh's staff who have never coached in the NFL.
All the other coaches Harbaugh has added have extensive professional backgrounds:
Jim Leavitt, 54 (linebackers)
1978-79: Missouri (graduate assistant); 1980-81: Dubuque (defensive coordinator); 1982: Morningside College (special teams); 1983-87: Morningside (defensive coordinator); 1989: Iowa (graduate assistant); 1990-91: Kansas State (linebackers); 1992-95: Kansas State (defensive coordinator); 1997-09: South Florida (head coach).
Geep Chryst, 48 (quarterbacks)
1987: Wisconsin-Platteville; 1988: Wisconsin; 1989-90: Wyoming; 1991: Orlando Thunder (WLAF); 1991-95: Bears; 1996-98 (director of research/quality control): Cardinals (tight ends); 1999-2000: Chargers (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks); 2001-03: Cardinals (quarterbacks); 2006: Pantheres; 2007-2010: Panthers (tight ends).
Greg Roman, 38 (offensive coordinator)
1995: Panthers (defensive quality control/strength & conditioning assistant); 1996: Panthers: defensive assistant; 1997-98: Panthers (offensive quality control); 1999-00: Panthers (offensive assistant); 2001: Panthers (assistant offensive line); 2002-03: Texans (tight ends); 2004-05: Texans (quarterbacks); 2006-07: Ravens (assistant offensive line); 2009: Stanford (tight ends/offensive tackles/running game coordinator; 2010: Stanford (associate head coach/assistant head coach offense/tight ends/offensive tackles).
[RELATED: 49ers announce Fangio, Roman, Drevno hires]
John Morton, 41 (receivers)
1997: Raiders (personnel department); 1998-2001: Raiders (offensive assistant/wide receivers); 2002-03: Raiders (senior offensive assistant); 2004: Raiders (tight ends); 2005: Chargers (passing game/wide receivers); 2006: Saints (passing game coordinator/offensive assistant); 2007-2010: USC (passing game coordinator/wide receivers).
Tim Drevno, 41 (offensive line)
1991-92: Cal State Fullerton (graduate assistant); 1993-95: Montana State (tight ends); 1996-98: Montana State (running backs); 1998: UNLV (running backs); 1999: San Jose State (offensive line); 2000-02: Idaho (offensive line); 2003-06: San Diego (offensive coordinator/offensive line); 2007-08: Stanford (tight ends); 2009-10: Stanford (offensive line).
[RELATED: 49ers plan for Drevno to work with Solari]
Vic Fangio, 52 (defensive coordinator)
1979-81: Dunmore H.S. (defensive coordinator);* 1982: Milford Academy (defensive coordinator); 1983: North Carolina (graduate assistant); 1984-85: Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars (defensive assistant); 1986-94: Saints (linebackers);* 1995-98: Panthers (defensive coordinator); 1999-01: Colts (defensive coordinator);* 2002-05: Texans (defensive coordinator);* 2006-08: Ravens (special assistant to head coach; 2009: Ravens (special assistant/linebackers); 2010: Stanford (defensive coordinator).
Ed Donatell, 53 (defensive backs)
1979-80: Kent State (graduate assistant); 1981-82: Washington (graduate assistant); 1983-85: University of the Pacific (defensive backs); 1986-88: University of Idaho (defensive backs); 1989: Cal State Fullerton (defensive backs); 1990-94: Jets (defensive backs); 1995-99: Broncos (defensive backs); 2000-03: Packers (defensive coordinator); 2004-06: Falcons (defensive coordinator); 2007: Jets (special assistant); 2008: University of Washington (defensive coordinator); 2009: Broncos (defensive backs).
* * *
49ers coaching staff at a glance
Offensive Coordinator: Greg Roman (Stanford). 2010: Jimmy Raye/Mike Johnson. (Raye was fired Sept. 27; Johnson was reportedly hired as offensive coordinator at UCLA.)
Quarterbacks: Geep Chryst (Panthers). 2010: Mike Johnson/Jason Michael.
Running backs: Tom Rathman, though no official announcement has been made. 2010: Rathman.
Wide receivers: John Morton (USC). 2010: Jerry Sullivan.
Tight ends: Currently vacant. 2010: Pete Hoener.
Offensive line: Tim Drevno (Stanford) and Mike Solari, though no official announcement has been made about Solari. 2010: Mike Solari with Ray Brown as his assistant.
Defense coordinator: Vic Fangio (Stanford). 2010: Greg Manusky (hired as Chargers defensive coordinator).
Defensive line: Jim Tomsula, though no official announcement has been made. 2010: Tomsula.
Linebackers: Jim Leavitt (South Florida, 2009). 2010: Jason Tarver (outside LBs), Vantz Singletary (inside LBs). Singletary was fired, along with his uncle, head coach Mike Singletary.
Defensive backs: Ed Donatell (Broncos). 2010: Vance Joseph/Johnnie Lynn. (Joseph accepted job with Texans; Lynn resigned late in the season for personal reasons.)
Special teams coordinator: Currently vacant. 2010: Kurt Schottenheimer/assistant Dave Fipp.
Head strength and conditioning: Mark Uyeyama (49ers assistant strength and conditioning coach). 2010: Duane Carlisle.