SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers are cutting ties with general manager Scot McCloughan over a personal matter not related to team issues, AOL Fanhouse reported Thursday.

McCloughan told FanHouse via text message, “I’m fine and moving forward.” The report said he would not elaborate.
The report said the decision was by mutual agreement and followed a meeting Wednesday between McCloughan, team president Jed York and several members of the 49ers’ front office.
Calls and an e-mail from The Associated Press to McCloughan’s agent, Peter Schaffer, were not immediately returned Thursday. The 49ers did not return multiple calls or text messages, and e-mails to McCloughan and York weren’t returned.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat first reported Wednesday that McCloughan was considering stepping down as 49ers general manager.
The 49ers hired McCloughan in February 2005 to supervise their personnel department for Mike Nolan, a career assistant coach who was improbably given total control of the club’s football operations by John York, the brother-in-law of former owner Eddie DeBartolo.
McCloughan is a former minor-league baseball player who became a respected young personnel executive during stints with Green Bay and Seattle. He has a mostly solid record during his years with the 49ers, compiling a young talent base that has steadily improved for most of his tenure — yet the 49ers still haven’t reached the playoffs in five seasons since his arrival, with an 8-8 record last season that was their best since 2002.
McCloughan was named general manager in January 2008 when the 49ers nominally promoted him instead of firing Nolan after the 49ers’ third straight losing season. Nolan lasted just seven more games, with Jed York replacing him with Mike Singletary during the 2008 season.
If York puts Singletary in charge of the 49ers’ personnel, it will be an even bigger risk than his father took with Nolan. Singletary, the Hall of Fame linebacker, only became an assistant coach in 2003 after a post-football career as a motivational speaker and author. Like Nolan, he has no background in player evaluation or salary-cap management.