Matt, is it your impression that the Niners weren't very impressed by the other OC candidates they interviewed? And perhaps weren't convinced Linehan was the optimal choice (a second interview can mean many things)? Singletary's comment is interesting, in that it sounds like there's a good chance the Super Bowl might have to be played before he has access to one or two individuals he has his eye on.

I hate the Cards, but they've been motivated big time by being the constant underdog. After watching the Steelers' D all season long though, the Cards' winning streak ends in the SB.

For a team that once revolutionized football is now.......

Matt, is it your impression that the Niners weren't very impressed by the other OC candidates they interviewed? And perhaps weren't convinced Linehan was the optimal choice (a second interview can mean many things)? Singletary's comment is interesting, in that it sounds like there's a good chance the Super Bowl might have to be played before he has access to one or two individuals he has his eye on.

Question: Matt, is it your impression that the Niners weren't very impressed by the other OC candidates they interviewed? And perhaps weren't convinced Linehan was the optimal choice (a second interview can mean many things)?

My response: On your first question, I don't know what feelings they have about the others who were interviewed. On your second question, I don't think Mike Singletary would have offered Linehan the job if he didn't think he was the "optimal choice." --Matt M.

Matt, I feel much less optimistic about the niners at this point. I'm starting to miss Martz. That being said, With the senior bowl being the immediate project, and possibly more interviews to come, how far away do you think they are from getting this position filled? I'm worried because of the dreaded Hostler experiment. I'm wondering because of the timing, how bad will this set them back? Do they have sufficient time before they're in a rush?

I have to think that they're going to talk to Singletary's old boss Brian Billick now. Bill Walsh protege who won a Super Bowl with a conservative, run-first offense with a second-rate quarterback (Dilfer). He also showed he could air things out during his time in Minnesota.

Of course, he showed little propensity to identify or groom a quarterback of the future.

Congrats on runner up for the biggest whiner award! You came in a close second behind hibcbcbc.

By the way, congrats to the Cards. Cinderella season. Maybe the Niners can do it soon.

Matt- I understand from your point of view that Linehan is a stand up guy. He didn't have to talk to you but he did. But from a Niner fan pov, he knew all of the personal considerations before the first interview, so how can he call it a "two way street", when only one side was serious. He knew what the job is, and where it is, and all of personal considerations of his family before the first interview. If he says it was a personal decision, then he was never really a serious candidate, since nothing "personal" changed it a week.

Our morphing into Mike Brown's Bengals under the stewardship of the Yorks continues. Even the unemployed are saying no thanks to our beloved 49ers. Linehan probably checked out our screwed up organizational structure with his good friend Dennis Erickson. As far as the 49ers being just a game or two from being where the Cards are, all I can say is get real. The Cards are loaded with impact players on both sides of the ball that the 49ers simply could not match, and they are better coached. Under the Yorks, the 49ers will continue to go between 4-12 and 8-8 for the forseeable future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worst ownership in team sports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once again, I will say we should not have known about the offer or it being declined. I think Chud is going to be a fine choice also, if they go that way. They all looked like good candidates before the first offer went out, now that we know it was rejected, the other candidates look less appealing, it's human nature to feel like first choice is way far ahead of the other choices, just because the PR appearence of rejection.
Matt, you are very good at your job; and I turn to you first and foremost to find out the latest with the team, but I hope you and your peers don't catch a wiff of the next offer. I hope all the media catches is the guy that has just accepted the job.
This was a very bad interaction with Linehan only because it happened pubicly.

People need to stop bringing up Shanahan, Gruden and Billick when we talk about filling the OC spot. They're HEAD coaches. They can get a ton of coin someplace else and they're not gonna work for a rookie HC. Why not throw Holmgren's name in there too? "Hey, Matt, Holmgren was the OC back when we had Montana and and Rice. Maybe he could show these guys how it's done! Bring back the glory days." Dude, to semi-quote Rick Pitino, "Walsh, McKittrick, Holmgren, Montana, Rice, and Young AIN'T walking through that door. Stop talking about the 80s and 90s. They're over. We can honor the old players and wear the old unis, but leave it at that. Move forward. We need to focus on hiring the best person for the OC job, fill a hole or two and come out of the gate strong next year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICdXAmd1TWA

