When news broke Monday that the San Francisco 49ers were interested in speaking to former Giants coach Tom Coughlin about their head coaching vacancy, it did not make much sense at first glance.

Coughlin is an East Coast guy. The Niners are most certainly a West Coast organization. Coughlin, 69, would likely be looking for stable ownership, an established quarterback, and a chance to win now if he were to take another job. It is highly debatable whether any of those things would be provided in San Francisco.

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But that the Niners would want to talk to Coughlin, once you think about it, is not completely out of the blue. Because 49ers general manager Trent Baalke and Coughlin hail from the same tree.

Baalke started his career as a scout for the Jets under Bill Parcells, who also has obvious ties to Coughlin. In fact, Baalke tried to hire Parcells as 49ers head coach back in 2011, when Parcells was 69, but Parcells was not interested.

Five years later, Baalke might be able to get the next best thing. Parcells has endorsed Coughlin as a worthy candidate after leaving the Giants, and maybe this interest in San Francisco will lead to something. Or maybe it won't.

But, it does make more sense that you'd think at first, and it's entirely possible Coughlin now has two irons in the fire after Monday's interview with the Eagles.

James Kratch can be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com or by leaving a note in the comments below. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find and like NJ.com Giants on Facebook.