--First, you're going to probably read and hear a bunch of thoughts about Mike Nolan losing the locker room. Sure, there were some players who were not happy with their roles, as there are on every team. But I don't believe there was anything resembling a mutiny in the 49ers' locker room. Surprisingly, he held the team together during some really bad stretches.
--Nolan got fired today for one reason: Eighteen-and-thirty-seven.
The Yorks and GM Scot McCloughan were forced to make this decision because of Nolan's 18-37 record. You can talk about a lot of other stuff, but that's what it boils down to.
--There are rumors floating around the league that the 49ers are in danger of a blackout this weekend against the Seahawks. The public discontent has reached an all-time high. I thought the move would happen at the bye week. Perhaps it would have. But after ESPN's Michael Smith's report that the 49ers had decided to fire Nolan in the next few days, perhaps it forced the Yorks and Scot McCloughan to expedite those plans.
--Nolan signed a five-year contract worth approximately $1.6 million annually. He will receive all of that money through next season.
--McCloughan and the Yorks had gone through best-case and worst-case scenarios since before the season. All along the thought was that if it got to this point, they'd probably promote defensive coordinator Greg Manusky. But they made the right call to elevate Mike Singletary, 50. He is the first African-American coach in 49ers history.
--One of the knocks on Singletary is that he's not an X's and O's guy. That's OK. He does not have to be. He will take on the role of the CEO, while dictating to Mike Martz and Manusky what he wants from those sides of the ball.
--Singletary is a popular choice among the players. Singletary will definitely want the 49ers to get rid of their "passive" style of defense. It'll be very interesting to see how much autonomy he gives offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
--Martz can't be happy with this development. He wants to be a head coach again. The fact that he got passed over for the interim job does not bode well for a long stay with the 49ers.
--It's also very interesting -- but not at all surprising -- that the 49ers decided to fire offensive line coach George Warhop at this time. Warhop was told at the end of last season that he'd be fired, only to be told the next day that he still had his job. When the club hired former Ravens offensive line coach (and Dolphins offensive coordinator) Chris Foerster, it was pretty obvious that Warhop was on the outs. The fact the 49ers have surrendered a league-high 29 sacks in seven games did not help his cause.
--Does Singletary have a chance to get the full-time gig? The odds seem to be against him. After the 49ers' problems in finding continuity on offense, it would make sense for the club to want an offensive-minded head coach.
--Singletary interviewed for four NFL head-coaching jobs, but was not prepared well enough at that point to get a job. It wasn't until after his final interview (Chargers) that he hired agent Bob LaMonte and compiled a list -- and keeps it updated -- of assistant coaches he would have on his staff.
--What does this mean for Alex Smith's future? As you know, he is out for the season with a fractured bone in his throwing shoulder. (He is on injured reserve.) The injury is healing and he probably won't have surgery. However, he might undergo a procedure to remove the wire sutures from his surgery of a year ago.
Although Nolan had the final say on that No. 1 overall pick of 2005, let's remember that Smith was McCloughan's pick, too. Would McCloughan want to keep around Smith, as a reminder of a pick that he greatly influenced? Or would McCloughan rather start anew.
Either way, the 49ers will be looking for a long-term starting quarterback in the offseason. The only person in the organization convinced that J.T. O'Sullivan is that man is Martz.
--Nolan was pretty much doomed from the moment he hired Martz. Even if the team had been successful, Nolan probably would not have been back next season. Any success would've been because of the team's offense. And in that were the case, it would've been more important for the organization to retain Martz over Nolan.
* * *
OK, by looking at the comments, there were a lot of questions about my whereabouts when all this was happening. As chance would have it, I drove up to Bristol, Conn., last night after the game to shoot a live segment on ESPN's "First Take" on Monday morning. I spoke about Nolan being on the hot seat. I flew out of Hartford on a 2:45 p.m. flight and arrived at SFO at 8:30 p.m. I spent two hours at SFO making phone calls.
* * *
Good to have you back at the beat Matt.
Has there been some discord with Scot and Martz prior to his hiring?
I seem to recall a bit of conflict on that topic along with the JTO selection process?
Let's just say it's a day of new direction that needed to happen, we'll all be here to follow the developments.
Oh my god, am I dreaming?
Just woken up and have seen the news!
Yay, we got our beloved 49ers back, guys!
Well done Yorks, I take back all the stuff I
said about you! Bye bye Mike Nowin, I'm sure you
did your best. Good luck elsewhere...