Matt, thank you for the follow-up and your thoughts. I understand Linehan being "a stand-up guy" for calling you back but I do have to question his judgment and bona fides to interview for a job that for whatever "personal" or "timing" reasons he wasn't prepared to accept. Linehan has an angle too. He needs to come up with somthing to justify his actions and behavior to get another offer. And, his explantion doesn't hold water. Linehan is plain foolish if he thinks even semi-intelligent people are going to by his explanation. Note to Scot: "fact finding" and "interviewing" being a "two-way street" is a non-sequitor if you failed to take the job for "non-economic" and "personal" reasons. You needed no "fact finding" to know your own personal reasons. If you weren't prepared to move your family to SF or to live apart from them you had no business interviewing for the job because nothing you saw or heard would ultimatly make a difference.

Once again, I will say we should not have known about the offer or it being declined. I think Chud is going to be a fine choice also, if they go that way. They all looked like good candidates before the first offer went out, now that we know it was rejected, the other candidates look less appealing, it's human nature to feel like first choice is way far ahead of the other choices, just because the PR appearance of rejection.
Matt, you are very good at your job; and I turn to you first and foremost to find out the latest with the team, but I hope you and your peers don't catch a wiff of the next offer. I hope all the media catches is the guy that has just accepted the job.
This was a very bad interaction with Linehan only because it happened publicly.

Oh oh. Darren is back.

I have to agree with you, RK. Singletary has too much class to out the guy, but I'm sure others in the league will see through his baloney. Sorry, Matt, but I don't see this guy as a "stand-up" guy at all. Pretty phony charade.

You don't somebody who is confused to be your OC.
You don't want somebody who is afraid to be your OC.
I watched how this guy ran a football team. I like the dynamic of it coming apart. it's a good thing

Matt,
The Bucs Beat blog on the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Linehan "has emerged as a strong candidate to become the Bucs offensive coordinator". Your thoughts.

Well, it really ISN'T a good indicator for an organization.when the most qualified OC declines the offer (especially when we just fired one of the best OCs in the league). I wish people would stop mentioning former HCs like Billick and Gruden for the job. One - they're not going to take the job. Two - they did not have good enough offenses on their OWN teams. I like Singletary (as our head coach (Lowell thought the 49ers were too quick to hire him, because there might be better candidates out there - but, I don't think Shanahan would have taken this job; probably Gruden would have). I'm frankly unimpressed by the other candidates being spoken about (a receivers coach as OC? At least Rathman played for Bill Walsh.)

Comment: Matt, The Bucs Beat blog on the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Linehan "has emerged as a strong candidate to become the Bucs offensive coordinator". Your thoughts.

My response: It does not surprise me a bit. He told me he has no offers, but he said he has talked to some teams. My guess is that his family would stay put. From St. Louis, Tampa is about 600 miles closer than San Jose in air miles. --Matt M.

There must be another gig for Linehan. the Niners don't have an OC yet and I'm sure they would've gladly waited for Linehan to make up his mind. So I have a hard time believing that it was personnal for him, even though that is what he said. At least he didn't say "I'd rather not work for the Niners." If it's the bucs, they are a much better team than the Niners.I hope we can get a good guy. Matt, I asked a lot of questions in a post above, but my main question is at what point does it become serious crunch time for an OC hire before it is too late for any chance at a successful season?

Matt, here is another name I would like to throw out. Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Muir. Looks like he was fired by Tampa Bay? What is your feeling on him? He knows the WCO under Jon Gruden, plus was an OL coach perfect combination between himself, Chris Foerester the current OL coach. Also, I don't see him being a candidate as HC soon. Then he can bring in Paul Hackett as QB coach. Your Thoughts Matt? Again great work!!!

Any coach who wants to become an OC won't care a hill of beans what choice he was for the job. He can prove he's the right choice by being good at his job.

"He said he was not ready to make a decision and thought it was unfair to Singletary and the 49ers for him to drag his feet."

A little late for that, don't you think? He could have said no on Thursday.

Robert, your response is right on the money!

