OK, whether you remember or not, here's the refresher from Sept. 3:
Q: If, knowing what a big hit he would be on your salary cap next year, would you conceivably bring him back if he were not your starter?
McCloughan: "You can't. You can't. That's something (that's true) at any position. The amount of money we're going to invest in him, he'd have to be proven that he is the guy - that when we get to the offseason, he's our guy for next year."
* * *
Well, McCloughan was not as definitive about Smith's future when I spoke with him today. He said if Smith were willing to take a dramatic pay cut from his scheduled $9.625 million salary the discussions would be "wide open, no doubt about it."
Here's a Q&A with the 49ers main man McCloughan:
Q: What do you hope to see from the team in the second half of the season?
McCloughan: "It's important to see positives. (Such as) a group of guys playing together and having success together; acting like it's not just a job but it's a sport and they're having fun at it. The key thing is we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. We can't be undisciplined and have excess turnovers because that means we're not building momentum. As soon as we do something, we do something negative and we can't build on it. As bad as the first half feels at 2-6, we got eight games left and we can flip the momentum, but it has to start with the guys having success together and building off it each week."
Q: Everything about the organization will be on display Monday night. Is this is big game just for how the nation will perceive the 49ers?
McCloughan: "It is, but even if it's not a Monday night, the first half we did not have the kind of success we wanted. No matter who we're playing or when it is, we have to play the kind of football we're capable of playing and build off the successes we've had and not make the negatives even worse."
Q: Where do things stand as far as the future of the 49ers' quarterback situation?
McCloughan: "It's very vital and it's proven out around the league for many years that you have to have consistency at the quarterback position, especially if you have some youth on offense. It's so important to have consistency from whoever's calling the plays to whoever's running the plays. That's important, whether your play-caller is the head coach or offensive coordinator. And the most important guy running the plays is the quarterback. We need to keep re-evaluating the position, as we always do and make sure we do what's best not just for the short term but the long term so we have that consistency at the quarterback position."
Q: What's Alex's future?
McCloughan: "He can't come back for the money he's at. We know that. It's just common sense. It's too bad that he hasn't been able to do it on the field, so we can say, 'Yes, he can,' or 'No, he can't.' It's taken some injuries to knock him out of his play time. The different systems he's been in have held him back, and held the offense back, from being as productive as they can be over a four-year span. I still believe Alex is going to be a good quarterback in this league."
Q Can it be here?
McCloughan: "It could be here, certainly."
Q: Have you had those contract talks yet?
McCloughan: "We really haven't. It's something we're going to need to address as we get through this. Right now, I'm worried more about what's happening on the field today because we do have a lot of football left. But as we get closer to the end of the season, I'll start looking to the future. There will be some discussions to take place."
Q: Is it a good sign that he wanted to remain here throughout the entire season?
McCloughan: "I don't know that. His personality and the kind of guy he is, he feels like he's part of this. That's one thing you respect about Alex. He came in with a lot of these guys as rookies and he feels an obligation to be out here and support them. That's the one thing coach (Mike) Nolan built in the locker room was a family atmosphere that we're in this together. You can ask Alex and he'll tell you with a smile on his face that he's here to help these guys win football games. And anything he can do to help out, he'll do that."
Q: Whomever is the head coach next season, will that person have a large say in what's done?
McCloughan: "It all depends which route we take at the end of the season. Right now, coach (Mike) Singletary is head coach for the rest of the season and Mike Martz is offensive coordinator, and he's under contract through next year. We want success. We want to finish the season with success and go from there. Coach Martz and I have spoken many times about what he's looking for at certain positions on offense. With each coordinator you bring there, there are always different qualities they're looking for in players at certain positions. I've been picking his brain as we go through this. Even for the rest of the year, we'll try to get guys who fit what he likes to do to make the offense more successful."
Q: And what's the feeling about how Alex fits?
McCloughan: "The way coach Martz speaks about him to this day, it's too bad he's not healthy. He'd be playing him now. He sees a lot of positives. With the youth of Alex, it means there's still a lot to develop and work on. And with Alex, he's eager to work on it. He wants to soak it in and get better. I know Alex likes the system and likes working with coach Martz."
Q: With the consistency of the play-calling that you mentioned, isn't it imperative that you hire an offensive head coach:
McCloughan: "You can look at it that way. Also, there are coordinators who have been with head coaches for a long time. Tony Dungy (and Tom Moore) is a good example, and he's a defensive coach. It's getting in a situation where everything comes together and stays together."
Q: You said at the press conference a couple weeks ago that all the blame does not fall on Nolan's shoulders. Do you take responsibility for what has happened, too?
