"In my last year in the league I began to ask coaches around the league that I really respected how they balanced the time between coaching and family, being a father, being a husband," Singletary said.
"And they said, 'You have to make a decision very early. You will not see your kids. You won't see your wife, so be prepared for that.' And based upon that, I knew that I would not be coaching."
Singletary and his wife, Kim, have seven children, ranging in age from 10 to 22.
"I wanted to make sure my kids knew who their father was,' Singletary said. "I never considered winning Super Bowl trophies being more important than being a Super Bowl dad."
Singletary said he came home one day and his wife told him, after much praying, that it was time for him to become a coach. His playing career ended in 1992. His first season of coaching was 2003 with the Baltimore Ravens as inside linebackers coach.
"I think I was driving her crazy with what happened, but she was right," Singletary said, "and I was very thankful that she had the wisdom and the timing."
One of the knocks heard around the league was that Singletary was not known to be a coach who invested long hours and slept in his office. But that does not mean he does not work as hard as some of his colleagues, he said.
"I believe in using my time very wisely, and I'm going to do my job, and I'm going to do it the very best that I can," Singletary said. "But I'm also going to have balance in life. While I'm here, I'm working my tail off to be the best coach that I can be, but when it's all said and done, I just want to make sure that there's balance in my life."
* * *
In an interview today on "The SIRIUS Blitz" on SIRIUS NFL Radio, former 49ers coach Mike Nolan told host John Riggins that Jed York was the only person in the room when he was fired.
"When they had told me I was fired, which Jed York had done, there was a lot of speculation about who did what," Nolan said. "But Jed York was the one that told me and he told me in a one-on-one conversation in my office."
On Tuesday, GM Scot McCloughan said both he and Jed York were present when Nolan was fired.
* * *
* * *
Man the East Coast are going to miss one helluvagame! Who'd prefer to watch the 5-1 Giants vs. the 5-1 Steelers anyways vs. the 2-5 Niners and 1-5 Seachicks with a backup QB? East Coast bias I'm telling ya. There's much more drama on Sunday at Candlestick. They're missing out!
Matt: I am puzzled. Is the discrepency about who was present at the firing significant? Is there a for McC. to embellish, for example?
sorry--that should be: Is there a REASON for McC. to embellish?
To me this explains why the firing - Jed pays way too much attention to what the bay area press thinks and writes about and explains who leakeed the firing to ESPN. Scott didn't want to do anything before the by week and Jed couldn't wait so forced his hand. Scott knows too which is why he repeatedly said "no one within the organization did this". Jed is outside - on top.If anyone thinks that right now that Jed is ready to run the 49ers is dead wrong. He's a kid. That's why there's no plan, he never thought passed the firing.
PS anyone in TV that thinks Hawaii wants to watch a Giants - Pittsburgh game is delusional.
Sounds to me from my layman's perspective that "hillbilley" Jed has a passion to win which is more than I can say for the other latte sipping owners.
I hope Singletary does well Sunday. I hope he takes off the training wheels that Nolan had on the defense. We should have no problem winning on Sunday if he does... The throwbacks are gonna be sweet!
If it is the case that they were going to wait until the bye but the ESPN report forced their hand, I would say that there isn't anything wrong with that.
As far as who was there when Nolan was fired, that's puzzling, but I'd bet that Scot was also there and Nolan didn't want to make his friend look bad? I don't know...
Can somebody please explain to me in CBS' apparant double header coverage, why the Giants/Steelers are not allowed to be on TV? Who gives a flying you know what about the 49ers/Seahawks? It's a 'game seen by 5% of the region whereas 95% get a BETTER QUALITY game!' I'm tired of my region giving me the SHAFT job of having no choices on Sundays. CBS should be allowed to give you the damn Giants/Steelers game. It has to be CBS' turn for Fox's double coverage was last week.
Nobody has a choice, you have to watch your local teams. I'm in NJ so I'd be forced to watch the Jets and Giants every week if I didn't have Sunday Ticket, that's the way it is and it will never change.
Matt, any idea if Singletary will run practices like Walsh, where plays were practiced over and over until they were run perfectly?
It seems to me that this would be an attention to detail trademark which would pay dividends as we're a bit sloppy.
Singletary sounds like a great father, and an all around good guy. His heart, however, doesn't sound dedicated enough to be a great football coach. Only time will tell.
We all have a chance to see where Mike Singletary will lead the team for 1/2 the season.
One handicap I foresee is the staff he inherited.
I am actually looking forward to the BYE week as a possible point of change. If Mike feels there needs to be adjustments to the staff it likely will occur with the extended break.
All the Holmgren talk is warranted due to his ties to the area and the famly tree of Bill Walsh.