Matt, since McDaniels hired Rick Dennison to coach the o-line for the Broncos do you know if the 49ers could still offer Dennison the offensive coordinator job? Since it is an upgrade I would think he is still in the picture.

If you ask me this Linehan is a dicey cat. What do personal reasons have to do with him going to both interviews on a fact finding mission. He dicked us around all weekend to reject the best offer he is going to get. I guess Singletary will be talking to a lot of coaches at senior bowl.

It's about the money. It's ALWAYS about the money. It's never NOT about the money. Spending more time with the family is the cliche of all cliched excuses.

I think Linehan has a year and $2m left on his Rams contract so if no-one offers him appreciably more, he's staying home. And they won't, he's not good enough.

I'm not heartbroken. His resume is average at most. As HC it's downright awful. There has to be better candidates out there.

It's a setback, but definitely not the end of the world.

I've been involved in projects where you hit setbacks. Each setback is a bad thing when it occurs. But I've noticed that often, these are the events that take you out of your comfort zone and force you to do something you would not have done otherwise. And sometimes, the new path that opens up is better than the one you were on.

I'm not saying that setbacks are good. They are not. I'm saying that it's possible for the second choice to be better than the first one.

We'll see :)

Good call, faithful niner! Yeah, all we heard was that Dennison was "being retained" by McDaniels. Would he want to go for an OC gig or stay in Denver as a line coach? Seems to me that Sing is looking to turn us into Steelers West or something of the sort, so do you think that just having a competent guy that would stay for a few years would be good enough on that side of the ball? What I'm saying is that it doesn't appear that Sing is interested in setting any offensive records next year, so as long as we don't end up with a new Hostler, we should be cool, right?

Good call, faithful niner! Yeah, all we heard was that Dennison was "being retained" by McDaniels. Would he want to go for an OC gig or stay in Denver as a line coach? Seems to me that Sing is looking to turn us into Steelers West or something of the sort, so do you think that just having a competent guy that would stay for a few years would be good enough on that side of the ball? What I'm saying is that it doesn't appear that Sing is interested in setting any offensive records next year, so as long as we don't end up with a new Hostler, we should be cool, right?

Impressive day for AZ. But remember this my fellow 9er fans: the team that goes to the Super Bowl and LOSES almost always fails to make the playoffs the next year. It's uncanny. A loss by AZ followed by free agent departures of many key pieces of that team almost certainly dooms them to a poor record next year.

OK, so w/ no Linehan, Isaac Bruce will stay another year and help the youngster receivers learn their stuff. And the staffs of two more teams are now up for grabs.

I know that assistants can be barred from making "lateral moves" by their teams. However, I'm wondering if there's a loophole in the rule.

Some teams have positions on their staff for an individual who serves as "assistant head coach" as well as a positional coach. (Wasn't Singletary "assistant head coach/linebackers" before his promotion?)

If someone's currently an OC, would it be considered a "lateral move" for him to come here as, say, assistant head coach/quarterbacks? Or would it be seen as a promotion?

If it's a promotion, why not see if an OC - someone like, say, Cam Cameron, who's "just" an OC and isn't unseating Harbaugh anytime soon - would become an assistant HC/QBs and call plays, while hiring someone else - Denver's Jeremy Bates, for example - to be OC?

This scenario obviously falls apart if the move isn't considered a promotion. But if it holds, and Cameron's calling plays while Bates learns the ropes of how to be an OC, you have built-in continuity and a lot of good brainpower on that side of the ball.

I'm just bouncing ideas around, so feel free to tell me if this scenario is illegal under NFL rules.

Matt -- now that the Eagles are out, what about plucking someone from their staff?

Cameron sucks. That Baltimore offense today was truly offensive.

Good thing we Hired Singletary.Its clear he has what it takes to get his "man" for the job.Great move hiring his nephew also.Im sure his plan is much better than say Grudens or Shannahan's would have been.Now that we got that loser Martz out of here Singletary will probably call the plays himself.Im amped for next season.Go Niners!!!!!

