When Niners ' Mike Nolan by-passed promoting linebackers coach Mike Singletary to defensive coordinator to replace the fired Billy Davis in the offseason, some criticized the coach for basically slapping one of his own assistants in the face. But Nolan had some very good reasons for skipping Singletary and hiring Greg Manusky (left,below) away from the San Diego Chargers . First of all, Singletary -- despite his extreme inexperience as a coach -- was already being viewed as a potential head coach by several teams. Even though he has been coaching pro linebackers for just four seasons, Singletary already has garnered interest over the past two offseasons from the Detroit Lions , Atlanta Falcons , Dallas Cowboys and Chargers. Hiring him would most likely have meant replacing him within a year or two.
Meanwhile, Manusky had a proven track record with the Chargers over the past five seasons, leading a Pro Bowl-populated linebacker corps on one of the league's best defenses.Manusky's mind-set comes from 12 years as an NFL linebacker and coaching tutelage under Tony Dungy, Marty Schottenheimer and Wade Phillips.

When he retired after the 1999 season, Manusky went directly into coaching. In 2000, he volunteered with Dungy's Tampa Bay Buccaneers during training camp; and in 2001, he was hired by Schottenheimer -- his former coach in Kansas City -- to tutor the Washington Redskins ' linebackers. In 2002, Manusky followed Schottenheimer to San Diego, and in five seasons with the Chargers, Manusky sent four of his linebackers to the Pro Bowl while also learning the intricacies of the 3-4 defense under Phillips. Along with his knowledge of the 3-4 defense Nolan wants to run, those are traits that should serve Manusky well as he attempts to fashion a unit that is much better than the San Francisco defense that in 2006 surrendered an NFL-high 412 points, ranked 26th in yards allowed (223 per game), and gave up 25 touchdown passes (fourth most in the league) and a 63.9 completion percentage (third worst in the league).
Manusky has a lot of work to do, with 10 new defenders to insert into his scheme. He has a lot of good players -- led by top free-agent cornerback Nate Clements and first-round linebacker Patrick Willis -- but he does not think that automatically means the 49ers will turn into the Northern California version of the Chargers.Nolan is confident the players will respond to Manusky.
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