After all, the 49ers could get their first victory over a playoff team (using all their players) since late in the 2006 season when they defeated the Seahawks in
But the 49ers can't use the standard of how they're finishing the season as the best gauge to hire a head coach. Lest we forget, Mike Nolan's record over the final four games of each of his first three seasons was 6-6. The 49ers always played better in December under Nolan.
There is no question that the 49ers could do a lot worse than extending Singletary an offer to be the team's permanent head coach. But rather than seeing how Singletary's team is doing at the end of this season, it is much more important to hire him based on his plan for the future.
For instance, he has unquestionably had a positive influence on offensive coordinator Mike Martz. With Singletary guiding Martz, the 49ers' offense is no longer filthy with sacks allowed and turnovers.
The team has played to its strengths. Frank Gore runs the ball, and Shaun Hill uses play-action to throw passes in the short and intermediate ranges. Gone is Martz's high-risk, high-reward offense since Singletary started shaping Martz's thought process.
But does Martz figure into the 49ers' long-term plans? Will he take a college job? Does Martz want to be back working under Singletary? We don't know the answers to those questions.
So if Martz does not return, what is Singletary's plan for the offense?
The fact Singletary's background is on defense is the reason he was a long shot for the full-time job in 2009 when he took over as interim coach. But the better he does in this role, the more difficult it will be for the 49ers to hire anybody but him as the next head coach.
Ideally, the 49ers would like to hire a head coach with an offensive mind. That way, regardless of what changes are necessitated on the coaching staff, at least the offensive structure is guaranteed to remain the same.
Singletary's best bet might be to latch onto a young, successful quarterbacks coach who needs several good seasons as a coordinator to get on anybody's list as a head-coaching candidate.
Before Singletary is rubber-stamped as the next head coach, it seems that issue would need to be resolved.
After all, Nolan's major failing as a head coach was that he was never able to establish any offensive continuity from one year to the next. He was completely at the mercy of his offensive coordinator. How does Singletary plan to make sure the 49ers do not repeat that mistake?
* * *
i like Mike a lot. He is a great leader and commands the respect of the players. But, your HC has to know all areas of the game including offense for the reasons you stated. And that is the reason there are very few great coaches out there. That is why I don't think we will hire him next year.
Here's hoping some young OC has both the knowledge and the presence needed
The problem with a young OC is that if he's any good he becomes a HC candidate. Perhaps an older experienced OC would be better since most teams are looking for youngerish HCs. Find a Tom Moore type. Dan Henning, that age group.
Matt, good change on the web color, much easier on the eyes. As for the coaching staff, I'd like for them to be retained for next year just to have some continuity. I'm sure Singletary will clean house in terms of players so those are the changes I'm looking for. I think Singletary should be HC next season based on his ability to commend respect from his players and get the most out of each and everyone of them. Football is about team effort and Singletary so far has done a good job in have them play as a team. Just my opinion.
"Singletary's best bet might be to latch onto a young, successful quarterbacks coach who needs several good seasons as a coordinator to get on anybody's list as a head-coaching candidate."
How many young, successful quarterbacks coaches are out there? Does anyone have a list of names?
Matt, what's Mike McCoy's(Carolina QB coach) reputation? I only bring him up because he's my friend's cousin and that could mean some sweet fringe benefits.
I think that the best options for the 49ers is to keep Singletary as HC. If Martz does leave that might be best anyway because I cant see him hanging around for a 3rd year anyway after next season. I do think we need to draft a qb this year keeping Hill as the starter though. Bring in a new OC from the Norv turner coaching tree. Turners offense is best suited for the players we have currently. This way IF Smith does return he atleast does not need to learn yet another offense and this will allow some sort of continuity which this team has not had. You cant have a bunch of player learning new systems every year because they are always starting over and they never learn to play together and they never get better. If this happens nobody lead by example. Look back to Craig,Lott,Montana etc. Who would be the best fit from the Turner tree? Any ideas?
I still don't think we have the players to reguardless of the head coach. McCloughan's been there long enough even though Nolan was in charge for most of that time. Replace him. Get a good GM and allow him to make a coach selection. Still, it may take a while for us to rebuild or do you see us contending any time soon with the horses we have?
What about Ted Tollner as a candidate? Seems to me he will not be a HC candidate. Tollner has been around football for a long time, has previously served in such a capacity and is certainly familiar with the Niners personnel and the workings of this coaching staff.