Oh hell, who needs an OC? Just let the quarterback wing it, like in the good old days. (Ha ha)

Cameron sucks as an OC? Tell that to the Chargers, who haven't been the same since he left. Hell, the Ravens have worse offensive personnel than we do, and Cameron's rookie-QB-led system was so terrible that the previously 5-11 Ravens made the NFC Championship Game. (The Packers once hired the architect of the NFL's last-ranked offense as their head coach; that turned out so poorly that they went to the NFC Championship game two years later.)

I wouldn't be too hard on the Ravens. They hadn't had a bye week since Week 2 because Ike walloped Texas and forced them to reschedule their original game. They've played 18 straight weeks! That's unprecedented in NFL history, and it showed today in the freezing cold. But just think - an exhausted, injury-wracked, outmanned team went up against the Steelers and gave them a hell of a fight, If they draft well for the next couple of seasons (can't let that defense's age catch up to it), the Ravens are going to be DANGEROUS. We could do worse than steal Cameron from them.

I'm not particularly hung-up on Cameron - more interested in Bates, actually. I'm just working through hypothetical scenarios, however.

Jeez, you're a ray of sunshine. Here's some rain; Gruden won a Super Bowl with Dungy's roster, then pissed away the golden foundation he was given for years. Shanahan won two Super Bowls with Elway and Davis; without them, his teams were the definition of mediocre "contenders." Hell, both of those guys had complete control of their own playoff destinies, only to be outcoached by Tom Gable and Norv Turner when it came time to push the chips into the center of the table.

You're sad we didn't go the retread route? I know sexy names are fun to toss around, but they got fired for a reason. I'm guessing you wanted Holmgren as a GM too, despite the fact that he was such a train-wreck as an executive that Seattle stripped him of personnel powers in 2002?

now with the Eagles out, is Pat Shurmur a candidate?

or will he end up as Spagnoulo's OC in StL?

Here's a name I haven't heard mentioned...
Denny Green

He is a living disciple of the Bill Walsh Offense, has some play calling experience while at Stanford, probably won't be getting offered any head coaching jobs and he is a link to the 49ers past. Has proved to be able to turn around franchises like the Vikings and Cards. Has the ability to inspire his players. I could go on and on. So tell me, why not Denny Green?

Here's a name I haven't heard mentioned...
Denny Green

He is a living disciple of the Bill Walsh Offense, has some play calling experience while at Stanford, probably won't be getting offered any head coaching jobs and he is a link to the 49ers past. Has proved to be able to turn around franchises like the Vikings and Cards. Has the ability to inspire his players. I could go on and on. So tell me, why not Denny Green?

Hardly the end of the world...McSingletary are at the Senior Bowl, where hundreds of coaches will be. They'll find someone...lots of coaches are looking for jobs right now. Patience, Niner fans...patience.

People interviewing twice for a job far from home, then turning it down because they are unwilling or unable to move. Happens all the time. At least in non-coaching business like industry.

Lets clear this up once and for all:

1. Linehan used our interest/offer for leverage against another job. He is after a HC gig, or as an OC being groomed to take over as HC. He's received little interest to date, so used us for attention. He knew exactly what he was doing every step of the way. It's simple business strategy, I use it myself.

2. Returning Matts call does not make him a stand-up guy. He wanted to get his official statements out there asap to manage peoples perception of him. He wanted best case scenario, which for him was a protracted interview/decision making process, followed by the "oh what a tough decision it was" routine. Don't fall for it.

Now, the bigger issue is Coach has not come very prepared at all. No list of coaches ready to step to his side as soon as he got the job, no established relationships to call upon. Being out of the game for over a decade is the reason for this. Whis had his list of staff prepared for when he made HC, and he got whom he wanted. This is a worry. Here's hoping Coach will succeed.

I agree, TJ. The Niners fire Martz and put themselves in this position, hoping someone is out there???

didn't i say the cards could make it the superbowl....

Once again McNabb shows why he is the LOSER that he is and Kurt Warner showed once again why he is a Hall of Famer and one of the best PURE passers the NFL has ever seen. I expect the Cardinals to finish it off and defeat the Steelers. Does McNabb ever get the ball to a receiver in stride so he can run after the catch except for screen passes to Westbrook??? McNabb and Favre are two BIGGEST I could of if.... guys I have ever seen. The 2 most overrated players in NFL history.