...just don't come back to our building, coz you stunk it out. 18-37 is pretty hideous, whichever way you slice it. So, most of us were right then, Singletary get's it! We'll see whether he is HC material over the last half of the season.
Best thing is, we can all cheer heartily for our beloved Niners again, now that Nowin is out.
Onwards and upwards! (I'm so happy!)
Matt, I know this is a bit off topic, but I believe it is a question that is equally important to the short-term future of he 49ers. Do you believe O'Sullivan can turn around his problem with turnovers. And more importantly, what do you sense is O'Sullivan's reputation among his offensive teammates? I can't help but think he is merely Tim Rattay +1.
FiatGlory: Good questions re: JTO. My take on him is that he has some incredible physical talents - decent arm strength, decent touch, decent accuracy, fantastic release and awesome escapability - but is behind the curve in the mental aspects, such as reading coverages, throwing the ball away when the play is dead, and general game management. Now, the physical stuff is pretty much uncoachable BUT (and it's a huge but...) he has to do a better job in the mental areas, as that's what's killing this offense/team. 2 things to consider
about JTO before slating him: 1. First time starter, 2. With Martz' high-risk offense combined with Nowins pathetic OL, JTO has been dropped in the deep end, as it were. I'm certain that in another offensive scheme, one which is a tad more conservative, JTO would be far less turnover prone. Plus, now he's on the playing field and not just training field, he need's to learn the speed of the NFL on game day. Practising for 6 or 7 years is all well and good, but gameday experience and facing full speed NFL defenses for the first year is a shock for any QB not named Marino, Manning or Roethlisberger. Only a handful of QB's have ever looked anything other than terrible in their first years on the pitch. Remember Alex' first year? Yeah, so do I, sadly. I am certain that IF Martz could just pare down his offense a little and make it a tad safer for a 1st year starter, and
IF the OL could JTO some time to throw, and IF JTO can get used to getting the ball out when the play breaks down, and not holding on to it like it's glued to his hand...we'll be alright. I believe we can win with JTO.
Even the best QB in the NFL would look pretty awful behind that "line", so let's cut JTO some slack and
give him some time to develop the mental aspects of his game, before proclaiming him to be a loser.
By the mid-way point of next year, we should be seeing a more polished, calmer, and most importantly, smarter
QB. Have to give him a chance for his mental ability to catch up to his physical ability, coz his physical ability is pretty darn good indeed.
Oh yeah, and GO NINERS!
Oh, and somebody posted the other day that NoWin
deserves some credit for infusing all this talent into the roster (or words to that effect)...
...what poppycock. He had 4 years of high draft picks and spent mega-bucks on a whole raft of FA's. It would've been impossible to not improve the talent with all that opportunity to. And even though the roster is more talented than the salary-cap purged roster he inherited (poor Erickson never got a chance), this roster is still woefully short of real talent.
Mike Nowin deserves no credit whatsoever. None.
He started off by wasting $35 million on JJ, then "bettered" that by wasting $24 million guaranteed on THE WRONG QB! His tenure started badly, and never improved. You know that when we went 7-9 we were the worst 7-9
team in history? (Statistically speaking). So, even our best under Nowin was atrocious...and our worst was,
well, let's not even go there.
Apologies for keeping mentioning NoWin here, I'm just getting the last few dregs of disdain out.
"Ladies and gentleman, THE SUIT HAS LEFT THE BUILDING"
GO NINERS...onwards and upwards! My prediction?
Singletary will get us playing with passion and aggression, which we will translate into a winning season...for Singletary that is. I predict a 5-4 record for the new Mike...maybe 6-3. The biggest game looming for us now, after the Seahawks game, is the trip to Arizona. We beat the 'Hawks, get a week off/2 weeks to prepare...we go into Arizona and whip those Cards, then we are rolling...maybe all the way to the play-offs.
This league has always had teams who heat up mid-season and power through. Last years Gigantes team being the most recent example. Not saying we're SB bound, just saying that we might catch fire, and man, we beat Seattle then beat Arizona and it's game on! Rolling
WITHOUT NoWin...I love it!
Oh yeah, and GO NINERS!
The best news about all of this is that there is a change at the O Line Coaching position. That unit remained the achilles heel for Mike Nolan and is responsible for the lions share of the problems on offense.
