Getty Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch on July 28, 2021 in Santa Clara during training camp.
The San Francisco 49ers tried out five linebackers, including a Bay Area native who starred at San Jose State, according to a July 26 tweet from Aaron Wilson of KPRC in Houston.
Frank Ginda, who played at San Jose State from 2015 to 2017, joined fellow USFL linebacker Kyahva Tezino, former New York Giants LB Tae Crowder, former Kansas City Chiefs LB Darius Harris and former Minnesota Vikings LB Blake Lynch.
Ginda Once Led Nation in Tackles
Back in 2017, and during the season Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch had their first run as head coach and general manager, respectively, Ginda was putting together his NFL resume 12 minutes south of Levi’s Stadium.
The native of Los Banos, California in Merced County delivered an NCAA-best 173 total tackles his final year with the Spartans. His average of 13.3 tackles per game was another nation’s best mark. Furthermore, the 173 stops became a Mountain West Conference record for a defender.
Ginda, who graduated from Pacheco High, was once underrecruited coming out of high school. Only Idaho and nearby SJSU were his four-year university opportunities. By taking the latter, he immediately established himself as a cornerstone for the Spartan defense.
Ginda started in 35 of 38 total games played. He tallied 352 total tackles in his career which placed him ninth on the Spartans’ all-time list. He went on to deliver 17 games of producing 10 or more stops. He additionally ranked in the top 10 at SJSU for racking up 29 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Turns out the 49ers weren’t the only NFC West team he was running drills for. The Seattle Seahawks also worked out Ginda.
He was named the 2023 USFL Defensive Player of the Year after snatching a league-best 104 stops followed by five pass breakups, three interceptions and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage for the Michigan Panthers.
Ginda went undrafted in 2018. His past NFL stops include the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins.
Notes on the 2 Other 49ers Tryouts
As for the other tryouts at linebacker, here’s an overview.
Tezino shares a past Mountain West connection with Ginda. He starred at San Diego State where he became a back-to-back All-MWC First Team selection in 2018 and 2019. Tezino even won the award for Most Inspirational Aztec in 2019.
At linebacker in the Aztecs’ renowned 3-3-5 scheme in the college football realm, Tezino collected 290 tackles with 150 solo career stops and brought the rush with 15.5 career sacks (8.5 in 2018). He additionally delivered 32.5 tackles for a loss. Tezino was recently seen with the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL. He, too, was among the Seahawk tryouts alongside Ginda per the waiver wire.
Crowder, meanwhile, is searching for his third NFL stop since 2022. He began his career with the Giants and blossomed in his second season — snatching 130 tackles (64 solo) while starting in all 17 games in 2021. He was limited to eight starts the following year and his tackle numbers dipped to 45 total with 26 solo stops.
Crowder was briefly signed to the Pittsburgh Steelers in December 2022 after being waived by the Giants. The Steelers, however, waived him on May 22.