Matt,

In the Cards game yesterday Boldin was seen arguing with his OC. ESPN said after the game he was asked if he would return to the Cards next season and he replied "Next question".

Is there any chance we can steal him away?

We shoulda kept Martz and dumped Singletary. Singletary's not qualified to coach a Pop Warner team. A guy turned down the 49ers offer to be OC. Can you imagine? Never happened before. We're doomed.

The York's are incompetent boobs. Singletary's an incompetent boob. We're doomed. Martz is a genius - the best offensive mind since Bill Walsh. Martz is a miracle worker. Martz is the only reason the 49ers won any games last year. He had nothing to do with any of the losses. We're doomed.

Martz should be head coach. We'd have Linehan if Martz was head coach. Now we don't. The sky IS falling. Linehan made it fall. Martz would have stopped it from falling. With Martz we would have gone 16 - 0 next year. As it is we'll probably go 0 - 16. If we're lucky. But we're not lucky. We're doomed.

The first game is only eight months away and we don't even have an OC. Doomed I tell you. Damned Singletary. Martz the Savior would have saved us. He saved the Lions. Took 'em to the Super Bowl. That's why all these other teams are fighting like crazy to sign him. They know. We don't.

O, poor me. O, the suffering.

"Mommy, mommy .................. "

Any way Tom Cable gets consideration for the OC position for the 49ers?

It sounds like Linehan wants more time to explore other options. Do you think the door is still open to him if he changes his mind in a week or two?

Matt, With the Jets announcing that Rex Ryan will be their next Head Coach it's believed that they will part ways with Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Do you think the Niners will bring him in for an interview? How about Brian Billick or Jim Fassel? Is anybody else out there whom we haven't mentioned?

The mistake was making such a public offer to Linehan and giving him 3 days to decide. That was just an idiotic business decision. Linehan has made Singletary and the 49ers look like a bunch of Keystone Cops, which is how the organization has been perceived for years. Now the job is tainted. All they had to do was give him a quiet offer and ask for a fast response. And if he turned them down, they could just say they explored it and it wasn't a good fit. This bodes extremely poorly for the Singletary Regime. Not so much because they didn't get Linehan, but because of the amateurish and costly way they handled the offer.

Matt, Can you please let us know how many instances this has happened in the NFL where a person is offered a coordinator job and then turns it down? In all my years following the NFL I really don't recall this happening.

Linehan is rumored to be taking the Bucs or Jets job now....I'm sorry but this is a huge blunder by the 49ers...I really can't recall instances where someone is offered the job and then turns it down being so public

I wasn't sold on Linehan so personally I'm relieved he didn't accept-Pat shurmur is certainly an interesting possibility and Norm Chow- both mentioned in this blog before!Keep the faith!!!

Wow ... Norm by the Bay and some of the other optimists out there, what grit sandpaper is on your toilet seat? Have you already forgotten how well the team played over the last few months of the season? Do you really think the 9ers would be better off with an "offensive genius" trying to force the recreation the greatest show on turf in the muck and wind of Candlestick and killing yet another QB (or 2) along the way? Name 1 pass-heavy offense that has consistently succeeded in the past decade that has NOT featured at least 1 pro-bowl WRs and a pro-bowl QB. Colts? Rams? Vikings for a few years there? Cardinals (even if short-lived)? Last I checked, the 9ers don't currently have that group of folks on their roster. And even among those teams, only the Colts were more than a flash in the pan. So Linehan had a few ulterior motives (sounds like he's off to Tampa), the 9ers are better off without him. Should all this have been kept quiet until it was a done deal one way or another, probably so. Does it spell disaster? Not in my opinion. Singletary and crew will be at the Senior Bowl, and they'll have the chance to talk to a lot of folks down there. How about Hue Jackson?

What rubbish. In the past week, Nolan turned down GB for Denver and now Capers turned down the Giants for GB. IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. Get a grip you lily livers.

Nobody's mentioned Elton John yet. And if Knute Rockne's still around ..........

GO Cards, protect the legacy.

Seriously, are you that disappointed Linehan won't be joining us? A blunder would be hiring another Hostler and I don't see Singletary doing that. At least give the guy a chance... Geez.