The offense remains the problem in SF. The defenses have not been "great" but they have had great moments in Nolans time. Too many times they were back on the field in less than 60 seconds after endless streams of 3 and outs.
-It was weird how they fired him.
They need an offensive line coach that can relate to the players of today; he must get them to work out the mental errors, to play as a unit, to blow open holes, knock defenses off the line, and pass protect. Until they do that, it really doesn't matter who the QB is.'
Nolan and Martz chose to be aggressive and give the new QB the job, and to run the offense wide open. Had the gamble paid off, we would all be celebrating. The football gods like gambles, when they are made by deserving teams and players who put in the hard work and superhuman efforts worthy of success. These guys gamled without hard work and effort.
The coach is gone, because he couldnt get consistent production out of these players that he believed in to the end. His firing was what he deserved.
But the responsibility for this firing rests also, perhaps more predominately even, on the shoulders of the players. Vernon Davis, Mark Roman, Aubrayo, and so many guys on the O line, playing without heart. Phoning it in, going through the motions without a commitment to the concentration and hard work required of play off caliber team.
Hopefully the new offensive line coach is the next Bob McKittrick. I don't think the team will be much different the rest of the season, until all the players appreciate playing in the NFL.
Sorry, me again...most of you guys are now tucked up in bed, so I have no-one to rap with...lol.
For anyone who hasn't read Eric Davis' article on 49ers.com, please do so. It's a great assessment of and insight into our beloved franchise.
Rolling WITHOUT NoWin...and Winning with Singletary...
Oh yeah, and GO NINERS!
Indeed! The longer we continually make these distinctions about race and color, the longer we will be a racially divided country. Just forget about it and let him be a "coach" instead of an "african-american" coach. Who cares.
I haven't posted in a while (problems signing in,
depressed w/play, etc). Congrats on the new site Matt.
Just unbelievable & great news, I can't believe the
Yorks actually did it. What a GREAT DAY. I'm all posted
out from doing the rounds on other sites. Thanks for
the overall on the situation Matt.
Marc in NJ..nice job doing the lead at the NYG game
in the fight to get rid of Nowin. TJ..man what you
said couldn't have been said any better. All the
points you've made about JTO are so right on & I've
been saying similarly the same things. Wow..we finally
got rid of Warhop, what a bonus! I would have rather
liked for the news to been locked down to the Bye so
Singletary could better prepare for his new tenure
but it is what it is.....nows your chance Mike & lets
see what you've got. Lets get aggressive, play smart
but still disciplined on the assignments. WHAT A
GREAT DAY, THE LIGHTS STARTING TO SHINE NINER FANS....
GO NINERS!!
Matt..I had problems when posting. The box we type in only shows 3/4 of the width & you can't see the right half. Am I doing something wrong? I can still hit preview to check the post & make corrections, that works fine.
Hey TJ, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD UP!
I got a 7 am shift, so up at 5am to get ready, ugh, but it's worth it today. I'm in a happy dancing mood. The suit is gone! The stench has been cleaned up as I no longer have to clench.
Everything is coming at once so....
1) ESPN reporters were breaking news that Nolan was on the hot seat
2) According to KTVU Mark Ibanez, Nolan confronted about his job and asked for his firing. Man, could've resigned, but hey, wants the rope to hang himself, fine with me.
3) According to Mike Sando on ESPN (He runs an NFC West blog, check it out http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfcwest ) The 49ers were in danger of HOME BLACKOUTS! Apparantely 49ers fans threats of protest and possible chants of Fire Nolan, Boot Suit probably got the ball rolling.
Sad that it took possible blackouts to finally cause the Yorks to get into action. Still no doubt the loser stench should be exiting FAST! It's a great day.....
Mike in MD: Welcome back! Yes, "what a great day"
indeed! Thanks for your nice words. It's nice to know
that others think and see it the same way. We've had the master of disaster as our coach for so long, and been subjected to so much political BS, it's a miracle that any of us are able to think straight or see clearly.
And yes, Warhop going too is a lovely bonus. May I
ask which other sites you post on? Would love to find a decent forum to talk Niners stuff in. This blog is great, but it gets kinda quiet when you guys in America are in bed. Oh, and I experience the same issue with only 3/4 of the typing field being visible. Hopefully it'll be fixed soon. Oh yeah, and much credit to
MarcNJniner as well...not sure how much impact his efforts had, but he was making the efforts, so much love to him and all the reborn, revitalised, re-energised Niners fans everywhere...truly a great day of rejuvenation and of fresh hope for us all.
