Same Old, Same Old for Nolan & 49ers

Shapecity · Sep 6, 2008

The dominant question at the start of this 49ers season is the same one that ended last season.

How long will Mike Nolan be the head coach?

It's the topic that just won't die.

"A year ago, no one would have thought that I may lose my job, but it did happen that way," Nolan said this week, speaking about the pressure he faces. "It's always there. As we're all aware, guys with great records lose their jobs, guys with poor records.

"I don't think you run scared. The objective is to win; everyone knows the consequences when you don't. That's much of the adrenaline rush in having the job. Everything you do counts, and it's exciting from that standpoint."

Not often does a head coach start the year with his job status already a question. But not often does an NFL head coach survive a 16-32 record over his first three seasons, like Nolan has. Over those three seasons, only two other teams — the Raiders and Detroit — have worse records, but those teams (along with Houston and Miami, which have identical 16-32 marks) made coaching changes along the way in an effort to correct their problems.

Nolan's job status was worthy of a three-day marathon discussion with ownership at the end of last season that resulted in Nolan keeping his job but handing over "the trigger" to General Manager Scot McCloughan. The power. The final say.

And this week McCloughan was asked if he would use that trigger on Nolan if the 49ers got off to a rough start. Not if Nolan was on the hot seat, but if he was on the ejection seat.

"I can't answer that right now," McCloughan said. "That's looking out into the future. We're planning on getting to a 3-1, 4-1 start and going from there. We're living week to week and that's what you do in the NFL.

"If the time comes and something needs to be done, it will be done. But right now, it's not even close to that."

Of course not, because the 49ers right now are gloriously undefeated. But a glance at their first-half schedule indicates, even if they win Sunday's opener against Arizona, that might not last long. The 49ers — 6-18 on the road under Nolan — have trips to Seattle, New Orleans and the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. They play host to heavyweights New England and Philadelphia, as well as Seattle. It's a tough first eight games.

And though the Yorks exercised caution with Nolan in January, you've got to wonder how much patience they will show if the 49ers horror show begins again.

Alex Smith's status was the other burning question at the end of last season, but that issue has been settled, at least temporarily, with the quarterback's benching. The resolution, however, doesn't help Nolan's position. Nolan was the one who chose to draft Smith with the No. 1 pick in 2005. Nolan is also the one who mishandled Smith's situation last year. If Smith stays benched, that means the Yorks will have spent more than $30 million on a clipboard carrier.

Though I was in Beijing while the latest, greatest 49ers quarterback controversy was unfolding, I did receive e-mail missives from the 49ers. Dealing with the Chinese language was nothing compared to trying to translate transcripts of Nolan's media sessions, when the two-man race became an evenly matched three-man race, which became a J.T. O'Sullivan slam dunk.

When I read quotes such as, "Specifically, we would not discuss the specifics because I didn't know what they were going to be," it sounded like someone else was actually making the team's biggest decision. And that someone is clearly Mike Martz.

Martz was hired to fix the 49ers' offense. He's sure to make it more interesting and diverse. (Kicker Joe Nedney told me, "I don't want to be the MVP.") Martz also gives the Yorks options if they're not happy with the team's direction. The assumption is that if Martz does his job and the offense is working, then the 49ers will be winning and all will be well.

But we know that things don't always happen so smoothly in the NFL, where questions of egos, control and competence arise on a daily basis. If 49ers ownership wants to make a change, they might look no further than Martz. Though some observers believe the 49ers would opt for defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, it seems to me unlikely that they would tap a defensive guy who has never been a head coach to replace a defensive guy who had never been a head coach. Especially when a coach who led a team to a Super Bowl is standing on their sideline.

The 49ers are starting this season with the same question that ended the last season. The only way to end the palace intrigue is obvious: win some games.
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Source: SJ Mercury News

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Same Old, Same Old for Nolan & 49ers

Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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Same Old, Same Old for Nolan & 49ers

Shapecity S2/JBB Teamster Staff Member Administrator

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