Singletary entered
the cramped room off the team's practice field that is used for Wednesday
morning press briefings. He had no prepared statements. He fielded questions
immediately.
He said it's
a little strange not to have Mike Nolan in the building. He said being named
interim head coach is humbling. Singletary promised to take the team to the "next
level."
When asked
about "the next level," Singletary did not define it. He said the club will
stress the details that are needed to make a difference. He said he thought
onlookers would see a difference.
Last night,
Singletary got the coaches together. This morning, he met with the players. "To
me, the most important thing is to reset the agenda and vision," Singletary
said.
When asked
about what kind of role he'll have in the offense, Singletary said he has full
confidence in Mike Martz. Singletary chuckled when he talked about the
interaction between the two men yesterday. Singletary went to speak to Martz
about some things.
"What do
you want to talk about? Why do you want to talk about that?" Those are the
words Martz said to Singletary, according to Singletary. It wasn't entirely
clear whether Martz was being as defensive as it sounded or if there was any
humor involved.
Singletary
said Martz told him the most important thing was to move forward together. "Mike,
you're the guy, so let's go get it," Martz told Singletary.
When asked
about how a defensive coach prepares for the game- and clock-management parts
of the game, Singletary said this is something for which he's been preparing
for a long time. He spends his offseason talking to coaches and referees, he
said.
"I'm
confident everything will go smooth," Singletary said.
Singletary
talked about the defensive coaches all contributing to the game plan. He said
he looked at the game plans last night for the upcoming
Is the team
a 3-4 or 4-3? Singletary said, "We'll see at game time. We're schizophrenic. We
don't know what we do."
When asked whether he's going to make it a priority to get younger players on the field - such as Kentwan Balmer and Chilo Rachal - Singletary said he'll do whatever it takes to win. "We just need to play better."
* * *
Also, T Jonas Jennings (shoulder), S Michael Lewis (knee), WR Josh Morgan (groin), S Mark Roman (groin) and RS Allen Rossum (groin) will not practice today. All but Jennings are expected to be available for Sunday's game. (Walt Harris will also not practice, but he's fine.) And CB Nate Clements (ribs) will see limited work, but he should be good to go for the game.
* * *
From the pages of today's Press Democrat:
Click here to read, "Nolan talks about losing his dream job."
Click here to read, "Singletary takes over with Nolan's blessing."
* * *
Matt, what's going on with JJ? What's wrong with his shoulder and how much longer will he be out?
Jonas Jennings' shoulder popped out of its socket back on Sept. 14. I'd expect him to have a chance to return to action after the bye week for the Monday, Nov. 10, game against the Arizona Cardinals. --Matt M.
Wow I was hoping singletary would pick a D and stay with it. I hope the linebackers get more involved. The strength of the D and they play further off the ball than the corners. If you notice all the good teams play there linebackers up close. Willis and Spikes are as good as they come and should keep teams guessing. Kind of easy to read when they are 7 to 10 yards back reacting instead of dictating. Anyhoo Go Niners
I don't think Singletary would've said that about Martz if it was an awkward exchange. I think one writer said Martz will be stabbing Singletary in the back in no time. I guess time will tell.
Oh yea, I really loved that zinger by Nolan about your blog yesterday. It seems you two have a friendly relationship.
This has disaster written all over it! Did anybody catch the interview with Ralph and McCloughan yesterday on KNBR? Hilarious!
All eyes will be on this next game. 1 of the many things I'm hoping for is a big jump in overall game management. Better & faster coordination with the guys in the booth upstairs, smart challenges, & usage of timeouts.
Singletary didn't say much about any plans or changes but I think it's his personality that will make the biggest difference if not THE difference in helping bring this team over the hump. No more extreme umbrella of caution (as the other Matt puts it) & players afraid of making mistakes. Just let it loose & let's play some smart, aggressive but still disciplined football. Just do your jobs!
