By Roger Phillips STAFF WRITER

The San Francisco 49ers' coaching search crawls along, but the end may be as near as two or three days away.

General manager Terry Donahue and various staff members continued over the weekend to weigh the merits of the three pro defensive coordinators who are the known finalists for the job: the 49ers' Jim Mora, the New York Jets' Ted Cottrell and Chicago's Greg Blache.

Indications continue to be that Cottrell is the front-runner in a close race to succeed the fired Steve Mariucci. Donahue's league-wide reference-checking of Cottrell reportedly has produced plenty of raves and no bad reviews.

Sunday night and perhaps today, Donahue will mull over his choices from the college ranks. Those believed to be in the mix are Washington's Rick Neuheisel, Oregon's Mike Bellotti, Oregon State's Dennis Erickson and Ohio State's Jim Tressel.

There have been suggestions in some quarters that the race is now between Cottrell and Neuheisel, who was Donahue's quarterback at UCLA two decades ago.

One source, however, said such talk is "premature."

"I don't think it's a two-man race," the source said. "I think a couple of other college guys are getting consideration, too."

If Neuheisel or one of the other coaches is to become a candidate within the time frame of the 49ers announcing a hire by Wednesday or Thursday, things will have to move quickly.

Donahue would be expected to go through the proper channels to speak to one of the college coaches. Consider, for example, Neuheisel.

Neuheisel signed a six-year contract with Washington in September, and Huskies athletic director Barbara Hedges said Sunday afternoon she had yet to be contacted by Donahue, who is a longtime acquaintance.

The Huskies are coming off a 7-6 season that ended with a loss to Purdue in the Sun Bowl. There supposedly is some alumni unrest after Washington's mediocre season, but as recently as a few days ago, one of the Huskies' top boosters told the Seattle Times he still supports Neuheisel.

In any event, it's uncertain whether Neuheisel, 41, is anxious to leave Washington at this time. A source close to the program said Neuheisel desires to someday be an NFL head coach but believes he is young enough to wait for a few more years.

The contract Neuheisel signed five months ago included a $1.5 million loan that will be forgiven if he remains at Washington through the term of his contract.

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