If the 49ers don't offer Singletary the job, my instincts tell me that he will be in the top tier of candidates for any other organization looking to name a new head coach. The 49ers would be wise to step and and drop the "interem" label and give him the position.

In terms of needs for next season.

#1 DE - any chance of getting Julius Peppers as a F.A.?

#2 OT - some nice building blocks in the draft this year.

#3 S - we need a playmaker...Taylor Mays?

A couple of things. First, coaching contracts in the NFL (and college) are a joke. ooaches leave all the time with time left. Second. like I've said since Hill stabilized the QB position, draft a QB middle round and sit him for at least a year, preferably 2. Hill can play out his contract. sign a veteran QB. Third, becareful not to drink the Kool-Aid. This is still a bottom third team in the worst division in football. Singletary is doing well, but we're a long way from contenting

MM,

I agree with most of your analysis here. Let's go with Hill as the 2009 starter, hope to keep JTO or Smith on the cheap, and grab another QB mid round. I differ however on the McNabb piece. Too much drama there. I think if we are going after FA's, we need to find a big body DT like Wilfork and/or a Dawkins/Reed style safety. Then in the draft, I think you are right with getting a QB mid rounds (maybe the guy from Rutgers?). I think we should think about using our 1st or 2nd rd pick on another RB to compliment Gore.

As far as Martz, I think we can benefit if he stays. The passing game has gotten better with Hill (less TO's, more 1st downs and higher time of possession), but I am concerned the running game has slowed down even with this supposed Singletary renewed focus on the running game. I haven't seen the past 2 games, but Gore's #s have been low, and he hasn't popped a big one in some time. I am not complaining since we are keeping the ball and winning, but what is up with Gore/the running game?

Thanks Matt. I'm sticking to what I said before that this 4-game stretch starting with the Dallas game would give us a clearer picture of where Singletary & Hill stands. I don't want knee jerk reactions & want consistency week in, week out. I don't want any flukes. It looks more solid week to week for both these 2.

Surprisingly Miami (Parcell's is AMAZING) will be the toughest Defense we'll be facing. Their ranked 9th overall.

MIA / 9th points allowed overall-20 pts / 14th yards allowed overall-317 yards / 21st-221 pass yards / 12th-96 rush yards

Parcell's is smart & cautious & in this game I'm 100% sure Miami won't be taking us lightly. They will be coming after Hill & this whole team full force. It should be a great game/test & I can't wait. This is the 4th game in a row I'm talking about vs legit competition. If we continue to give a good showing & even beat the Phins are you kidding me?? That should pretty much lock in Singletary & Hill. Not trying to be a hard a** but in making important decisions like this I need a solid amount of evidence & will still have to wait until the end of the season to finally put my 2 cents stamp on these 2 which of course I'm leaning on.

If Martz leaves that will hurt us. Continuity would be HUGE for us for once. I see it as 50/50. I want this team to be a West Coast Offense with Hill so far commanding it well. Good for Hill, the OLine, & complements the Defense with longer ball control drives. Martz is a wild crazy big play guy who I'm not sure how he's taking having being reigned in by Singletary. What's funny is Singletary is making him better. What worries me about these 2 is their below average clock management which Singletary should learn in time.

Manusky compliments Singletary well, he just needs more pieces with the NT & stud #1 legit pass rusher as must haves. It took them a while but together they've finally figured out how to properly utilize their players on D. At this point I'm for Manusky staying.

As far as other changes I don't know much about OL Coach Foerster & it seems like we could do better there. I'd be for trying to go after Tom Cable across the Bay. Go read his resume...it's impressive & he's a natural smart no nonsense OL Coach having more of that mean streak ATTITUDE this team needs. Everywhere he's gone he's been a winner. HC for the Raiders doesn't count, how does anyone HC succeed in that sick Organization. It was hard to imagine there for a while there was any team worse than us. Things are finally starting to look up thanks to Coach Sing.

Why does everyone write, "Hill is a short-term solution" ; "Hill's fine until we find a real QB", etc - without explaining what is it about Hill that precludes him from being the long-term solution?