What about Ted Tollner as a candidate? Seems to me he will not be a HC candidate. Tollner has been around football for a long time, has previously served in such a capacity and is certainly familiar with the Niners personnel and the workings of this coaching staff.
The problem with the 49ers is O Line & D Line. We lose in the trenches every game, I mean come on how hard is it to see this!? & Roman has not had an INT for 2 years. WHAT? Thats unexcusable. The 49ers will continue to have losing seasons as long as these players that have helped us to 6 consecutive years without a playoff appearance are still playing for the 49ers!
The more important thing would be to get a very experienced, knowledgeable, respected football guy at the GM position. Maybe even someone who has coached for the 49ers before, who loves the team and the city and the Bay Area.. even someone with roots in Bill Walsh's offense. Someone like... Mike Holmgren! and let him recommend a head coach. McCloughan seems a nice enough guy, but the Yorks could do better.. much better! Scot has worked under Holmgren before and could do so again. If not, he could hit the road and we wouldn't lose that much.
Using my criteria, some of the candidates would be: Jeremy Bates (Denver), Brian Daboll (Jets), Mike McCoy (Carolina) and Pete Carmichael Jr. (Saints). --Matt M.
There is only one name that Jed York should be considering at this point in time.
Jeff Tedford. Jeff Tedford. Jeff Tedford.
Name me just one coach -- ONE MIND YOU -- one and only one -- who has posted six consecutive winning seasons as the HC of the California Bears football team.
This only applies to coaches in the modern era.
By doing all the things you mentioned in your post, Matt, Singletary has shown that he has a far greater understanding of offense than Nolan. He may not be able to call the plays, but he can assess his personnel and realize what the offense should do to play within itself. That is all he needs. You're right, if he can find a top notch schemer, all the better, but he definitely has a plan and has shown he deserves this job.
My one question for Matt: do you sense that Singletary will restore recent 49ers tradition if he has the job next year, e.g., do you think he'll have recent Niner greats such as Lott, Rice, Steve Young, Montana, around the team during training camp?
Wasn't Hostler on that list 2 years ago?
I don't think that Martz would stick around very long if he's not made HC... sure Sing had a good influence on Martz, but Martz would leave for the first HC Offer...
To me Singletary might also look down to San Diego... I don't think that Norv will be HC next season, and Norv already had decent success with that personel on offense... Matt, what do you think about this possibility???
I think Mike Singletary with the respect and passion he has
could sway people that would normally turn down an offer
to coach, and I'm talking ex-players. People like Steve
Young, Ron Jaworski, Doug Williams, etc. Drafting Nate
Davis and let him sit with the clipboard for a year. Offensive
tackle and Defensive tackle are priorities after securing
Davis. He is a franchise QB with everything you are looking
for in one. Arm strength, accuracy, pocket presence and
huddle command. GM is also a priority in my mind with
Mr. Holmgrem as the only viable choice for me. McCloughan is McClueless. I would be very interested to
hear Coaches' answer to said question from Mr. Maiocco.
Off topic from the comments, but regarding the original topic: Some perspective--as bad as our Niners look they're just 16 minutes away from being tied for the division lead. The first fifteen minutes we lost in the fourth quarter of the Philly game... Fifteen minutes that wouldve put our record now at 5-7. One last, lonely little minute at the end of the Arizona away game. If we had scored in that last minute even forgetting the four-second Martz fiasco we'd be at 6-6... And so, too wouldve been Arizona.
16 minutes of improvement and we'd have a halfway respectable season. I personally think Sing could give us way more than 16 minutes if he's allowed back. Here's to hoping!
Why is it that everyone was resigned to Nolan staying through the end of the season until he was fired after years of his continued failures as both head coach, face of the organization, and overall communicating talking head, but here comes Mike Singletary, Hall of Famer and intense competitor, who has gotten better play out of the same players, YET no one is giving him a chance?
Honestly, I hear this and that about Coach Singletary: great guy, awesome motivator, and legendary player, but not sure if he is the right guy for the job. A job he has only held for 5 games, when in comparison, we allowed Nolan to run it without any accountability for 4 years.
C'mon guys, if there was any reason to take out the race card, I believe now is the time. That includes Razor and other talking heads who pats one's back, while rushing them out the door with the other, especially with backhanded comments.
Great: we can watch the black man play football, but let's not let them coach it. This from the most supposedly liberal part of the nation.
Ugh.
