Report: Rich Scangarello leaving 49ers. Who should replace him?

Changes to the 49ers coaching staff keep coming this offseason.

San Francisco will be looking for a new quarterbacks coach. Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Rich Scangarello has been hired to be the offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky.

Scangarello is the sixth member of Kyle Shanahan’s offensive coaching staff to leave this offseason. Mike McDaniel left to become the Dolphins head coach, taking Jon Embree and Wes Welker with him. Butch Berry joined the Denver Broncos as their offensive line coach. And last but not least, Zach Yenser will be joining Scangarello on the Kentucky staff as their offensive line coach.

Scangarello was a member of Shanahan’s original coaching staff in San Francisco. He received praise for his work with Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017. Under the tutelage of Scangarello, Garoppolo was able to grasp enough of the playbook to lead San Francisco to five victories to end the season.

Scangarello left the 49ers following the 2018 season to become the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. After one season in Denver, he spent 2020 as a senior offensive assistant with Philadelphia. He returned to San Francisco in 2021.

The first name that comes to mind as a potential replacement for Scangarello is John Beck.

There is familiarity for Beck with Kyle Shanahan’s system. The two have a relationship which dates to their time as quarterback and coach in Washington.

Beck, a well-known personal quarterback’s coach, is expected to be working with Trey Lance in Southern California this offseason making for an easy transition.

This wouldn’t be the first time Beck coached one of the players he worked with in the offseason. Beck joined the New York Jets staff and quarterback Zach Wilson last October.

The move paid off as Wilson showed improvement following his return from a strained PCL in his right knee.

Through his first six games of the season Wilson had posted a quarterback rating of 63.5 with four touchdowns and nine interceptions. Working with Beck every day, Wilson improved his rating to 75.2 and threw only two interceptions over the final seven games of the season.

Having Beck and Lance work together throughout the offseason and continuing the relationship during training camp and into the season would go a long way toward ensuring Lance is ready for 2022.