Former 49ers, Panthers head coach Seifert rooting for San Francisco

George Seifert coached both the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers.  He spent 14 years and 3, respectively, with each organization.

While this isn’t much of a shocker, Seifert will be cheering on San Francisco when the two teams clash this Sunday.

“I’m happy to see both Carolina and San Francisco do well,” Seifert said, according to Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer, via thestate.com. “Of course I’ll be cheering for the 49ers Sunday. That’s nothing against Carolina, but I have a much longer history with San Francisco.”

Seifert, 73, spent 6 seasons as the 49ers defensive coordinator under the legendary Bill Walsh before taking over as head coach in 1989 where he would spend the next 7.

He won 2 Super Bowls with San Francisco and his teams went 98-30 during that time.  Seifert coached a plethora of Hall of Fame players, including Jerry Rice, Joe Montana and Steve Young before resigning after the 1996 season.

In 1999, Seifert took over in Carolina where he went 8-8 his first year, 7-9 his second and 1-15 in his third – after which he was fired.

Still, he holds no ill will towards Carolina.  Can you really blame him for rooting for the team that made his career?

“I have no hard feelings,” Seifert said. “The only regret is we didn’t get it done there. I wish we had won more games. I enjoyed my time in Charlotte, though, despite that final season. It was an awesome place to live.”