McCloughan: "Oh, yeah. No doubt about it. I'm part of building this roster and bringing players here, through the draft or free agency or re-signing guys and letting guys go. I'm a big part of it. It's hard to go through these stretches because it affects you. The head coach, it falls on his shoulders because he signs on and if it's not successful, it's the head coaches fault. But it's not all his fault. It's the fault of everybody who touches this team on a daily basis that we're not as good as we can be. We all have to do what we can do to get better."
Q: Personally, what can you do to get better?
McCloughan: "I think just keep going through our roster and find out if we have made mistakes, how come? Why weren't they successful? I'll keep picking coach Martz's brain and coach (Greg) Manusky's brain to see what they think they need to have success in their systems."
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Dump McCloughan should be the first thing the Niners do next. He is the GM and he set this team up with Nolan. Whatever he says should be disregarded. Frankly I don't trust his judgment and his record here is now 18-37. That is all we need to know.
To all 49er fans: All the posturing and hand wringing are to no avail. The problem begins and ends with OWNERSHIP. Fans have a natural tendency to be lemmings, but lets start thinking rationally. Who in their right mind believes lucky sperm Jed can run this team? Bad ownership leads to decades of futility. The Yorks have turned our beloved 49ers into alaughing stock! Boycott the stadium! DO NOT renew season tickets! Send the bums from Ohio a message; "We're mad as hell, and we are not going to take it anymore!!!"
Marco, he wasn't the GM until this year. Any decision he may have wanted to make up until this year could have been overridden by Nolan. There is no way anyone can say that a certain player is his fault when we don't even know if he actually wanted the player. He also did not pick Nolan as his HC, judge him when he picks his HC.
Ron Wolf was a big fan(and mentor) of his(recommending him for the dolphins GM job), so that means a lot more than anything he's done under Nolan so far.
I agree with Marco, McCloughan needs to
be fired and Holmgrem needs to be hired.
Then maybe the turn around can begin as
it did under Parcells and the Dolphins.
Razoreater: You realize Holmgren was stripped of his GM duties in Seattle because of horrible decisions such as trading Ahman Green for Fred Vinson. When has Holmgren ever shown any ability of being a good GM? Ron Wolf was the GM in greenbay and Holmgren left greenbay because he didn't have any control in personnel. Unless he's coming in to be our HC, I wouldn't go near holmgren.
I think Mcloser should get one more year to turn this thing around with no Nolan excuses. If he can't, Holmgren will be coming off his one year vacation. McCloughan has had success in the league before, so it is obvious that the real problem is ownership. I am optomistic about Jed. Time will tell.
The franchise needs to dump McClue-less, and Manusky. The team is in a state of disarray. Once again McClue-less speaks but he says nothing.
Off Topic:
Did anyone notice that Jamie Winborn had 12 tackles and 1 assist in tonight's game? If I remember correctly this is a guy that the Niner brain trust simply let go.
Alex Smith has every right to return, so let's fire McCloughan from his Mike Adamle role. McCloughan is as clueless as Mike Adamle of the WWE, former ECW announcer and now former Raw GM.
I hearby ask and request:
Blackout the Rams game
Blackout the Jets game
Blackout the Redskins game
I want all 3 local blackouts. PLEASE!
Sup3r, I understand your reservations, but
Mr. Holmgrem vast knowledge of football
and would be operating under one responsibility as GM only. Also his heart
really was really left in San Fransisco
and I have no reservations as to what his
motivations would be with regard to turning
this franchise back into relevance.
oh oh...the whinners are jumpin on McGM now......What i take from this read is - Alex Smith and Mike Martz come back next yr.
McCloughan hasn't even been a GM for a full season. I think they should keep McCloughan and restructure Smith's contract. I think McCloughan needs a little more time in the driver seat.
My 5 cents worth.... from smaller to bigger. Chances of returning next year... Alex Smith 80%, no one will offer an unproved QB more than $5 Mill a year and his agent knows it. Martz 75%, it basically depends if Singletary gets a shot next year. Singletary 60%, he needs to show a change this week. Not with a win, but with attitude, eagerness and aggresiveness. Right now, only Cowher (he's happy were he is), Holmgren (1 year layoff) and Schottenheimer (could be a swing and a miss) are the only proven HCs available, anyone else is a gamble, just like Singletary. So why not given him a full season and an extra draft to try to gel everything if it doesn't payoff we turn to Holmgren as GM, not as coach. Honestly, I really liked Jed's interview, he has a passion for the team and the sport that his parents never showed. Now let's just hope that he pulls through with what he said in the interview.
Next time ask him why no one from our top 3 draft picks are starting when we are such a talent poor team. If Dallas, New England, New York, Philly and Indy can do it, why can't we?