Matt, those are pretty lousy assumptions. The offense suddenly clicking a little better coinciding with the ascension of Singletary to the HC position is NOT, by any means, an unquestionable cause and effect relationship. I'd argue the offense isn't really clicking any better at all, in fact. If you consider the caliber of teams Singletary has played and that Nolan played against, and that Martz has had some time to learn from some mistakes and get acclimated to the personnel, and a new QB taking over.....well, there are plenty of other more plausible explanation for our last two wins than that Mike SIngletary whispered a few motivational lines into Mike Martz's ear.
traj said:"That includes Razor and other talking heads who pats one's
back, while rushing them out the door with the other, especially with backhanded comments". Your negative inference although void of anything that makes sense clearly is a personal attack which I can't let go without advertising your ignorance.
Just to clarify, many posters are pinning their GM hopes for next year on a man who has repeatedly said he will take a year off from football following this season? A man who has judged talent well enough to lead the seahawks to a 2-10 season so far?
Holmgren is burnt out and needs a year off.
If you are going to replace Singletgary, given his ability to lead and command the respect of the current players, you better be looking at a Bill Cowher caliber guy.
Martz has a great mind for the passing game, but has no perspective, no game management skills and doesn't know how to run the ball. The offense is playing better because Singletary put Hill in at QB, sorted out the OL, the team has learned the Martz passing game, and Jason Hill has stepped up.
The lesson from Nolan is we need a consistent plan for the offense. The HC decision for 2009 should be about who has the best plan for a consistent offense. Many of us said that long before Singletary was promoted and still believe it. This team deserves its 4-8 record. It needs to improve a lot before we'll see a winning record.
Nolan tried to have continuity on Offense, every year some other team grabbed our Head Coach and we were forced to hire someone new. Blaming Nolan for that was wrong and still is. I still stad behind Nolan because I am sure he will be a great Head Coach someday in this league. We got a lot beter under him. Blaming him for not having offensive continuity is not right. He was forced into hiring a new OC after his first year, then after the second he again was forced to hire a new OC only this time it was late in the process when there weren't any out there to really choose from. So he thought he would pick someone on his staff who knew the offense. and we all saw how that turned out. I think we blamed Nolan for the wrong things, but what ever.
I am ok with Singletary getting the job, I just hope that we can stop this musical OC game we have been playing for the past five years or so.
I don't blame Nolan for the departures of McCarthy and Turner. But, with hindsight being 20-20, where Nolan did fail is that he did not have a line of succession built into his staff. Therefore, when Turner left, there was no obvious choice to take over from within his staff. He was foiled in his attempt to interview outside candidates. Then, he had to focus on promoting someone from within. That's how he ended up with Jim Hostler. --Matt M.
Matt is correct. Although hindsight is irrelevant in my mind
because a great leader has contingencies for every scenario
including obvious ones. Nolan IMHO will never be a "great"
coach in the NFL and I doubt he'll ever get another chance.
Good topic and thread by serious posters. Coach Singletary has many assets which I like. However my bottom line is is five straight OCs in five straight years. Offense is not Coach's strength and we can't deny that. The future should not be decided by any other factor than is he the best person for the 49ers. The NFL is about X's & O's. Coach's success depends upon who he brings in to be his assistants and of course what players he has. I couldn't agree more with Matt's observations. Success in the NFL is success in your assistant coaches. He must bring in a good core of his loyal assistants, especially an OC who will stick around for a minimum of three years and develop a QB coach who can "move up the chairs." Bill Walsh was the Master. Here is a partial list. Holmgren, Fassel, Wyche, Green, Seifert, Hackett, see his coaching tree
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaching_tree
Look at that list! WOW! Success brings more success. We were so fortunate to have him.
Since Norv Turner seems to be proving (again) that he is not a head coach, does anybody know how he got along w/ Singletary? I thought Turner was a good fit that had promise during his short stint in SF.
Hopefully if the Chargers can tank, we can dump Martz and get Turner back here. Turner was more simple then Martz, Martz has a wing it approach and Turner has a smarter approach and I think he'd work with the WCO that Singletary wants.
I feel if the 49ers can lose, but not get blown out, we can still secure a good pick and trade it for additionals. I don't want us to rely too much on FA because I don't see a lot of good players coming here, so I prefer we draft our starters.
I feel Turner would get along with Singletary. I know Martz can't wait to bail and he can take Just Turn OVer Sullivan with him. What an idiot Sullivan was, did nothing more then stink up the team and ruin our season. Martz has no interest in working with either Hill or Alex Smith.