The Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - A day later, Steve Mariucci still didn't really know why he was packing boxes and taking down photographs in his office at the San Francisco 49ers' training complex.

Wearing a dark suit and looking fairly unruffled by his surprising firing, the affable coach spoke about his exit Thursday in a news conference that was hastily moved from the 49ers' building to a hotel down the street an hour before it began.

Mariucci didn't have any clear ideas about his future. He expects to coach again, though it probably won't be as an NFL head coach next season. He also hasn't yet decided to get into broadcasting, as his agent suggested.

"I don't have a clue right now of what I'm going to do or what I want to do," Mariucci said. "I haven't had any time to think about it. I wasn't planning on this. I wasn't preparing for this. ... Will I coach again? I suppose so."

But his answers to the questions still surrounding his firing didn't exactly clear up the convoluted circumstances. In fact, most of what Mariucci said was nearly the opposite of the party line from owner John York and the team brass.

No, Mariucci said, he didn't demand powers above and beyond his coaching duties. Yes, he respected the 49ers' organizational flow chart, as York described it. No, he didn't have any interest in the Jacksonville Jaguars' vacancy or any other job.

None of his answers prevented his dismissal - not when he spoke with an unaccountably irate York on the phone Monday night, and not when York fired him on Wednesday morning, three days after the 49ers finished their fourth winning campaign during his six seasons in charge.

In a conference call with reporters one floor below him in the 49ers' training complex on Wednesday, York cited philosophical differences with Mariucci - not the team's performance - as the reason for his dismissal. That was news to Mariucci, who did his best to maintain his famously upbeat public persona throughout his farewell news conference.

"I'm not sure exactly what that means," Mariucci said of York's description of the events. "When he talked to me the other day, it was about seeing different colors or something. He said that. He'd have to explain that to you."

Mariucci described his phone conversation with the multimillionaire husband of Denise DeBartolo York, who gained control of the team in 1998. John York, who has extensive experience in medicine and business but no significant pro sports background, called Mariucci on Monday night.

"He seemed to be upset as soon as he said hello," Mariucci said. "I don't know how or where that started. ... I did a lot of listening. He led me to believe that somewhere along the line, things had changed quickly, or maybe this was just the time to do this."

York finished the job on Wednesday morning. Mariucci's wife, Gayle, heard about the firing on television while Mariucci was still meeting with York, trying to talk him out of it.

That afternoon, while Derrick Deese and Dana Stubblefield consoled his wife, Mariucci said he shared "guy hugs" with dozens of team employees and players - even Terrell Owens, whose well-publicized feud with Mariucci ended just in time for the coach's departure.

"It just showed that everyone is expendable," said Oakland receiver Jerry Rice, who was dropped by the 49ers two years ago in a highly questionable salary-cap move for a team that still doesn't have a proven No. 2 receiver.

"When you look at Bill Walsh, three titles. George Seifert, two titles. And Mooch, he doesn't have any. With the Niners, it's not about just getting to the playoffs. That's not good enough. You've got to be able to win the whole thing. They felt like maybe he was not the guy to take them all the way."

Mariucci probably won't be in the NFL next season unless he becomes an assistant with Green Bay or another team looking to add his famed offensive knowledge as a coordinator. Jacksonville hired Jack Del Rio on Thursday, filling the NFL's only other coaching vacancy.

The 49ers still must pay Mariucci $2.2 million for the final year of his contract.

Mariucci only became emotional once: when a reporter asked him about the effect of the events on his family. His first plan for life after the 49ers was a college visit with his son Tyler, who's a senior and an option quarterback at a local high school.

"Six years ago, I remember when (former team president) Carmen Policy told me, 'Steve, you're going to be in for the ride of your life,"' Mariucci said. "Certainly, that was true. Maybe he knew more than I did at the time, but I certainly learned about it as we went along."

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