I think it's very vital for McCloughan to do a better job in drafting players to play their true positions instead of finding players intending to move them around ala Zak Keasey. I think it's very vital that McCloughan step back and realize his words sound like a huge pile of manure. Martz would be playing Smith but the injury is very extremely unfortunate. Riiiiight. Smith very much really likes this offense. Riiiiight. Martz gave Smith a 5 minute look and decided he couldn't run the offense. Why in the world would any QB want to play in this offense? QB gets killed on almost every play.
Matt - You've stated that the niners would take a $5.3 mil cap hit if they were to release Smith at the end of the year. Would they still take this cap hit if they were to restructure his contract and he were to come back at a lower salary?
McCloughan needs another year as total control of the GM position. because of Holgrem really wants to please his future...need next year off wif his family...then and IF McCloughan does not do a SUPERB job, fire him and hire Holgrem after he had spend time with his family. Homlgrem's family happy, he's happy, and niner happy...healthy future for the club and his family moving forward. (and plus Cloughan is not fire prematurely.)
McCloughan is not the problem. He isn't coaching and motivating these guys to play, nor is he designing the schemes.
He's brought in some decent talent... It's up to the coaches to develop the players and put them in the right positions to succeed.
If he simply restructured, they wouldn't have to take the cap hit. But if they cut and re-signed him, they would. In either case, the 49ers would probably want to take the cap hit. After all, they will get a $7 million cap credit in 2009 because of Donald Strickland's contract. --Matt M.
I'm confused. What advantage would come from taking the cap hit? Seems the cap hit would eat almost all of the cap credit, which doesn't sound beneficial.
Wrong wrong wrong.
McCloughan is the problem. Nolan was the problem. Maraathe is the problem. Jed and the rest of the hillbillies are the problem.
The whole reeking dysfunctional organization from top to its deep dark bottom is the problem.
Step one: determine what kind of team you want... WCO? Smash mouth? Defense? Offense?
Step Two: get a decent GM and promising coach who want to run that kind of team.
Step Three: Get the players to make it work. Don't try to run a 3-4 for years while never getting either a real edge rusher OR a serviceable non-retread NT (Yeah, you, Butt-Head Nolan!)
It isn't easy, but it also isn't rocket science. You need a unified, functional organization. Like Lincoln said, hang together or hang separately.
Of course this all presumes that Jed has at least Eddie D's ability to admit disaster and try to fix it (a la Joe thomas 1978). Cross your fingers.
Paraag Marathe put us back in good cap standing.
Jed at least gives us hope - especially when he's got Eddie D advising him.
The HC decides what kind of team he wants. The GM (McCloughan) brings in players that fit the HC's schemes he's trying to run.
In fairness to McCloughan, this is his first year as official GM. He at least deserves a chance to prove what he can do in his new role.
Anybody think that maybe young Jed is just a cover for Eddie D running the show from behind the scenes? Uncle Ed what should I do now? We can only hope.
Gee, Matt: It's nice to read about Alex Smith, but I sure wished you'd have asked McCloughan about whether the Niners have considered moving Vernon Davis to defensive end, where his talents might prove to be more evident. We need a little creativite thinking here. Also, might we finally see Ahmad Brooks at DE? That position has been killing us for years.
First Eddie D isn't coming back. There are enough NFL owners who would stop that! They resent what he did with the Debartolo Corporation. The reason I get on McCloughman is because of his player evaluations. He was in charge of that for the entire 3 1/2 years of Nolan. Frankly I don't think they are a talented team, PERIOD! Yes Gore & Willis are pro bowlers along with Lee, but on offensive I doubt few of our players could start on most NFL teams. Quite buying the hype! Good Players make plays! On defense we have Willis, Smith, and Clements, maybe Lawson when healthy Folks That's it! Quite drinking the Niner Kool-Aid. We just don't have the talent. Staley was an over-reach as are most of our draft choices. We haven't drafted well since Bill Walsh influence left the building and those Fools the Yorks pushed him out. Do you realize that? The Yorks kicked Walsh out of the building so why would any 49ers fan like the Yorks.
Actually, Nolan was the trigger man until this year. Scot gave him his top choices and Nolan made the final call. Now that McCoughan is in charge, we get to see what he can do. I was impressed he fired his original boss in Nolan mid-season, knowing the friendship they had. After all, it was Nolan's responsibility to develop the players.
Just for the record it was Donahue that vouched for dumping Walsh. The elder Yorks were Donahue's puppet. That's what excites me about Jed. He cares and can actually think on his own - something his parents never seemed to be able to do.
MarcMan, you can't forget about Joe Nedney and the great All-Pro Andrew Lee!