SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Mariucci is a self-proclaimed happy guy who loves his life, his family, his job, his wine business and his bocce.

Mariucci, “Mooch” to his friends, can hold court with the best of them. His stories about growing up in Michigan with his best friend, college basketball Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo from Michigan State, are legendary. He has great NFL stories from his broadcasting career and 11 years coaching in the league, too.

These days he’s one of the NFL Network’s top studio analysts.

Talk about a guy living the life, with no regrets.

Well, almost no regrets.

There is one. It’s a regret he’s reminded of almost every day this time of year.

Tom Brady.

“The guy is incredible,” said Mariucci. “I couldn’t forget about him if I tried. He’s the best player in the game, one of the best ever. And he’s as good now as he ever was.”

Tom Brady grew up 17.5 miles away from Candlestick Park, in San Mateo, California, an upper-class suburb south of San Francisco.

Candlestick Park was home for “Mooch” from 1997 through 2002 as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He took over from George Seifert, who retired two years after leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory over San Diego.

Mariucci had spent four years as offensive coordinator in Green Bay, from 1992 to 1995, before getting his first head coaching gig at the University of California-Berkeley, where he had been an assistant from 1987 to 1991.

Cal lasted only one season — the Bears finished 6-6 — as Mariucci pounced on the 49ers’ position.

Which brings us to his whopper of a regret.

“When I look at Bill Belichick, who is probably the greatest head coach that ever lived, you’re darn right I wonder if I could still be coaching,” said Mariucci. “What if we drafted Tom Brady? I think about that sometimes. OK, I think about it a lot.”

Hall of Fame coaches usually had Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr. Dallas’ Tom Landry and Roger Staubach. Pittsburgh’s Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw. Minnesota’s Bud Grant and Fran Tarkenton. Miami’s Don Shula and Bob Griese. Oakland’s John Madden and Ken Stabler. San Francisco’s Bill Walsh and Joe Montana. The New York Giants’ Bill Parcells and Phil Simms. Dallas’ Jimmy Johnson (not yet in the Hall) and Troy Aikman. Buffalo’s Marv Levy and Jim Kelly.

In the middle of that list is a duo that inspired young Tom Brady — Walsh and Montana.

Walsh was on the sidelines and Montana under center at Candlestick Park for the NFC Championship game on Jan. 10, 1982, against their rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, when Montana found Dwight Clark for “The Catch.”

The famed leaping catch in the back of the end zone was for the go-ahead score with 51 seconds to play.

Tom Brady Sr. and young Tommy Brady, only 4 years old at the time, were at Candlestick Park that day.

Idolized Montana

Brady grew up a rabid 49ers fan. And his favorite player was, of course, Joe Montana.

“The 49ers were my team and Joe was my guy,” said Brady. “I always loved how calm he was under pressure. And he made plays … big plays.”

What a story. The kid who grew up a 22-minute drive from Candlestick Park would someday do what his hero did, calmly making big plays and winning championships in front of his family and friends.

That true story will have to wait for the movies.

The funny part, at least it’s funny now, is everything was in place for a Brady-49ers marriage in 2000.

The 49ers were in a massive hunt for a franchise quarterback to replace Steve Young.

In 1997, the 49ers drafted Jim Druckenmiller in the first round, 26th overall, out of Virginia Tech. But it was apparent early on that the pocket passer couldn’t play (a career .404 completion percentage, 1 touchdown pass, 4 interceptions with the 49ers). His 49ers days ended after just two seasons.

In 2000, with Jeff Garcia a stop-gap option from the Canadian Football League, the 49ers were again franchise quarterback-shopping.

“We had made a decision that we wanted to continue with our West Coast offense, which means we were looking for a mobile quarterback,” recalled Mariucci.

“Basically, we were trying to replace Steve Young, who ran the offense to perfection. We thought we had our guy.”

He was a little-known quarterback from Hofstra University, a 1-AA school in Hempstead, New York, where the New York Jets practiced for decades.

In the third round, the 65th player drafted overall, the 49ers selected Giovanni Carmazzi, who grew up 100 miles to the north of San Francisco in Carmichael, California.

Draft: Gio vs. Brady

Hall of Famer Bill Walsh, who had retired as head coach in 1988, was the 49ers’ vice president and general manager in 2000.

While he oversaw the process from afar, Walsh was involved in the quarterback decisions, assisting Director of Player Personnel Terry Donahue.

“It was a collaborative effort, with input from everyone, including me,” said Mariucci, who was head coach at the time. “I gave my opinions. The scouts had their input. Terry had the final say, with Bill’s approval.

“I was never on a team that I coached that I had final say,” said Mariucci, who also was head coach with the Detroit Lions for three seasons. “I took a second seat in personnel decisions to them.”

Which brings us to Carmazzi.

“This is Scouting 101,” said Mariucci. “Gio was a Rhodes Scholar (candidate), did really well in the Wonderlic (intelligence test). Was a point guard on the basketball team. He was a captain. He was very athletic. He had a very strong arm. He ran a 4.7 40 (yard dash) … My point is he had all of the measurables academically with intelligence and he had all of the measurables athletically.”

That’s where the Steve Young Factor came in.

“We were not going to play from the pocket with our offense,” said Mariucci. “We wanted to move guys around, like Steve Young. … How’s that for an excuse for drafting Gio ahead of Tom? Well, it is an excuse.”