From what I've seen him do, he's been spectacular. What am I missing? Please explain specifics... By this, I mean "His inability to throw 60 yards precludes him from leading a super-bowl team"; or "Yes, he wins all his games. But his wobbly passes make the wins aesthetically unpleasing". Or "Until he's lights out on the practice field, his wins are only half-wins". Someone with some sense - PLEASE tell me what's wrong with him?

Sheesh - a bunch of sheeple posting...

"MM, I agree with most of your analysis here. Let's go with Hill as the 2009 starter, hope to keep JTO or Smith on the cheap, and grab another QB mid round. I differ however on the McNabb piece."

My response: What I'm saying is that McNabb is the only veteran who might become available that I'd consider as an option to start ahead of Hill. Again, the chances of that happening are slim, so consider this a sign of support for Hill being the starting 49ers QB in 2009. --Matt M.

Plus - Hill went 2-0 with HOSTLER as head coach. That's a better record than he achieved with Marts... Just saying... (And for those of you that those wins were not really wins, just go away).

I think something that has been overlooked is Singletary's decision to fire George Warhop as offensive line coach. This opened the door for Baas and Rachal, and I think Foerster has done a good job of coaching the offensive line up and getting them to play with some consistency. The pass blocking has definately improved, and while the running game hasn't been spectacular, it has been steady enough to help our time of possesion.

Nate Davis at all costs to sit behind Hill for a year. No pocket
QB like the one from Rutgers.

At this rate if Coach Sing keeps this up he'll get what he wants.......TICKETS!!

I'm no expert, but Gore was on pace for over 100 yards when he got injured. He had some tough runs up the middle for 5-7 yards, nothing big, but the line was blocking well. Most teams are stacking 8 in the box against us and forcing Hill to pass. We were very efficient yesterday with the short dumpoffs underneath and constantly picking up first downs. I think the O line is coming together fine and as teams game plan more for Hill, things will open up for Gore. The entire team played with intensity for 60 minutes, which was very impressive. Enjoy the win.

"Someone with some sense - PLEASE tell me what's wrong with him?"

The only reason I'd hesitate to put the starter stamp on him for years to come is that he's only played a handful of games. Thus, teams don't have much game film on him. There have been PLENTY of players in the league who have come in and dominated for a few games / last half of the season and the next year they fall into a well because teams 'figure them out'. Is there something in his game that teams will be able to key on and nullify him? I have no idea. I hope that's not the case, but it'll probably be next year before we know for sure.

Also, he does have HORRENDOUS mechanics. This, however, is where he would benefit highly from being under martz's tutelage for an entire offseason / TC. Martz is an EXCELLENT technician at the QB spot. He can identify and typically correct mechanical flaws that will help the QB become stronger and more accurate.

Lastly, I'm only able to listen on the radio, as I'm in CO, but it sounds as if he has a tendency to stare down receivers. Again, this is something that would be picked up in film study. Luckily, it's something correctable, though.

MC NABB? SAY IT ISN'T SO! -- Oh, my, now the talk is starting about bringing in a veteran quarterback to replace Hill. Wow! Hill plays steady, is improving, and is young. The 49ers don't need a different starting quarterback at all.

Further, McNabb has been a solid performer in the past but he is well beyond his prime. He's 32, and on the downslope. That's certainly not what the team needs. He is in the same mold as De La Hoya and while the term "shot" does not apply to McNabb he isn't far from it.

That he was benched for a game this year, in recognition of his poor performances, is signal enough that he is not a candidate for the 49ers. Draft a solid kid instead.

One more thing with Hill. As you stated, flip, he doesn't throw a 'pretty ball'. The wounded ducks he tosses could be a HUGE problem if he were to lead the team into the playoffs. In windy conditions, those ducks are going to have trouble getting to receivers. We've all heard about the swirling winds at the 'Stick, as well, so this could prove detrimental. I'm not against Hill by any stretch, just giving you something to think about.

