If the San Francisco 49ers had a crystal ball four weeks ago, would they have done things the same way?

If that crystal ball revealed the availability of Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden?

If that crystal ball revealed their own struggles to name an offensive coordinator?

Would they have hitched their future to a defensive coach with limited NFL experience for the next four years?

Just asking.

Don't get me wrong — I was all for the 49ers hiring Mike Singletary back on Dec. 28. He earned the job in nine games of work and created a contagious, fresh vibe around the organization in the final weeks of the season. I think — given the Yorks' general caution about big-name coaches and their usually tight pocketbook — he is the best person they could have hired.

But the euphoria from the end of the season has faded and the tough reality of building the 49ers has begun. And in the meantime, the coaching world has been turned on its head.

If you wanted to compile a "Dream Team" of NFL coaches, now would be the perfect time.

Available: Shanahan, Gruden, Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher, Mike Holmgren. All Super Bowl winners. All without a team.

While Holmgren, Dungy and Cowher seem content to take time off and relax, the same doesn't hold true for Gruden or Shanahan. Both were fired in surprise moves. Both are driven men with wounded pride. Both wouldn't hesitate to jump back in the game.

And both just happen to have close ties to the 49ers and their winning tradition.

Shanahan resurrected his career with the 49ers, as offensive coordinator during the team's last Super Bowl run. Gruden spent 1990 with the 49ers as a coach's aide, sleeping on the facility couches, playing trivia games with Steve Young and soaking up all the information he could.

Both Gruden and Shanahan are rooted in the West Coast offense. When Shanahan was hired in 1992, the first thing he did was spend a week locked in a film room with offensive-line coach Bobb McKittrick, by then the team's West Coast oracle. Shanahan also went over to Stanford to spend hours with Bill Walsh, who was in his second coaching stint with the Cardinal. When Gruden was with the 49ers, he spent every spare minute sitting in the doorway of McKittrick's meeting room, furiously taking notes. These men understand the 49ers' offensive legacy better than any head coach other than Holmgren.

When pondering the 49ers' problems over the years, many observers — including this one — have thought the 49ers would be best served by tapping into their offensive legacy. By hiring a coach "like a Shanahan" or "like a Gruden." Few imagined the originals would come available so soon.

And when pondering the drawbacks of hiring Singletary, the biggest concern always has been building and sustaining a strong offense. Recent developments haven't eased that anxiety.

After Singletary fired Mike Martz — a sensible move considering their diametrically opposed ideas about offense — he said he wanted to hire his offensive coordinator "yesterday." That was a month ago.

Since then he has been mysteriously turned down by Scott Linehan. After two interviews, which should have made the geographical situation obvious, Linehan trotted out the excuse about not wanting to move his family. Then he immediately became a candidate for other jobs. So something about the 49ers job isn't very attractive. The commitment requested, the pay, the ideology, the fact that Singletary already has hired assistants, the 49ers' distance from the Super Bowl?

Now Singletary is looking for his second choice. This week in Mobile, Ala., site of the Senior Bowl, he interviewed fired Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski. Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, who worked at Cal under Steve Mariucci, has emerged as a candidate. But now the search for the 49ers' seventh offensive coordinator in seven years has taken on a hint of desperation.

There's no guarantee Shanahan or Gruden would have been interested in working for the Yorks. No guarantee they aren't burned out after a run of tough seasons.

But they are proven NFL coaches who know offense, who could tap into the past and provide stability for the future. Would a crystal ball have changed anything?

Hey, I'm just asking.