What happened to Scott Linehan in San Francisco was that he became worried about the quarterback situation and who could handle the job. Coaches have careers just as players do, and no coach wants to walk into an impossible situation. Linehan has to make his next job the right job. He must rebuild his career and make sure he places himself in the right situation. This is why Jim Fassel, the former Giants coach, failed. When he went to the Ravens and could not make the offense excel, he hurt his career. Many of the things that happened to Fassel were not his fault, but he paid the price by going into that situation. Linehan wants to avoid those pitfalls, and he looked at the 49ers and thought, "Who's going to be my QB and how can I make that work?” He decided he couldn't.

• http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/2009/01/diner-news-around-the-nfl-11/