I wouldn't label him the starter either...if we had a better QB. There is no one on this roster that is better then Hill. I don't think there is a college qb better either. I agree with Maiocco. The only better free agent option would be McNabb. What shootme said could also be said for Matt Cassel. That is what seems to have happened to Matt Schaub and Derek Anderson as well. Shaun Hill has my full support at this point, as does Mike Singletary.

I was referring to what shootme said about gathering film on unknown qb's.

In my book Hill is playing great compared to the crap we've been putting on the field since Garcia left. His QB rating 95.5 is in the top 5 in the league behind only Rivers, Warner, Romo, and Brees. Yeah actually better than Brett, the Mannings, Big Ben, McNabb and a lot of "franchise QB's". We have a nice young group of wideouts and things should improve with more experience. Draft a QB of the future and sit him for a few years, Hill will be fine through his contract and possibly beyond. What we need are line men that can stuff the run and rush the QB on D, another Tackle on O, and another running back to back up Gore. And make Coach Sing permanent already. He has shown that the PinHead Nolan was responsible for most of our agony not the talent (which needs to get better for sure) & playing with heart and aggression counts for a lot. He's a leader.

shootme - you could try streamtv which is what I use to watch games online. It's good quality now but takes some time to set up initially. Took me about 45 min's to get it up & running but once everything's set up you just log in & click onto the game. It's like $7 month. Great service. I can't get the Dish Sunday Ticket here. I'd go crazy without my team on Sundays so it's a lifesaver. I just run a monitor cable from my PC to my HDTV & it works awesome.

If you try it you'll probably run into what most people have. 1st download WINAMP. You'll get sound but no video. You have to go to their FAQ's section....look up that symptom. It will make you download an additional codec + 2 other DLL files. Once that's finished that's it.

Here's the link:
http://backup.streamtvnow.tv/board/

Thanks for the info, Mike. I'll check it out.

Coach Singletary and Hill deserve to be here next year. I'm more excited about this team than I've been in quite a while. The Yorks will really mess this up if they let Singletary go. I expect an announcement in the near future ;-)

Great stuff MM. I'm excited to see what Staley and Vernon can do against Joey Porter this weekend. The porter/Davis head to head should be fun to watch. BTW - Did you all see Justin Smith's game yesterday? I would say on more than 3/4's of the drop backs he absolutely man handled one of the best Guards in football. I have never seen Alan bull rushed like that play after play. He made it look like Faneca was wearing skates. I also loved seeing Vernon handle Pace one on one a number of times and he stoned him. This team is playing with the passion of their head coach.

Houston - thanks for the props on the earlier blog. I'm not sure I even imagined Heitman shutting down the best D-lineman in football the way he did. Coming into this game it was Jenkins vs. Haynsworth for NFL defensive player of the year and Eric completely took him out of this game. That 4th down encroachment penalty was a direct result of frustration and a loss of focus. All caused by getting beat play after play after play by the Niners O-line.

First, Singletary. I feel as hopeful about the team as I've felt in YEARS (a little bit euphoric almost). Why? Because we have a head coach now who MIGHT be a great one. (I've kind of harped on this before, re: HCs and QBs - don't "settle" - aim for greatness). This guy GETS it. He COULD be another Parcells. Nothing's guaranteed in the NFL, but anyone who knows football can clearly see Mike Singletary's upside. He's already shown WAY more than the usual coordinator/assistant hires do before they get a job (Mike Nolan, Linehan, Marinelli, etc). I'll tell you this - if he isn't given this job BEFORE the season ends, you just see what happens the day after the last game. The Raider will come RUNNING after this guy, as will probably the Lions and any number of other teams (the Cowboys too if they don't get to the SB). My advice to the Yorks? Seal the deal and we may have a GREAT head coach. I hope Martz stays, but many defensive coaches have been great head coaches (Parcelles, Belichik, Cowher, Landry, etc) and they usually have great offenses too (well, not Cowher). Onto Hill in my next post.