No one has ever said that the 49ers FO released or even leaked the information that Linehan was offered the job. Considering that he took two interviews and chose not to accept the job, it makes more sense to think that his agent released the information to get Linehan's name some better circulation. OC candidates turn down offers fairly often. Shanny was the 49er's fifth choice for OC, and he turned out okay. The difference is, most candidates handle the proceedings with more class and professionalism. Whether it was Linehan or his agent that orchestrated this dog-and-pony show, we would be fairly foolish to assume that Linehan's explanation was entirely true. If he wanted a job closer to home (maybe KC), I doubt that he was suddenly surprised by how far Cali is from Missouri. I hope this returns to bite him professionally. As for our hunt, there are good candidates out there, and the NFL trend this year is to get younger in the coaching department. Either we follow the trend and select a young mind with new ideas, or we pick up an experienced offensive coach that gets left out in the cold when everyone else goes young (possibly Chan Gailey).

LOL! Thank you! These whiners are a joke!

I don't care that he was or wasn't hired...i'm disappointed in the process. And btw,,..Nolan was never offered the GB job...ted thompson said he didnt' want him..THUS nolan hitched up w/ denver.

I want concrete examples of people who were offered a job and then turned it down. Its embarrassing to run the org in such a way, this thing should've been kept hush hush and Linehan shouldn't have been given 3 days to sit on it and then turn them down.

Singletary got taken advantage of by Linehan

Disappointed in the process? As in Linehan's agent leaking the job offering? How can they control what others leak?

You're proving your case is BS, Ill, by the Thompson reference. Did GB fall apart because the GM and the Coach had a public disagreement over Nolan? Nope. The just went and hired Capers - a guy with a similar defensive track record.

Hue Jackson ...more Baltimore Raven envy... er ok but let's not get snotty with sandpaper comments when someone merely recounts names posted in earlier discussions...

are we certain it was leaked by his agent?

we should've hastened his decision once this was leaked...because all it did was make us look bad. screw linehan...

but singletary and scotty are new at this and it showed

I must admit I liked the idea of having Linehan come in. He appeared to be a perfect fit. However, with this bush league move he pulled at the team's expense, I do hope it comes back to bite him in the behind. Now, I am a bit disappointed that Mike Singletary doesn't appear to have had more options in his pocket in the event Linehan (or any other candidate for that matter) declined the team's offer. I also liked the idea of Rick Dennison, but it looks as if he is staying put. My dream candidate goes by the name of Norm Chow. The guy is a genius. He was the sacrificial lamb in Tennessee because he couldn't make Vince (the most overrated garbage quarterback in the NFL) Young the superstar he is supposed to be. He is a wizard with quarterbacks, can game-plan and call plays, and can reign in egos and get them all on the same page. He is the guy I want. Now Coach Singletary, please go get him!

Maybe if Singletary and Jed would NOT SHOW any films of the old Bear films of the offense and not tell the perspective OC's that this offense is THE one for the 49ers, They might be successful in hiring one!

Ronnie - Fresno, you and I are on the same page. I mentioned Norm Chow (and Steve Mariucci) at the outset and I concur with you wholeheartedly about Chow. In many ways I see parallels with Bill Walsh's history. Walsh was submarined by Paul Brown who looked over him when he named his successor with the Bengals and Chow was similarly treated the same way after many, many years at BYU. Everyone then thinks something is wrong with Chou. He goes to USC and gets pushed aside by Pete Carroll for stealing some of the spotlight. He then goes to Tennessee and takes Young as far as his emotional limitations allow and is let go. Turns out he was right; witness the substitution (now and next year too) to Kerry Collins. He then gets passed over for the UCLA job for the return of the prodigal son - Rick Neuheisel. All Chow has done is produce generally dynamic and balanced offenses that have won - in the WAC, in the Pac 10 and the NFL. Even this year he made UCLA semi-respectable and won some games they had no business winning with a fourth string QB. I really would like Chow to at least be interviewed.

MM -
I agree with several of these recent posts ... any chance Norm Chow could get an interview? I also heard Hue Jackson was on his way to NY with Ryan ... what does that mean for little Schottenheimer?

