Thoughts on the firing of Mike Nolan.
I was up there in the Bay Area when Mike Nolan began his head coaching career. To fans and the media, Nolan immediately seemed to be confident, prepared, an upgrade over Dennis Erickson and he bore the right last name (his father, Dick, was once the team's head coach). Seeing the news of his firing today makes me think he was much more overwhelmed than he ever let on.
Nolan had never been more than a defensive coordinator before he stepped in to the GM/head coach role, a role that seemed ill-suited to the demands of each position (as Mike Holmgren had recently discovered up in Seattle). Nolan's first task: draw the right name out of a deep hat of collegiate talent to make the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL draft. There was no consensus No. 1 -- not even a Reggie Bush. Nolan decided that it came down to either Aaron Rodgers or Alex Smith. It was the first and most important decision he'd ever make in San Francisco. It also turned out to be possibly the worst; probably the one that ultimately cost him his job.
Hey, at least he didn't pick Pacman Jones!
This is the space where the sports writer pretends he could actually be an NFL general manager, and confidently states who Nolan should have picked instead. I don't think Rodgers would have done any better behind the O-Line (and three offensive coordinators in three years) that Smith inherited. So I'd point to an offensive lineman, perhaps Jammal Brown, who was selected 13th by the Saints and ultimately made a Pro Bowl at left tackle. Did anyone see that coming at the time? Not me or, apparently, 12 actual NFL general managers.
The bottom line is, if Alex Smith succeeds at leading the 49ers back to respectability, Nolan is still the coach and you're not reading this blog right now. Still, it's foolish to say that Smith's failure is a direct result of Nolan -- personally, I attribute Smith's arrested development to Norv Turner's bolting to San Diego -- but Nolan's overall inability to build a team is a direct cause of the 49ers' failure to produce a winning season the last three years. It probably wasn't reasonable to expect him to succeed in the first place. Mike Nolan may very well be a good NFL head coach, but the 49ers did not put him in a situation that was ripe for success. (Turner, by contrast, was a very smart man to walk into that situation in San Diego.)
The closer I looked at his situation in recent months, the worse it looked for Nolan, whose outward appearance was often delightfully dapper. His relationship with the media, and not surprisingly Smith, had soured. Optimistically, he was merely a fall guy for organizational ineptitude.
At least, that's being optimistic for Nolan's future employment prospects. Not so optimistic for anyone whose heart is invested in John York's ability to run a football team.
Comments
It's sad to see Nolan's tenure come to this, but having Singletary as a consolation isn't so bad.
Posted by: Dennis Pope | October 21, 2008 5:53 PM