December 28, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio before the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi

When San Francisco 49ers defensive line coach Jim Tomsula was named the coach who would replace Jim Harbaugh, there was plenty of rumblings in the Bay Area that the Oakland Raiders would be interested in bringing in their rivals defensive coordinator from the Harbaugh era in Vic Fangio once they hired Jack Del Rio as head coach.

However those rumors never got past the stage of the two sides being linked together as according to Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area the Raiders did not reach out to Fangio. Bair reporting on Twitter that their focus is elsewhere for the defensive coordinator position as Fangio is headed for a meeting with Washington this weekend.

Raiders did not reach out. Focus elsewhere: RT @NBCdianna: Per league source Vic Fangio will be with the Redskins later today — Scott Bair (@BairCSN) January 17, 2015

Fangio was an interesting name based on his successes with a 49ers defensive unit that was amongst one of the best in football until injuries led to a team wide regression in San Francisco this past season. Add in Fangio’s geographical location to the Bay Area and it was an easy connection for insiders and columnists in North California to tie the Raiders to the defensive coordinator who is looking likely to join Jay Gruden’s Washington staff.

Expect the Raiders to continue their pursuit of former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith who is reportedly the top target of new Oakland head coach Jack Del Rio. Del Rio and Smith worked together in Jacksonville where Smith cut his teeth as a defensive coordinator before getting his big break in head coaching with the Falcons where he guided the team to within one game of the Super Bowl in a tightly fought loss against the San Francisco 49ers.

With Del Rio bringing in a former assistant in Mike Tice yesterday, the move to add Smith would surprise nobody if the recently fired coach wants to reunite with his old running mate from Florida. Del Rio is reportedly starting his interviewing process today after his introductory press conference on Friday afternoon so stay tuned for more updates throughout the weekend as the Raiders look to complete their coaching staff hires.