Chow would be a good choice. He is humble and a great teacher. While he may still have HC aspirations, teams are going towards the new hot coaches or retreads. He is experienced at both the college and NFL level as an OC and a play-caller. Solid

I like Chow also. I wonder how the failure to have their OC with them has affected their player evaluations in Mobile.

I'd ask you to back up your claim that everyone is going young.

Yes, with head coaches. We need a coordinator, and the trend is the OPPOSITE of what you say...i.e. someone seasoned and experienced is not the trend, it is mandatory for success (look at yesterdays games, all those coordinators are the real deal)

If Singletary hires and unproven commodity, he will have one foot in the grave of his head coaching career.

Chow likes to throw and likes to open it up...like...he feels offense is about creating mismatches and deceiving the defense.

Not a fit for Singletary. Who I think would prefer to run 3 A gap dives and send Lee out to punt.

correction...seasoned and experienced IS the trend for coordinators

Personally I'm glad that Linehan didn't accept. I see him like Norv Turner, possibly jumping ship after 1 year.

I wanted Jeremy Bates from Denver for the OC job (ties to Walsh through Shanahan, experience coordinating and called plays in 2008, could work with Rathman on calling running plays) but he was hired today by USC for their OC spot.

Singletary should hire a young QB coach/passing game coordinator and have them work with Rathman and Foerster to coordinate and call running plays, ala with McKittrick and the 9er offense in the late 80s. Here is my list:

Jeff Rutledge - Cards
Bill Musgrave - Falcons
Tom Clements - Packers
Pat Shurmur - Eagles
John Ramsdell - Chargers
David Lee - Dolphins

The Senior Bowl is as much for scouting talent as it is for networking within the rank and file of Who's Who in the NFL job market.
Singletary is a stand up guy, a family man himself and well aware that offers are made good faith.
I'm of the belief that he will not make the same knee jerk reaction to the vacancy that NoPlan did how many times before.
Sing understands the importance of team work and knows what he's shopping for.
Give him credit for doing what's necessary to locate the guy he's most comfortable with.
I'd rather get the hungry guy with something to prove instead of the fat cat looking over his shoulder for the next best offer.

I suppose I should have used a more specific word than "young" in my post. I am not suggesting any age. I was referring to someone who is new to the role of coordinator, and I was not suggesting that this was the appropriate course of action for the 49ers. I marely said that it is the trend. Shurmur is already being tied to the Rams job, while Jackson is a candidate in Cincinatti. That was the news today, so it does seem to be a rather current trend. If the displaced coordinators are not employed as head coaches, then there will be experienced coordinators in need of employment, like I said in my post. Chan Gailey, an experienced OC who we talked about last year, could be in just that position when things get shaken out in KC. I'n not sure if he is the man for us, but he is an experienced option.

We will see which direction our coach takes, but I trust him either way. He seems to get the most out of people, and everyone of those "real deal" coordinators had to call their first game at some point. When Whisenhunt OC'd for Cowher, he had graduated from tight ends coach, and you can't tell me Cowher was a steadying offensive mind to guide him. Tod Haley was an OC for the first time last year, and he coached the Cards to the fifth best passing O while using Leinart for half of the year. Great receivers, but still, Leinart. Bruce Arians? C'mon man. Last year was his first year coordinating the Steelers, and his previous coordinating experience was 2001-2003 for the Browns. Yeah...those Browns. That's some "real deal" experience. His experience doesn't say much, but he's done a pretty decent job these last two seasons, huh?

Two games one way or the other and we could have won the West. We're in an enviable position as far as divisions go.

Hib, you have taken everything Coach Singletary has said out of context. He has said that he wants an offense that can run the ball when it needs to be run. He was even quoted as saying something to the effect that sometimes you need to pass more, sometimes you need to run more. But when the game is on the line and you need to run the ball to control the clock and put the game away, then he places a high premium on the ability to do so. He played for a long time and has coached for awhlie now too, he is not naive to think you can win by running into the line three times and punting ... remember, he has seen firsthand how consistently bad offensive football can doom a rookie head coach's career ... how do you think he got this job? I am certain he is really sweating this decision because he is fully aware of the consequences that come with a bad hire.