By Scott Dryden, 49ers World
Miami 14, San Francisco 9
Miami ; 1-15 in 2007 to at worst a 9-7 record this year, and maybe more. Along with Atlanta this year, the list of hapless down and out teams that manage to sort things out in short order continues. So why are the 49ers still mirered with losing record after losing record for the 6th straight season?
One word - Ownership
While the turn around efforts of Mike Singletary, Shaun Hill and company the past few weeks have been commendable, the mess left by John York's decision making blunders remain.
It all started with Steve Mariucci's dismissal in 2003 after leading the team to a 10-6 record in '02 and a division crown. (the team's last). Then replacing him with formal NFL failure, Dennis Eriksen, a man with no idea how to be a head coach in the pros, who led the landslide, all the way to the bottom with a 2-14 mark in '04 and let the franchise's most stabilizing player - QB Jeff Garcia walk away along the way. Then, York replaced Eriksen with Mike Nolan in '05, a man with no head coaching experience at any level. While Nolan is an accomplished defensive mind and drafted well on that side of the ball, leaving behind good talent, he had little to no idea how to build or run an NFL offense and it showed.
Drafting a "face of the franchise" QB first overall from a spread formation offense and trying to put him under center was the first indicator. Alex Smith was a flash in the pan at Utah and aside from the second half of a 2006 game at Seattle, never once looked like he had the chops to run an NFL offense. It's a shame too, because his attitude was first rate, and yet, Nolan screwed that up too. Leaving Mike Martz behind won't help Nolan's legacy. Martz will blow up or implode sooner or later. Mike Singletary or whoever is the next head coach would be wise to start fresh and get rid of Martz, who is playing possem til he gets the next head coaching gig he has stated he wants.
That gets us back to the Yorks and to the present. Singletary seems to have the right mix of hard-nosed attitude and leadership qualities to make a long term go as a head coach. Let's hope he gets the chance. However, based on history, I wouldn't put it past the Yorks to do something stupid like let him walk away and let Martz have a shot or some "el cheapo" option to match their financial balance goals rather than head coaching candidate requirements goals. The other issue and Nolan legacy that needs to be corrected is the GM spot. Current GM and former Nolan assistant GM Scot McCloughlan should have been gone along with Nolan. First, that they let Nolan switch places with his assistant rather than fire them both 2 years ago was ridiculous. Second, leaving McCloughlan in place up til now shows no concept by the Yorks for his part in the team's further dismise.
Watching the 49ers, and their "genius" Mike Martz's offense manage 3 field goals against the resurgent Dolphins brought 6 years of frustration to the boiling point for me. Another meaningless November/December game for the 49ers, who try to put a positive spin on things by saying they are "shooting for .500" rather than actually being competitive in the weakest division in football. Meanwhile, the team across the field looks to go from 1-15 to a possible 11 win season and a division crown in 1 season. Couple that with what's going on in Atlanta with Matt Ryan , Mike Smith and co. resurging after last year's 3-13 mess left by Mike Vick and Bobby Petrino, and you have to point the finger of blame at ownership.
Arthur Blank (Atlanta) and Wayne Huizenga (Miami) care - and put their money where their mouths are - and John York doesn't.
One can only hope that the Yorks may come to their senses just long enough to hire 1 decent football organizational mind to oversee things, otherwise the 49ers will continue to resemble the thrift-minded mis-managed Bengals and Cardinals teams of so many decades past. I think looking to the homecoming of Bay Area native Mike Holmgren might be a wise idea. Just because Holmgren has stated he won't coach, doesn't mean he wouldn't entertain upper management offers from his hometown team. He has stated before that coaching the 49ers would be his "dream job"
Offer him the President/GM job, renew Singletary on a 2 year deal and go from there. Let Holmgren shop for the grocerys (much as Parcels has done in Miami), and if he decides he wants to cook again, let him cook.
Anything is better than another year of the hash the Niners keep serving us.
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