Oh yeah, and GO NINERS!
Darren: Yo, word up, bro!!! Man, I love your, "dancing in the streets" type attitude. Been jumping for joy myself!
Thanks for the link to the other blog. I hadn't even posted my last post asking for more places to visit, and hey presto, you already posted a link...nice one!
So, how well do you all think we'll do now? Anyone agree with me when i say that we can get Wingletary a winning season this year (albeit only a 9 game season)??
I think we can go 5-4, maybe even 6-3. The Cards game in Arizona is the big one on the radar. I expect us to crush the 'Hawks, maybe even shut them out...(sorry, still smarting from that 33-0 whipping they put on
us to end our streak of what, 423,000 games without being shut-out). Then, it's the big one, Arizona on the road. A loss would probably deal our play-off hopes (as slim as they are) a fatal blow...but a win (and we can all dream of winning ballgames now NoWin has gone
(Yay!))...a win would put us right into the thick of it
again, and might just be the catalyst to that 6-3 finish I'm hoping for. Heck, we could even go 7-2, if we can beat the Cards...MOMENTUM IS A POWERFUL THING! Ha ha, look at us, talking about the Niners winning...and getting momentum...yay, what a great day! We have, at least for a short while, hope. Hope that we will now improve and get these players over-achieving, after many, many many games of turgid underachievement.
Oh yeah, and GO NINERS!
Me again, one more quick one before I get on with
some work. Rams DT Clifton Ryan said after their whipping of SB contenders Dallas:“Look at this atmosphere.
It’s a whole different attitude around here, a whole different swagger. We’re more motivated, we’re more positive with each other. We’re here to win now.”
Whoever said that mid-season coaching changes bear no fruit was wrong. Wonderfully so. And they beat Dallas without their best player, Orlando Pace. (The RB Jackson is also vying for that accolade, granted.)
I fully expect a similar infusion of enthusiasm, passion and motivation for our beloved Niners. Brighter days are ahead, guys! What a great feeling! We can all wear our Red and Gold with pride again and let's get this
machine rolling with a win over Seattle.
Oh yeah, and GO NINERS!
I'm a little toasted TJ..at first when I heard the rumor I told a blogger I had to stay with the status quo of hoping for us to win because then usually we get hammered & I didn't want to get the W for Nowin for his usually last minute heroics of trying to save his tail. I prayed for these rumors to come to fruition. Some time by coincidence ESPN flew through & minutes later Smith & Glazer reports confirmed Nolan WAS GONE!! Off I went because I was out of Remy VSOP..HAD TO celebrate!!
I feel like a cloud of LOSERVILLE, incompetence, & the scared umbrella of caution is being LIFTED OFF OUR BACKS..it will happen throughout the day. The National Post w/Mike Lombardi is a must, Sando of course NFC West, SJose's blogs w/Roy Prasad for "his" view, SF News & the Gate I look at..on SF News there's a lot of ripping going on but I don't get into that. The 2 Matts are a given. No doubt everyone knows Maiocco's site is the best.
TJ..Eric Davis article was so right on, lots of what fans have been saying. I asked Mike Lombardi about those mid-season coaching changes, how St Louis was against the grain for the positive & if the negative trend applied to us. He didn't get back to me but I have a great feeling on this one...this team really NEEDS THIS BADLY.
One real interesting quote I got from Lombardi..I asked him what he thought of McCloughan as the GM. He said & I quote, "i think scott has drafted based on what the coaches want, not really a true gm.." With Nolan truly gone I'm hoping McCloughan starts coming into his own & he needs to. Sorry I didn't give you the links a quick Google can get them if I can't get back to you.
Still can't believe it..it will be a short & hectic week for Singletary but with this timing I'm ready to get some Seattle birds....NINERS!!
Well Darren,
You got your wish.
Now lets see if they have anough talent to turn this around.
I have to say I am happy about the decision, but I wish Mike Nolan well. I hope he gets a DC position and thrives. Thanks for your efforts Mike, but I just don't think you were in the right place or at the right time.
Very sad, but a necessary change. Looks like another top 10, maybe even top 5 draft pick. With a RB and LT in place and some promise at WR in Josh Morgan, this is probably a much better time to draft a QB than 2005, albeit not necessarily in the first or 2nd round. To me, there is no question that if an OT is worthy of the pick they should take him.