Besides that there's still a ton of work & corrections to be made on this team. JTO cutting down TO's & taking care of the ball, OL play, Martz protecting JTO with the playcalling, (keep on the screens/hot reads/3-5 step drops, & CONSISTENT MORE GORE), & defensively it will be up to Manusky & Singletary to come up with a plan to mix it up & play to the players strengths & making any needed personnel changes.
I believe there also will be more attention to detail & there HAS TO BE. This team makes so many little mistakes that accumulate & effect us greatly in winning vs losing these games (again the challenges/timeouts, JT running out of bounds when needed, penalties, blown coverages, etc) + the obvious big turnovers. I like the Samurai's message saying that he won't put up with not getting a 100% effort. Hey, put these guys on notice but I don't think getting these guys to play will be a problem. I think they'll WANT to play for Mike.
I don't know what's going to happen. Waiting anxiously & hoping for some better if not big jump in play. Let's tear up these birds..GO NINERS!!
Matt..do you think Paraage is qualified to be the "eye in the sky" for us on these replays?
To me he's out of place. Just doesn't feel right. Maybe Singletary will replace him with a football guy.
If Singletary can amp up this defense, there's no doubt in my mind that the niners can make some real noise in the second half. The same noise we were expecting prior to the start of the season.
Matt - Have you gotten any feel as to how the players are reacting to this change? Any difference in the feel of the environment? I assume it's still too early to tell completely, just wondering if you're getting any sense so far.
I wish I could have seen this press conference. Reading the words certainly doesn't inspire confidence in Singletary. No changes... Schizo on defense... Martz already challenging Singletary... Doesn't sound good. I've never been a Martz fan so I am biased. I hope Singletary squishes him like a bug if Martz tries to challenge him. If JTO keeps giving the ball to the other team like he's Santa Claus and Martz continues on his ego trip and sticks with JTO then Singletary will have to pull rank on Martz and force a qb change. That power struggle ought to be interesting to watch.
Darth..I was hoping he'd do that too in picking a scheme. As Berger & others have said I think we're most effective in a 4-3, benching Franklin & going L to R: McDon/Sopoaga/Fields/Smith & using them to 1 GAP & penetrate. (hey, I'm learning Berger wherever you are. I believe your so right & writers at 49ERSWZ have said the same thing.)
Plus all the other stuff..more press coverage, back off, switch to zone..mixing that up & giving different looks to the enemy QB, etc. The way I'm seeing this is maybe Singletary is easing into this & after turning these guys loose & seeing their play after a game or two will make a fresh re-evaluation & adjustments as needed.
Hopefully the Niners can manage a victory against Seattle this weekend and then Singletary will have two weeks to start to put his ideas into place. I don't think these changes will affect the offensive gameplan this week vs Seattle but I think the defense will be affected. If Seneca Wallace starts, they need to bring pressure the whole game because they've been able to rattle him before and win. Hopefully though going forward, Singletary will evaluate what he's got on the defense's roster and put together a defense with the pieces he's got instead of perpetuating the 3+ year failure of switching to a 3-4 defense.
An another note, the Browns are fed up with Winslow and we're all fed up with Vernon Davis, it would be nice if we could swap TEs with Cleveland. Maybe both need a change of scenery, both have big mouths but at least Winslow can catch!
I have a feeling the Singletary/Martz exchange was a little humor-infused. But I am glad that Singletary isn't afraid to bring some things up to Martz, such as the corrections that need to be made to bring downs sacks and minimizing JTO turnovers. I can solve that problem with two words: FRANK GORE.
If we're leading, there's no reason to run 2 out of 3 plays.
I can't wait for Sunday. I'm going to reserve judgement for now, given the newness of the change. I like Singletary and hope he proves to be the answer.
On another note, I sure would like to see that exchange between Martz and Singletary, because putting it in print doesnt really do much justice for the exact tone of the exchange.
