Funny isn’t it. If Jim Harbaugh remains at Stanford, he could be coaching a better quarterback than he likely would with the 49ers or Broncos. Then again, if Harbaugh leaves the Cardinal for his suitors in San Francisco or Denver, Andrew Luck may very well jump to the NFL too.
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Instead of looking for an executive from a winning team to become the 49ers’ general manager, Jed York is apparently looking inward in his wretched organization to promote Trent Baalke.
Well, I guess we shouldn’t expect anything different. Jed, after all, is the son of John York, who told me in our first conversation that he was going to tell Steve Mariucci how to coach his assistant coaches and then proceeded to tell Bill Walsh how to run an organization.
The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree.
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Jed York is talking again. This time he makes sense, although that may not be enough to make immediate progress.
No wild-hare predictions, like that absurd statement back in October when the 49ers were 0-5 they would win the division, a fanciful thought which made Jed seem out of touch.
Now, only an acknowledgment a change is necessary, because a football team, as any organization — a business, the military, a university — requires competent leadership. Or it fails.
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Many 49ers walking around the facility looked shell-shocked following the firing of Mike Singletary. They like Mike.
Vernon Davis called him a father figure who cared about his players as people first. Too bad Singletary’s coaching skills never matched his noble personal character. That’s because he led like he played: Explosive, uncompromising and stubbornly determined to out-muscle anything in his path.
Initially it worked. Although, ultimately the bombast and hubris were his undoing.
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Desperate times require desperate solutions. Gene Washington once pointed out to me that Joe Thomas was so destructive in the late ’70s that Eddie DeBartolo was forced to turn control over to Bill Walsh.
The 49ers are not quite so desperate now, but the outlook is not rosy, either. They haven’t had a winning season since John York impulsively and foolishly fired Steve Mariucci in 2002. The three coaches since — Dennis Erickson, Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary — have all been disasters in different ways.
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It’s torture all over again.
The Giants’ 2010 season was playfully dubbed “torture” by Duane Kuiper, the best baseball announcer nobody ever mentions when talking about the best baseball announcers, but the 49ers’ season has taken the label to a whole new level.
It’s nothing short of torture watching the product put on the field by the 49ers this year. Niners fans have to lead the league in third-quarter channel changes.
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Before Jed York breaks out his, “I Told You So” bumper stickers, the 49ers must do something they haven’t done this season Sunday in St. Louis: win a road game with Alex Smith at quarterback — unless Mike Singletary flip flops and goes back to Troy Smith.
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In my book, the air has been choked out of the 49ers’ balloon, which struggled to get off the ground the entire season.
While the 49ers are still mathmatically alive for the playoffs thanks to the dreadful NFC West, this team already appears all but done. Thanks to the Chargers for that.
This Niners team should be put out of their fans’ misery. Forget what the mathematicians say.
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It’s been decided. Alex Smith will not be playing for the 49ers next season unless he’s playing for the 49ers next season. Mike Singletary is going to be replaced as coach unless he’s retained as coach. Anything else you need?
“This is a game for madmen,” said the great Vince Lombardi. “In football, we’re all mad.” Are we ever.
Coaches, players, journalists and particularly fans, a group which knows what it doesn’t want — Alex, Singletary — but is unsure of what it does want, other than the return of Joe Montana or Steve Young.
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Alex Smith justified Mike Singletary’s decision to start him and made a strong case to stay in San Francisco as the 49ers trounccd the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Singletary’s decision was roundly criticized by the know-nothings in the Bay Area media. One pointed to Troy Smith’s winning record as a starter, without noting that the wins came over the 3-10 Broncos, 4-9 Cardinals and 6-7 Rams. Whoop-dee-doo.
Another media critic said Singletary might have to make a change at halftime against Seattle. Not with a 30-7 lead.
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