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.
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).
No comments:
Post a Comment