Re: Shaun Hill. He' playing well and RIGHT NOW, he has won the job. Will he keep it? Well, he's under the same test as ALL the QBs in the NFL are. He's got the job until he loses it. Believe me, if Peyton Manning started throwing more interceptions than TDs and his team started losing, he would be at risk. Remember what happened to Kurt Warner a few seasons back just a year or so after his SECOND MVP award. So, Hill just needs to keep playing at his current level, completing passes and throwing TDs (easy, huh?) But any smart team starts looking for young QBs to have on their roster (like New England did with Brady and now Cassel).

Tom Cable profile....

(No ex-DB's posing as fake QB Coaches here. This man actually played guard for 4 years. 3 in college at Idaho & 1 year with the Indy Colts. This man KNOWS OLINE.)

Cable has 21 years of coaching experience, including four as a head coach at the college level.

In 2007, Cable coached a Raiders offensive line that contributed to the Silver and Black finishing 6TH IN THE NFL in both rushing and inside the 20 touchdown percentage.

Cable, 43, spent the 2006 season as OFFENSIVE LINE COACH for Atlanta, where he tutored a unit that was the driving force behind helping the Falcons LEAD THE NFL IN RUSHING. From 2004-05, Cable was BOTH THE OC AND OFFENSIVE LINE COACH at UCLA, where he helped develop one of the most productive offensive units in the nation.

In 2005, Cable coordinated a UCLA offense that AVERAGED 431 YARDS IN TOTAL OFFENSE PER GAME while earning 10 wins and a bowl berth. In 2004, the Bruins on offense under Cable IMPROVED BY OVER 1,000 YARDS FROM THE PREVIOUS SEASON while averaging 410 yards per game.

Cable was HEAD COACH of the University of Idaho from 2001-03. During his tenure at Idaho, his teams AVERAGED 424.1 YARDS OF TOTAL OFFENSE PER GAME. Cable also spent two years at the University of Colorado. In 1998, he served as the OFFENSIVE LINE COACH and the following year was promoted to offensive coordinator. Under his direction, the Buffaloes’ offense was ranked 14TH IN THE NATION IN 1999, AVERAGING 424.9 YARDS PER GAME.

He spent SIX SEASONS (1992-97) as OFFENSIVE LINE COACH at the University of California, where HE TUTORED FOUR FIRST TEAM ALL PAC-10 SELECTIONS, INCLUDING JEREMY NEWBERRY, who joined the Raiders in 2007.

Cable began his coaching career at his Alma mater, serving as a graduate assistant at Idaho in 1987 and 1988. He was a graduate assistant at San Diego State in 1989, defensive line coach at Cal State Fullerton in 1990 and offensive line at Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991.

The Merced, California native PLAYED FOUR YEARS AT IDAHO, THREE AS A STARTING GUARD, AND SPENT ONE SEASON WITH THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS BEFORE BEGINNING HIS COACHING CAREER.

If Singletary is named the head coach going into next season, do you think Singletary will try to get the Niners' staff to coach at the Senior Bowl once again? Will they even be considered after getting to coach the last couple seasons?

Matt, If Gore can't go this week, will Clayton get an opportunity? I really like the guy and I'm always wondering why he's not our number 2 back?

Wish the guy luck in Oakland. but I'd find it hard to swallow going from a HC (even if it's the current raiders) to going back to o line coach, it's a little hard to swallow and it's a pretty big drop in terms of prestige and pay. Typically going to being a college head coach have been much more lucrative for former NFL HC, such as Ericson, Saban, and Kiffin.

Niner-Fan,
Couldn't agree more, I TOO WOULD like to see Thomas Clayton active these last 3 games. See if he can be the #2 guy next season.

SINGLETARY and HILL for 2009 is a "No-Brainer," that is why this is scary because the Yorks have a history of BLOWING IT with "No-Brainers," check keeping Nolan. If the 49ers started the season with Singletary they would be on the verge of NFC WEST CHAMPS right now. They would have beat Seattle at home and would have won one of the two versus Arizona and the Philly game at HOME. Wrap Singletary UP NOW! You don't have any better options or plans!

