New coach needs to be remembered
If he’s not brought back, if he is gone after this season and
never to return, if he is without another coaching position for the
rest of his career, you will remember the short, nine-week tenure
of Mike Singletary as head coach of the 49ers.
We’re one week into the Singletary era, and already Niners fans
have seen passion, desire, devotion, fire, energy, and an almost
diehard fanaticism that makes you wonder if Singletary ever played
linebacker for San Francisco and not Chicago (FOX’s Danyelle
Sargent seems to think so).
New coach needs to be remembered
If he’s not brought back, if he is gone after this season and never to return, if he is without another coaching position for the rest of his career, you will remember the short, nine-week tenure of Mike Singletary as head coach of the 49ers.
We’re one week into the Singletary era, and already Niners fans have seen passion, desire, devotion, fire, energy, and an almost diehard fanaticism that makes you wonder if Singletary ever played linebacker for San Francisco and not Chicago (FOX’s Danyelle Sargent seems to think so).
Whether this year will be peppered with wins and triumphs, losses and heartbreaks, or even laughs and tears, remains to be seen. But you will remember everything that Singletary stands for, and that’s exactly what he wants.
You have to remember. The York’s must remember. Otherwise, Mike Singletary is out of a job next season, and none of what happened this week mattered.
Somewhere, I think maybe in Idaho, Dennis Erickson is praising the fact that he’s not remembered. Not at all.
But Singletary, and all his passionate/crazed postgame news conferences that we may witness from here on out, is technically applying for his own job next season.
That’s because he carries the dreaded “interim” tag, which is usually a title reserved for those lesser-known assistants whose only job it is to keep the coaching seat warm, then to fall from grace for a higher profile coach the following year.
It’s because he carries the unfortunate association to the Mike Nolan era, as Singletary was basically a by-product of the former coach, having been his assistant for four years.
It’s because this is Singletary’s first-ever head coaching job.
But by the looks of it, Singletary does not fit the interim profile at all – not by a long shot – and he continues to further distance himself from Nolan.
By the looks of it, he’s not going to let a hapless Niners team prevent him from coaching again, whether it be in San Francisco or elsewhere.
He can’t.
“I don’t talk a whole lot, but when I am talking, I do know what I feel, and I do know what I want to say,” Singletary said. “I don’t ever want to come in there and be a philosopher, an analytical (person). That’s not who I am. What you see now is what I am, and that’s not going to change any time soon.”
Singletary is certainly putting his stamp on the team, which makes you wonder how much longer he could have gone as Nolan’s silent assistant.
He benched starting quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan after three turnovers Sunday. Later, in the same game, he sent tight end Vernon Davis to the locker room early after a personal foul.
He took a painfully interesting team – it’s painful to be interested in the Niners – and turned them into national news again, for better or for worse, if only for a Sunday.
Who in the Bay Area isn’t interested to see what Singletary will do next? Who in the Bay Area isn’t enjoying Singletary’s if-Nolan-zigs-than-I’ll-zag approach?
It may not be what a fan wants to see in his head coach, at least not on the first day of the job, but the pot-stirring ability of the one-week-old Singletary is the most exciting thing to hit 49erland since … since …
Well, it’s been a while.
The million-dollar question now is: What does Singletary do for an encore? Does he have enough against-the-grain gas left in the tank to make it through the rest of the season?
He already promoted Shaun Hill to quarterback earlier this week. Although that move seemed inevitable considering O’Sullivan had a league-high 11 interceptions and a league-high 11 fumbles – ugh! – Hill’s play-it-safe style is the exact opposite way to utilize the aggressive play-calling of offensive coordinator Mike Martz.
But, shoot, when you’re 2-6, why not?
“When you look at J.T.’s capabilities and the arm strength and all of those things, you’d say, ‘Hey, maybe that guy gives us the best chance to win,'” Singletary said. “But if you look around the league, there are guys that are very talented, very smart … but they can’t play quarterback. J.T. has done a good job. He’s just been inconsistent.”
If Singletary can bring some winning consistency to the Niners, then the York’s –ugh! – should make the obvious decision and bring him back.
He’s only got nine weeks to prove he belongs, but if Singletary can change the losing mindset in San Francisco, or heck, just do better than their current 2-6 performance, everyone will remember.
