Frank Gore might be hanging up his pads, but he’s not done with football. After telling the SF Niners Podcast that he intends to retire after signing a one-day contract with the 49ers, he mentioned that he’d like to return to the club to work in the front office. CEO Jed York told Matt Barrows of the Athletic that he’s very much open to obliging the team’s all-time leading rusher.
“We’re gonna also sit down with me and my agent to talk about me working in the front office,” Gore said. “I love looking at talent. I love evaluating talent, and I love ball. And they know that I know football players, and what it’s supposed to take to be a football player.”
Gore spent 16 seasons in the NFL with four different clubs and saw a pretty dramatic shift in the way football is played between his rookie year in 2005 and his final season in 2020. Despite a changing game, Gore continued to find ways to be productive en route to 12 consecutive seasons with at least 1,200 scrimmage yards.
Simply being a good player doesn’t make a good front office member though. York believes Gore has what it takes to make the transition from player to front office member.
“Frank is somebody I’ve always stayed close with, even after he left for Indy,” York told the Athletic. “I would love to have Frank help us. I know his passion for the game, his eye for talent.”
York also told the Athletic Gore “knows which guys like to play football and which guys don’t.”
Knowing which players like football enough to be successful is a key aspect of evaluating talent, and that could wind up making Gore an extremely valuable member of a front office.
The running back isn’t the only star the club is trying to get back in the building. While Gore is angling for a front office role, former left tackle Joe Staley said last year that head coach Kyle Shanahan is trying to get him on the coaching staff.
Neither Staley nor Gore won a championship as a player, but perhaps they’ll come together to win one with the 49ers in their post-football ventures.