It's too bad he got his opportunity under Davis in Oakland. There's no way for a HC to win over there with Al hanging tightly onto to all the controls. Cable's not doing well over there still losing a lot of games. The record for interim coaches to keep their job is low I believe. As OL Coach this also was the last year of his contract. So unless Oakland offers him a new contract & retains him as their OL Coach he's up for the bidding for a new job. Yeah it's a tough pill to swallow to go from NFL HC back down to OL Coach but it wasn't like he was expected to be the permanent HC there. Everyone in the league & all football fans know how dysfunctional Al & the Raiders are so Cable shouldn't feel too much public shame when Al releases him. What little he naturally will have he should be able to shake quickly. I'd bet he wants OUT OF THERE. The end of this year would be a great opportunity to try & snag the guy. I believe as an OL Coach he'll be a hot commodity. We should jump all over him.

Well, let's not annoint Singletary or Hill just yet. There're three more games to go, and we need to see if the Niners can keep this "60 minute" concept going.

That said, the last two games are the best we've seen this team play in years. A lot went right yesterday -- and Singletary and Hill were big parts of it. Kudos!

The onside kick at the start was brilliant, and only a terrific play defeated it.

Both lines played their best games -- especially the OL (tho 3 yards per carry won't get you that far in the long run). Heitmann played his best game in years (and I'm eating crow for my recent criticisms), Baas is the best pulling guard we've had in some time, and Chilo's starting to come around nicely.

Hill threw very well, especially rolling from the pocket, but the receivers simply caught EVERYTHING: Bruce was his usual self, but VD made a tough catch, as did Hill, and even Johnson on the TD. Big, big turnaround from what we've seen. And give me more Ziegler, please.

Best part for me: Martz had a simply wonderful game calling plays -- his best by far this year (and the TD pass to Gore call was a real beauty). The pass patterns are much crisper, too. (Martz is actually showing a little West Coast touch!)

Willis and Spikes have become quite a tandem, and play off each other increasingly well. But who knew Tarell Brown was this good in man coverage? He's got to play more. Still need an edge rusher, tho: all three sacks came in Q4, when Favre had to throw long and needed too much time. But pressure was better nonetheless.

Most important, these guys were fun to watch -- and that's really key. I just hope they can keep it up, especially this week in Miami. We'll have a better idea where Coach and QB stand after that.

YW. You deserve credit for defending Heitmann when almost everyone else on this blog disagreed with you, including me.

Ditto the "fun to watch" comment!
Re the qb and coach situation, it seems to me that Hill sees the field very well and makes good decisions most of the time. Also, he has that intangible will to win that is essential in an effective qb. His mechanics do need lots of work, but that is also probably the easiest thing to work on. I agree with Matt-the job should be his to lose from here on out.
And Singletary the same. We need to know what type of team we are trying to be so we can evaluate what we have now and then look for the missing pieces effectively in the off-season. Singletary has shown he can make a real difference and rally the troops. I vote he takes over the permanent job asap and the rest of this season becomes training camp for next August.

DRAFT COLT MCCOY! let him learn like Aaron Rodgers/Phillip Rivers/Brady Quinn for a couple years

next year with Hill and a better pass rush and more consistent/expierenced WR crew we should definitely be in the hunt for 9-10 win season

Matt,

The other day you mentioned a few names who might be in the running if there are coaching changes next year. One name that isn't mentioned very often is Kyle Shanahan in Houston. Even in Houston, Shanahan doesn't get much credit for a respectable offense since Kubiak pretty much runs the show. If Sing stays and Martz goes Shanahan might be worth a look. Shanahan is the OC for an offense with pretty good numbers: 3rd in the NFL in yards per game, 1st in the league with the fewest 3 and outs. I think his style would fit Sing's philosophy since he believes you run to set up the pass. Also, he has indirect ties to SF as his Dad was the OC and Kubiak was the QB coach for the 9ers in 94 when they last won the superbowl. He is also the youngest OC in the NFL at age 28 which means he won't get plucked away a year later to be a head coach somewhere. Like I said, he might be worthy of consideration if Martz leaves.

