Dickey: It's up to Singletary to monitor his personality

Mike Singletary led the 49ers to a 5-4 record after taking over for Mike Nolan at the end of last season, and the team seems to be united behind him. (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Singletary is still largely an unknown quantity as the 49ers’ head coach, but one thing is certain: He’s a forceful
personality.

That personality served him well last season when he stepped into the leadership vacuum created by Mike Nolan and took the 49ers to a 5-4 record after he was promoted.

It was still working this week as the 49ers practiced at Santa Clara. After the Monday practice, he berated the team for 15 minutes for what he regarded as slipshod play. He minced no words with the media, either.

“We lost a day today,” he said. Players later said they deserved his tongue-lashing, and they appear to be united behind him.

But Singletary’s personality also caused the 49ers some offseason setbacks. First, he fired offensive coordinator Mike Martz. The official explanation, that Martz would be a distraction because he still wants to become a head coach, didn’t make sense. The best thing for Martz in that situation would have been to do so good a job that the 49ers reached the playoffs. I don’t see that as a bad thing.

Trying to get a replacement for Martz, Singetary was repeatedly rebuffed by coaches who obviously had a personality conflict with him. Scott Linehan even turned down the 49ers job to go to 0-16 Detroit!

Singletary finally hired Jimmy Raye, the figurative last man standing, but he’s already had a public disagreement with Raye, who said it wouldn’t hurt the team if the battle between Alex Smith and Shaun Hill for the starting job at quarterback extended into training camp.

Singletary said he wanted the decision made before camp. He’s also made some disturbing comments about an emphasis on the running game, which is not how teams win in the NFL.

There are two examples which show how Singletary’s coaching future with the 49ers could go, one from Singletary’s playing
experience.

The first is from Joe Kapp’s stint as coach at Cal. Like Singletary, Kapp is a fiery, charismatic leader whose knowledge of the X’s and O’s is sketchy. His first year at Cal, Kapp left the actual coaching to his assistants — defensive coordinator Ron Lynn ran practices — and was the motivational leader. The Bears went 7-4.

Then, the USFL was formed and Kapp lost his best assistants, including Lynn. He couldn’t replace them with quality assistants so he decided he’d make the coaching decisions. Big mistake. He went 13-30 over the next four seasons and was fired.

The second example had a better ending. In 1985, Singletary played for a Chicago Bears team that had Mike Ditka as coach and Buddy Ryan as defensive coordinator. The two hated each other; Ditka once even challenged Ryan to a fight.

But Ditka let Ryan run the defense without interference and the ’85 Bears won the Super Bowl.

That’s the example Singletary should heed. He should especially let Raye run the offense, about which he knows nothing.

In the current NFL, the coordinators do most of the actual coaching. Head coaches set the tone and Singletary, who has been a motivational speaker, can do that quite well. When he talks to his team about being physically and mentally tough, they listen because they know that’s what he was in his Hall of Fame playing career.

So, if he can follow Ditka’s example, he and the 49ers will be successful.

Glenn Dickey has been covering Bay Area sports since 1963 and also writes on www.GlennDickey.com. E-mail him at glenndickey@hotmail.com.