Matt-Great reporting as usual. Any thoughts as to who will be the qb? I mean JTO is awful with his decisions and the turnovers are killing us. Where is Shaun Hill in all of this? Any other words from Scott Mc on the Nolan firing? Must have been hard on Scotty as Nolan gave him his opportunity with the Niner organization.
I think Nolan gave it everything he had, but he doesn't have enough to be a winning coach. All of his career he wanted to have the chance to be in the situation he had when he came to the Niners, where he had full control. So, he had his big opportunity. He got paid very well. If he ever gets a head coaching job again, which I doubt, he won't be any better. The team is better than when he got here, but only just one small notch up. Not nearly enough for the time he's been here. Time to move on, because the important decisions are still to come. What the coaching staff will look like in 2009 is the big question.
I am glad that Singletary is now head coach, but the point that he is black really should not be anywhere in the article. The point that his race was listed as an important point to his coaching status disturbs me. Until I read that, his race never entered my mind. Did anyone care that Nolan was white....I mean "European American"?
Now that it's official, I can breathe a sigh of relief.
I am not going to do a happy dance like some of the other posters here. I am sorry for Mike Nolan that it just didn't work. But I lost a lot of respect for him as a head coach over the past several months. I felt that he really did need to go and someone new needed to take over.
I was also hoping that Mike Singletary would get the job as interim HC. With him there, there is a continuity with the Coordinators. Now we can see whether he can be a leader of both the coaching staff and the players. I am hopeful that under his direction the defense will become more aggressive and that he can keep some control over Mike Martz, the mad scientist.
I don't agree with Lowell Cohn that Singletary is a bad choice just because of his defensive background. If he does continue after this year, it will critical to see who he picks as offensive coordinator since I don't feel that Martz will be around next year. I do agree with Mr. Cohn that we need to go back to a West Coast style of offense. Actually, in Nolan's first year, the intent was to put Alex Smith into a West Coast offense under Mike McCarthy. Too bad we never got to see how that might have worked.
Now I am actually excited about going to the game this Sunday. I am not expecting any HUGE changes. There isn't time to do a lot by then. But I am curious to see how the team will be different.
Matt - Is there any indication that Mike Singletary will do much differently than Nolan? After all, he has "worked" for Nolan for quite a while.
All very interesting developments. I'm not surprised by the decision, just surprised by the timing. Either you do it in the off season, or you wait until the bye.
Martz can't be happy, but in my opinion he would not be a good HC for the Niners. I seem to recall that during his days in St. Louis (where he inherited a really good team) he did a lot of crazy things in terms of clock management and replay challenges that rank up there with Nolan's best (or worst, may be a more appropriate term). But he was able to get away with it because that was a much better team overall.
Singletary makes sense here at least in the short term to avoid any disruption with the def-coor and off-soor positions. Martz has done a decent job so far with improving the offense (though again, some of his play calling still baffles me. Give Gore the ball more!)
If the Niners close out the season relatively well, I think it would be difficult not to give Singletary a full season. Unless someone like a Shanahan or Pete Carrol becomes available. I'd love to see Holmgren as the GM.
Who knows, maybe some of those dinners with Walsh rubbed off on Singletary the right way, and he'll be a really good head coach.
I expect the team to impreove in three areas immediately: 1) Use (or not use) of timeouts. 2) Use (or not use) of challenges. 3) 4th Down playcalling.
I'm a little curious about where Nolan will end up next.
I'm guessing he'll have opportunities as a DC in the NFL
or maybe a HC in college. I wonder if he'd prefer to stay
in the league or keep the control of being a head coach.
Either way, I'm sure he'll have a job by the time his
contract runs out. I'm just glad it won't be with the 49ers.
Matt is there any chance that York's hire Mike Holmegran (or someone similar) to an "Executive VP of football operations" like Dolphins did with Parcells.
It starts from the top and i dont have any problem with McCloughan as GM. But the GM has to report to someone with some Football intelligent.
Matt,
Is there any chance whatsoever, Martz leaves before the end of the year? I'm not pulling for it but it seems his allegiance to JTO and his arrogant personality will be a problem for Singletary.
Congrats on the ESPN live spot. It's not often that a reporter for a team thats been in the dumps for so long gets any national play. Good for you.
I am pretty happy with both the decision to fire Nolan, and the choice of Singletary over the other options.