My gut tells me he'll be courted, I'm not sold on him as talent evaluator but he is well traveled and saavy enough to assemble a qualified front office I'd guess.
A great scenario would have Singletary moving the team forward and shocking the doubters and positioning Holmgren to surround him with the guidance needed to get this dysfunctional mess under control.
As Parcells once said, buying the groceries is where it starts. Until we devise the 'Plan', all we can expect is this same aimless approach to getting out of our own way.
We've removed Nolan, that's a key step to making the necessary change of direction now.
Let's throw our collective support behind Mike now and see what he's got.
The man deserved this shot, I'm sure he won't take it lightly. Who knew Tomlin before he stepped in behind Cowher? Sometimes the Mike Smith's and Tony Sparanos' just needed the support of ownership and the tools to build the product properly.
A good organization begins with dedicated ownership.
If Denise and John don't have the heart to do it, by all means, let the kid roll up his sleeves and get after it.
If Uncle Eddie is standing in his corner, Mo Better!
Just read this on PFT, a quote from John Elway,
(oneniner will love this):
“The fastest way to ruin a quarterback is to put
him on a bad team, with a bad line, with no weapons,
with no continuity in the coaching staff,” Elway
wrote in a column for the Sporting News.
Hey Matt, i liked the old blog much better, any
chance you will go back to the Instant 49ers Site?
The major reason for the support for Holgren taking a job here is pure sentiment because he has ties to the great man Bill Walsh. In Seattle he's done very little despite the team being owned by the richest owner in the league giving the team a blank check. Fantastic stadium, best training facilities of any team and money to buy any free agent and yes, big contract for the head coach. Yet Holgren has done remarkably little with it. He was an utter failure as GM so that was removed from his job description and as coach he's achieved just one SB appearance in which he lost. This year his team is worse than the 49ers.
His only success has been in GB with Brett Favre. If Nolan had found a QB with equal talent he'd still be with the niners and would be coach of the year. Great QB's make great coaches. Shanahan without Elway, Bellicheck without Brady, Parcells in Dallas - all very ordinary with average records. And Walsh without Montana? Who knows.
As for the need for a passionate owner, that's a total crock. I listened to Barbieri and Steve Young deciding the impossibility of a winning 49ers program without an owner that's passionate about football. Utter garbage - go ask the players what affect that has on their play on Sunday. Ask how that helps them not throw picks, not fumble the ball and not tackle an open runner.. Better still, ask Barbieri how his passionate station owner makes his show the best in sports radio, or ask Young how the passionate ESPN owners help his post game critiques.
By the way, Steve Young did support Scott Mcloughan's comments that since Nolan took over the Yorks have been model owners. Allowing football men free reign at running the team, providing financial and moral support and keeping out of the way. Of course many don't want to hear that. But it's true. Judging by his public comments Jed knows very little about football so hopefully he wont get too bold after his firing of Nolan and follow his parents recent behaviour.
"Very little" is a subjective term. Enterting this season, Holmgren's record as head coach was 86-68. The Seahawks have won four consecutive NFC West division titles and gone to the playoffs five straight seasons. After the 2005 season, the Seahawks advanced to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Steelers. Folks in Seattle are still perturbed with several very questionabe officiating calls in that game. There are not many teams in the NFL that can match the Seahawks' accomplishments this decade. --Matt M.
Winning NFC West titles over the past few years unfortunately doesn't mean a whole lot. Holgren in 9 years (I think) with the Seahawks has had just one decent post season run. Isn't his record 4-6 in playoffs? That's a bunch of one and dones. Not at all impressive especially with the resources at his command. And no SB trophies for the worst loser in that games history.
Nope - Holgren for the niners is 99% sentiment. A very poor reason for hiring a coach. Nearly as poor as Jed's analysis on why the team is loosing games.
Hey matt, I know your are getting ready for the game, but I wanted to share a theory with you and get your opinion on the matter: (if this has already been posted please forgive me as i did not see it) I think that one of the main reasons for the firing of Nolan before the bye week is this: Knowing that this weeks game against Seattle, at home, is arguably the easiest opponent left on the schedule with so many road games left and with 3 of the next 4 on the road, and a win before the bye would definately give the new head coach a confidence boost as well as the team and fan base! Your thoughts??? Thank You!!!
JOSH IN C.O.S. Country
Hey...don't we get match-up's from Matt by now?
I am bummed...
"Winning NFC West titles doesn't mean a whole lot"?
"Not all that impressive"?
"Owners don't make a difference"?
Hmmm, not sure how many people would agree with any
of that. One things for sure though, there is only
one "o" in the word lose.
Hey TJ, I didn't write those things so why the quotes?