"The other day you mentioned a few names who might be in the running if there are coaching changes next year. One name that isn't mentioned very often is Kyle Shanahan in Houston."

My response: The reason is because Shanahan is already an offensive coordinator. The Texans would not allow him to leave for a lateral move unless they wanted to get rid of him. All the coaches I mentioned were young QBs coaches who might be ready to become coordinators. --Matt M.

I agree with those who think that Hill has done enough to warrant going into 2009 as the starter.

I am impressed with Singletary as a coach and as a man. However, I don't see what's wrong with waiting another two weeks before handing out the inevitable five-year, $15 million the new head coach will get. It's nice that he'd come in and not have to start from scratch ala Erickson-Donohue, then Nolan.

If Singletary and Martz can work together, great. Under that circumstance, I say bring back Martz. We need the continuity at Offensive Coordinator.

I don't see Bruce coming back as our starting WR. I think he'll be replaced by someone already on the team.

It's fun watching them again.

Looking back at what I just wrote, I'm not sure that Donohue/Erickson started from scratch.

Mooch left a second-round playoff team after he got kissed off, if memory serves me right.

ESPN just announced Colt McCoy is staying in Texas for another year.

Thats okay by me. I'd rather concentrate on defense and maybe a stud OT if one is available in the draft. QB can wait for 2010. Let Hill have a full season as the starter, then evaluate. Also, Bradford and who knows else may also be in that draft... this year is kinda questionable right now for QBs.

Cable may be a good OL coach, but after the recent improvement, I kinda think you have to give Foerster a chance to see what he do too.

But I'd love to get Tom Rathman back in some capacity, even OC if Martz leaves, assuming Dark Lord Al cleans house in January.

Yeah true Grumpy. I guess there's no sense to rock the boat with the OL coming along but reading about Cable & how he turned Atlanta & Oakland around he seems to have more of the tools to give our OL that nasty attitude we need more of. I just think Cable could team up with Singletary for more of that football smart + aggressiveness leadership factor.

Hey do you know anything about the Cirron Black/LSU & Jason Smith/Baylor OT's? Black is 4th on many boards, Smith's name has been coming up lately. Don't know if they're top 10 material. Black seems like he would fit there. We're around pick 7 right now. Those top 3 OT's look like they could be taken quick. Damn near all those teams before us need one. I'd be psyched to get any of the top 3. Got to start scouting Black & the next OT just in case.

Rathman in some capacity sounds interesting. FB's coach just to get him in the door?

I put the McCoy news out there for a blog update. We have a chance 2nd Rd for Davis, Harrell in the 3rd (maybe)...then there's the small school under the radar types. We need Martz/Tollner or the next OC for big time QB help for scouting. I'd like to go OL 1st, DL 2nd Rd, & possibly trade 4/5/7 (or 4/5/6) to get back to the 2nd Rd if we want to get Davis as QB. We could also get a stud pass rusher/corner/or free safety we're eyeing instead if he’s there then go QB 3rd Rd. If we don’t trade up we could just go 3rd Rounder for a QB then use all our picks. I think BJ Raji would be an awesome 2nd Rd pick if he lasts. Watching him he looks solid. For NT's I have Cody rated #1, Raji #2. Cody should go 1st Rd, top 20 max. Probably top 15.

I also like your idea about waiting for QB until 2010 & giving Hill his opportunity next year. Concentrate on OL, DL, & a stud pass rusher first. Corner seems to be shaping up. We need a FAST PLAYMAKING stud at Free Safety.

I believe last week I read that Nate Davis decided to return for this Senior year too. Maybe it would be wise to wait another year to draft a QB and go with Hill next season. Maybe they can sign A. Smith for much less money too.

It doesn't matter if Jesus becomes a free agent next year, the Niners need to stick with S-Dot-Hill.

I love the onside kick to start the game. It says no more overly cautious plans. If things don't go well on one play, no problem, we'll get them on the next play. Also, there is an unspoken agreement that we can win even if Frank Gore can't play. Because we won in the trenches!