I'm a little less thrilled with this being done a week early, but between the need to sell tickets for a home game, and the prospect of having to fire him after a win (assuming they had decided to do it), I guess they thought they had to.
Oh well, at least Martz is not HC.
2009,
Marty Schottenheimer has to be #1 candidate and realistic. I wouldn't think Cowher would take this job. JTO and Martz will probably not be back. If Singletary is back, West Coast offense will come back with say Sam Wyche as offensive coordinator or similar West Coast Guy. Alex Smith will not be back either. Maybe Derek Anderson as a free agent and groom a rookie???
I said it before, but: Nolan's epitaph will read that although he did a great job cleaning up our cap and a good job rebuilding the roster, he failed at 3 of the 4 most important positions in football (at least the 3 highest paid positions)-- QB, pass-rusher, and LT.
Maybe Staley pans out, but priority 1b and 1c (after finding a coach) this offseason has to be figuring out a long-term solution to the QB position and acquiring a 10+ sack guy.
JVI1979: Good thinking. Bill Cowher will NOT be
joining the 49ers, not next year, or the year after.
It's been bandied about on PFT (a darn good football site for those who don't visit it) since The Chin left the
Steelers that he would return to a team near his family home. Apparently he's content to sit and wait for a
gig over on the eastern seaboard. Carolina, perhaps, or maybe Washington have been mentioned. This site has been incredibly prescient in the past, so I'd rule out Cowher.
Marty, on the other hand, gotta be a candidato primero.
His last job was a great stint in SD. We shouldn't be too put off by his "failure" in the play-offs, as a lot of those early losses were to Elway-led Broncos, who in those days was able to beat any team in the league NOT wearing Red & Gold. And, in San Diego, he only lost to the Jets in OT after rookie kicker Kaeding missed
a comparatively easy (ha, like I could make it...lol)
40 yarder to win the game. Nah, I'd have no apprehension
if we got Marty...I actually believe he'll get his SB wish...hopefully with us! Oh, somebody made a good point about what if Wingletary turns out to be like Mike
NoWin, after having almost being mentored by him.
It's a good point, and it may be the case. I think we all believe that the playing days Singletary persona will come thru on the sideline. That fiery passion for the game and to play it the right way. Thats what Ive based my opinion of MS on. Here's hoping thats the case.
Oh yeah, and GO NINERS!
In other news, Eric Heitmann has been signed to an extension through 2011.
“--Martz can't be happy with this development. He wants to be a head coach again. The fact that he got passed over for the interim job does not bode well for a long stay with the 49ers.”
If Martz doesn’t pick it up, he’s going to get fired as OC, never mind be plucked for a HC position elsewhere…..
Yeah I would say that Martz probably wouldn't get a HC job at this point. Depends on the situation though.
Mike in MD: Thanks for the heads up with the sites.
The reason Singletary was signed is pure and simple. He could try out for th erest of the season. There is no way Martz would agree to a 6 month tryout and a "demotion" to OC again. In fact, I am sure he would want an extension beyond his current contract, a raise and player decision making. The 9ers should take their time and get a good coach and staff. Sign them early in the offseason and let them go to work. Step 1, Find out what we are going to do with our top 3 pick
Great piece, especially given the ungodly hour you wrote it. The most salient point is that the head coach is the CEO. He should also be a master motivator and personnel manager who surrounds himself with quality people, coaches in this case. Coach Nolan seems like a nice man and a gentleman but may be an example of the Peter Principle.
I think they picked the right guy for interim HC. I'm anxious to see how Singletary responds. Let's see some fire and aggression now!
I'm with Rame.
While the fans are coming down on JTO, his problems are symptomatic of every Mike Martz QB since he first got the Rams HC job. Martz wants to push the ball downfield, and requires the QB to hold the ball until he can. There are hot reads when a blitz is on, but it doesn't take a blitz to get to the QB when the receivers are running 5 second routes, especially if the guy the system expects to get open doesn't.
The defense is awful and that's Nolan's fault (and maybe Manusky's, he is now trying out for his own job). They need to stop worrying about the big play and start worrying about creating their own. But the offense has been exactly what everyone should have expected. Able to move the ball and pick up yards, and even score, but prone to turnovers and unable to control the clock. Martz does not belong as HC. And he should feel fortunate is he's still an NFL OC next season.