Is Singletary going to make any difference in how the defense performs? He has been part of the coaching staff for the same 3.5 years Nolan has been here. If Nolan respects Singletary, which he clearly says he does, then wouldn't Nolan have welcomed Singletary's ideas and suggestions all along? I don't know the answer, but I will be watching to see how this game and the rest of the season unfold. Certainly Singletary isn't going to let Seattle know what he's planning, so we'll all have to wait for Sunday afternoon.
MATT PLEASE....
Straighten out some of these geniuses (Lowell Cohn) that seem to have their common senses collectively tainted by their love affair with the notion of hiring Holmgren as the "ALL-Being-Master-Of-Time-Space-and-the-Longing for the 80's-Dimension.
Hello Mc Fly!!!
Holmgren was indeed himself "STRIPPED OF HIS GM DUTIES...." in Seattle not too long ago. Maybe they like Nolans' style a bit more than they realize...
HOLMGREN HAS PROVED HE CANNOT DO IT!!!
Just like Nolan.
Ron Wolfe was as much a part of MH's success in Green Bay as Mike was!!!
Is Wolf or Holmgren true genius?
Here's a refresher for those of lean memory.
"KIRKLAND, Wash. _ Mike Holmgren will remain coach of the Seattle Seahawks, he said, largely because of his fondness for his players and confidence in his team's future.
But to do so, he agreed on Tuesday to relinquish his general manager duties and dismiss four defensive assistant coaches.
Holmgren's decision to give up the GM job was a reversal of the hard-line stance on keeping both coach and general manager duties when pressed about his dual role earlier in the season. "I think it was a way to free me up to do the things that they know I like to do most," Holmgren said. "That's really, I think, what is the motivation behind it."
Darth: Just because Wingletary has stated to the
media that he's unsure of what D. he will run, doesn't
mean to say that he doesn't know. It's unwise to
"declare" any info like that, and far smarter to
keep it under wraps until game time. This way, it
hinders the oppositions ability to prepare accordingly.
This is the first sign that we have a HC who knows
how to, "play the game"...and certainly something
we're not used to round these here parts after Nolan
and his "game smarts"
Norm: Yes, I caught the interview. Scot is DEFINITELY
not the sharpest tool in the box. He got pushed
around by the Razor quite badly. Lets hope his
football smarts are superior to his conversation
and/or debating skills.
Can somebody please leave me the stream address of Ralph/Scott? I got to hear it please!
TJ..I hope the Samurai really is aware of that & that's how he's playing it. That would be an awesome sign & says a lot. I posted 3-4 other websites for you but the moderator cut them out. Probably not good biz for me to do that here on Matt's sight. Sorry guys.
Razor LINK:
http://media.knbr.com/knbr/1021mccloughan.mp3
RK in LA..I think the way Singletary will make a difference is that Nolan had a grip so TIGHT on this team for them TO NOT MAKE MISTAKES that he held them back & suffocated them. Singletary on the other hand I sense will push, inspire, & motivate them & tell them to get AGGRESSIVE. (Let it loose & GO FOR IT. If you make a mistake..no biggie as long as you give 100%+ effort. If you blew your assignment we'll talk about what you need to do to correct it......& hopefully BENCH you if you can't learn & keep making the same mistakes.) We're getting a taste of that on the 1st report from practice. From his days as a player I'm sure he'll figure out when to taper off the intensity towards the end of the week so their bodies can recuperate & be ready on Sundays. I also think how he manages & stays on top of the game can make another big difference in keeping us in games & the opportunity to get the W IF he shows he's a better game manager that we're hoping for.
I really don't see how he could possibly NOT be a great game manager. Again, based solely on his previous position as the 'qb of the defense'. He really has to UNDERSTAND what's going on, and he seemed to do that VERY well. I see no reason why that wouldn't carry over to coaching.
It all points to that shootme & that's great background evidence that gives us some promise..but we really don't know 100% until we see it. With this team this is probably the motto.....SHOOOWW ME!!