A few of Jimmy Raye's former stars, however, saw no need to stay silent.

Jackie Slater, the Hall of Fame offensive lineman, and Tony Richardson, a four-time Pro Bowl fullback, practically leaped through the telephone to praise the 49ers' reported choice for offensive coordinator.

"I think Jimmy Raye is one of the brightest minds in all of pro Football,'' Slater said. "And I think he's been underutilized."

Richardson said: "Jimmy Raye is obviously a special individual for me. I think he'll do a great job. He's a great motivator and a very, very intelligent guy."

The glowing reports countered some of the head scratching prompted by the 49ers' selection. In a dozen previous seasons as an offensive coordinator, Raye's teams have finished in the top 10 for total yards just once the 2000 Kansas City Chiefs.

During Raye's most recent stint as a coordinator, for the Raiders in 2004-05, he didn't even call the plays; that duty belonged to head coach Norv Turner. It was Raye's job to give input to the running game, and the Raiders ranked 32nd and 29th, respectively, in rushing during those seasons.

In all, Raye has been a coordinator for six different teams. One NFL source who worked with Raye at one of those stops questioned Raye's ability to communicate with players.

Slater's recollection is exactly the opposite. The seven-time Pro Bowl selection, who played for the Rams from 1976-95, said he remembered that Raye was "comprehensive" in his preparation each week.

"Then, on game days, we would hear the echoes and the accuracy of what he had said," Slater said. "If we did have some flaws, and the defense found it, (Raye) always had some counter-adjustment that would work."

Raye was the Rams' coordinator in 1983-84 and '91 and showed an uncanny knack for attacking a defense's weakness. Eric Dickerson rushed for 1,808 yards during Raye's first season and an NFL-record 2,105 yards the next season.

Slater, who helped pave the way for those yards, said the Rams had some running plays that they would run "come hell or high water" because the team was so comfortable and so confident in its blocking schemes. It didn't matter whether the defense knew what was coming.

Slater added that Dickerson's big season revealed another Raye trait: He maximized the talents of his best players.

"That's how good offensive minds work: They figure out how to use these weapons," Slater said. "That tight end that the 49ers have who was drafted really high (Vernon Davis), he's going to be a great player not just an average one in Jimmy Raye's offense."

Richardson had similar praise. He also has more recent experience. Raye, 62, was Richardson's running backs coach with the New York Jets last season. Together, they helped running back Thomas Jones lead the AFC with 1,312 yards.

"He's not a rah-rah, jump-on-the-table kind of guy," Richardson said. "But he gets guys ready to play. With what he does during the week, he takes the guesswork out of everything."

Notes: The NFL announced that it will rename its minority coaching internship program after Bill Walsh, the 49ers' Hall-of-Fame coach. The program, now known as the Bill Walsh NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship, is designed to expose talented coaches to the NFL methods and philosophies. Walsh first introduced the idea in 1987, at a 49ers training camp. ... The 49ers signed receiver Maurice Price to a future contract. Price, an undrafted free agent out of Charleston Southern in 2007, finished last season on the Patriots' practice squad.