Good news on Eric Heitmann extending. He has preformed better than anyone on our O-line and appears to be back from his leg injury last year. I know this line is much critized, but I do believe Heitmann and Staley are keepers. It has NOT be written about much, but Joe Staley had one hell of a game in pass blocking against the Giants. I have not looked at the run plays enough yet, but given Gore’s numbers I suspect everyone did bad in that area.
Here are the details - looks like a reasonable contract to me:
NEW DEAL FOR HEITMANN
Amid the current turmoil in San Fran, there’s a piece of positive news.
We’re told that, late last month, center Eric Heitmann was signed to a new contract.
Heitmann is now signed through 2011. He received a modest signing bonus of $1.25 million.
His base salary for 2008 is $1.24 million. Next year, his salary is $800,000, with a $500,000 guarantee and $1 million in roster bonuses.
In 2010, Heitmann is due to receive a base salary of $1.4 million and a roster bonus of $300,000.
In 2011, the base is $1.95 million, with another $300,000 roster bonus.
I think this was a necessary move about 10 months late. Nolan was shown that he does not have what it takes to run a franchise. I also like Warhop getting the axe, until I googled Chris Foerster. Not exactly a sterling reputation. I just hope Singletary can somewhat keep his head above water and not let getting thrown into a diffucult situation and scar his carrier ala A. Smith.
Matt - here's a question that will require a little
research, but could make for an interesting post in
the coming days. Everyone mentions how firing a
coach mid-season almost never produces a playoff team,
but I'd be interested in a breakdown of teams that
fired their coach mid-season and how they performed
the following season.
Note: your comments field doesn't seem to wrap text
in firefox 3 for Mac OSX -- it's very awkward.
Although I'm thrilled that Singletary is now getting his shot, don't look for a STL-like turn around. Linehan HAD lost the locker room and his players were speaking out against him. A far cry from what we have here (Mauck's article on 49ers.com shows that, as well as Matt's assertion). I'm just hoping for a more aggressive defense and more competitive 4th quarters.
Mike I was wondering where you went? I have included a picture from the Giants game on my profile.
Thanks for the kind words, welcome back to 49ers therapy.
yeah it's been a rough past few weeks. But this is a great welcome change. I can't believe the Yorks actually pulled the trigger. I thought we'd still have to wait for the outcome of the Seattle game to see if we had a "chance" of this happening.
Way to lead the charge out there in NY. Heard you were able to shoot the breeze for awhile with both Matts. Good deal. Like the artwork & the P52 colors. Now that we've removed the blockage lets let it loose & start going at it. It will be interesting to see how the Samurai operates. I hope he'll catch on to changing those Defensive schemes...like going to a 1 GAP penetrating 4-3, bench Franklin & put Soap/Fields in the middle. Let the CB's press cover more & give different looks. Back off, occasionally switch to zone, etc. Still have to rely on steady varied blitz packages to pressure the QB. I esp liked that he won't put up w/anyone not giving maximum effort putting all those Nolan Vet deadbeat favs on notice. (this means you Roman) All in all this has been a real welcomed day.
For now..thanks Yorks & future leader to be Jed.
Matt,
Love the blog, keep it up. The worse the team is, the less TV coverage we have here in WI, so thanks!
Have a question about this paragraph, though:
"--McCloughan and the Yorks had gone through best-case and worst-case scenarios since before the season. All along the thought was that if it got to this point, they'd probably promote defensive coordinator Greg Manusky. But they made the right call to elevate Mike Singletary, 50. He is the first African-American coach in 49ers history."
It looks like you are saying the 9ers made the right call hiring Singletary overy Manusky or Martz because he is black. To me, that's not a reason at all. One can debate the merits of affirmative action, but it would seem like the NFL would be the last place that it would be necessary (maybe the NBA).
Can you explore the possible thought process in hiring Singletary over Martz or Manusky? Football reasons only, please.
Matt, what do you think about McCloughan going after Andy Reid if (and probably best) he leaves Philly? He's got the Walsh/Holmgren/Mooch lineage and is a proven winner and solid in many areas as a Head guy.
No, I wasn't saying Singletary was the correct call for racial reasons. It was the end of a long day, and I'll admit it was a non sequitur. Singletary has the respect of everybody in the locker room. Also, by promoting Singletary, the 49ers don't mess with the coordinators. There is not added responsibilities placed on Manusky or Martz when they already have big challenges facing them. --Matt M.
True, plus he was alread assistant Head Coach and had been with the team longest, if that counts for anything. Thanks for educating me, Matt. Even learned a little Latin!