Linehan turns down 49ers

In a stunning setback for the 49ers' new head coach, Mike Singletary continues to look for an offensive coordinator after former Rams coach Scott Linehan on Sunday turned down the team's offer to run the offense in San Francisco.

Linehan,45 years olf, had an 11-25 record as the Rams' coach from 2006 through the first four games of 2008, when he was fired with an 0-4 record.He had been offered the job Thursday night and told Singletary he would have his answer before the weekend was out. Linehan was true to his word, but his answer was not what Singletary was expecting.

"The job itself was outstanding,t was very, very hard. Timing-wise, it's not good. I didn't want to hold up the 49ers, Mike in particular. It wouldn't be fair to them. At this point, I'm not ready to make the call. It's all personal from my standpoint. It's a little more complicated when you have a wife and three kids." Linehan said.

Linehan, previously an offensive coordinator in the NFL with Minnesota and Miami, had emerged as the front-runner for the 49ers' job after Singletary interviewed him and three other candidates, Clyde Christensen, Rob Chudzinski and Rick Dennison.

The 49ers have been without an offensive coordinator since the end of the season, when Singletary fired Mike Martz.