Basically, the little school red flag was trumped by Carmazzi’s athleticism.

Red flags

Scouting Brady’s school, the University of Michigan, there were several red flags.

One, he had to fight for playing time his entire career at Michigan. First he was beaten out by Brian Griese, who ended up leading Michigan to a national title. Then he platooned with highly-touted Drew Henson before Brady earned the position for good the last 10 games of his senior season.

Second, Brady was slow. Third, he was deemed to have only an average arm Fourth, he just didn’t pass the eye test.

“First off, it must be noted that 32 teams passed on Tom Brady for five rounds, including the Patriots,” said Mariucci.

“I was there at the (NFL) Combine and saw what everyone else saw,” said Mariucci. “His 40 time is still the slowest time for quarterbacks in Combine history, I believe. He didn’t stand out when he threw the ball. I don’t think we were alone in that description.”

But, and there is a very big but, Mariucci says, the analysis is an excuse for every NFL team that passed on Brady.

The biggest reason for his regret is that the 49ers had Brady in for a workout for about 50 to 60 players from local colleges, like Fresno State and Cal-Berkeley, who were eligible for the draft. Also, there were players like Brady who were natives of the Bay Area but played elsewhere.

Didn’t do homework

“We had Tom here for a private workout and let him leave here without knowing anything more about him,” said Mariucci. “That’s the part that really upsets me. We had him here and didn’t do our homework.

“He probably threw the ball eight or nine times, ran the 40 and that was it. It was very quick and not very thorough. I remember going back to look at our notes from the workout and there was nothing substantial on Tom. That would have been the time, if it’s possible, to find out what makes him tick.”

Mariucci said players chosen in the early rounds are scouted much harder than those in the later rounds.

“Our excuse is we don’t have time,” said Mariucci. “That’s an excuse. We talk to everybody, secretaries, janitors, principals, etc. with the early guys. We didn’t do that with Brady. If we did, maybe, just maybe he would’ve been a 49er. … And maybe I’d still be one, too.”

Brady vs. Gio

Mariucci said there were early red flags with Carmazzi, who was the third of six quarterbacks chosen before Brady in the 2000 draft.

In the Hall of Fame game, the NFL’s first preseason game in 2000, San Francisco played New England.

It was coach Bill Belichick’s debut as head coach of the Patriots.

In the fourth quarter, both teams put their rookie quarterbacks into the game.

Mariucci said, “Nobody said this then, but Tom looked like it wasn’t too big for him. He didn’t do anything special, but I did notice his poise that day.”

As for Carmazzi, the next Steve Young?

“It wasn’t good in person, and it was just as bad on film,” said Mariucci. “Guys were coming off the field saying, ‘Gio is so nervous … He can’t spit out the formations and plays.’

“We could tell right away that it wasn’t a fit. Something went way wrong when Gio entered a professional huddle. He didn’t know how to handle it.”

The little school red flag was waving wildly.

“Gio doubted himself after that day in Canton, Ohio,” said Mariucci. “And we did, too.”

Carmazzi spent two seasons with the 49ers, the same experience Druckenmiller had a half-decade earlier, except he never even threw a pass in a real NFL game.

“We gave Gio every option to stick around,” said Mariucci. “We sent him to Europe. He ended up hurting his shoulder. He tried, but failed, to learn a new system. We made a mistake.”

What might have been

Does Mariucci ever wonder what could have happened had the 49ers drafted Brady, who is now 17 years and four Super Bowl titles into his Hall of Fame career?

Imagine if Brady had played for the 49ers and been even 80 percent as good as he’s been with the Patriots and Belichick.

The 49ers could be on a Montana-Young-Brady dynasty lasting well over three decades.

And maybe Mariucci would be a Hall of Fame coach.

This was actually the second time Mariucci missed out on Brady, who committed to University of California-Berkeley under previous Bears head coach Keith Gilbertson. Brady later reconsidered and went to Michigan.

“I see Tom from time to time and we joke about things a little bit,” said Mariucci. “In fact, once he brought up the fact that I didn’t get him to go to Cal-Berkeley when I was there. Obviously, he’s kidding. He always wanted to go to Michigan, I believe. But I guess you could say I screwed up with him, twice.”

Brady wasn’t Mariucci’s only “screw-up” with franchise quarterbacks.

Mariucci was in Green Bay when a young, unknown Arena League quarterback named Kurt Warner was cut.

“I work with Kurt (at the NFL Network) and he brings it up from time to time,” said Mariucci. “But we had three quarterbacks on the team, including Brett Favre. (Matt) Hasselbeck was one, (Jon) Kitna was one, too.

“I think we probably did Kurt a favor rather than hide him on the Packers bench for a decade.”

As for “letting” Brady go, Mariucci says it’s a lesson all NFL teams should heed. Actually, any business doing interviews should take note.

“Tom Brady has taught us all a lesson,” said Mariucci. “And I’m not just talking athletics or scouting. There’s more to a person than their GPA, their resume or their measurables.

“You have to also try to get inside a person and see if you can find out about their heart, what makes them tick. If you can do it, you’ll probably make a lot of money.”

Burt writes for the North Andover, Massachusetts Eagle-Tribune.