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Week 13 (Panthers) Link Dump

Being Tuesday and all, I decided to open up a link dump diary.  As usual, my reason for opening it is a Matt Maiocco blog entry (SURPRISE!), but feel free to discuss that and post other links to whatever other news topics you want.

In Matt Maiocco's most recent blog entry, he decided to tackle the "common" Q&A questions he tends to get via e-mail and comments (as there was no practice today for him to cover).  The most interesting one to me was not the question about what Matt thought was ailing the team (offense, big surprise there), but actually WHY Matt thinks that is the case:

Q: What about the offense? Where have things gone wrong?

A: It took me a long time to come to this conclusion, but I think the problem is the offensive coordinator. I'm not speaking specifically about Jim Hostler, though. Bear with me. I think Hostler is a good, hard-working coach. But what he lacked as an offensive coordinator was experience. So much of being an offensive coordinator is having a commanding presence and a strong reputation. I think subconsciously the players might have doubted Hostler - Frank Gore said as much more than a month ago. Even if Hostler were doing things exactly like Norv Turner, the players weren't going to be carrying out their assignments with the same conviction because Hostler was a first-time coordinator. Another problem was having two inexperienced coaches, Hostler and Frank Cignetti, in charge of a young QB and the offense. It was a good move by Nolan to bring in Ted Tollner last week. If he were to do it over again, I'll bet Nolan would've tried really hard to hire Tollner to his staff (as O.C. or QBs coach) when Turner left in February.

I think he poses a very interesting (and VERY valid) reason for the offensive struggles.  Trust is a huge thing between players and their coaches.  This is especially true if the players are being asked to run plays called by someone that has NEVER called plays in a real NFL game before.  I'm not saying this is the end-all reason, but it is a very good reason, and one that is really overlooked.  Hostler hasn't really helped his cause to that either, though.

In another question, Matt also says that he'd be "surprised" if the 49ers brought in a new GM.  That would be right in line with what HTS and I have been saying, in that Nolan and McCloughan together have actually done really well in bringing players in.  It's the getting the most out of the offensive players that has been the problem.  With a full offseason of potential suitors and interviews, I have little doubt that Nolan WILL find a better offensive coordinator, and one that players will learn to trust before training camp begins.

Again, feel free to use this diary to drop off links to any interesting articles and such that you don't want to start a whole new diary for. You could also use this as a launching point for any thoughts you may have leading into this week's game that you don't want to start a whole new diary for.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.

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Although, I do agree
that the problem has been the play-calling, I don't think that the reason The Niner O doesn't flow isn't because players don't believe in the plays or doesn't respect him.  I think  Jim Hostler doesn't make adjustments and sticks to a  strict format when calling his plays.  I am not saying that I could ever be an O.C. but a good one make adjustments throughout a game.  Given the amount of 3 and outs as well as the amount of time our defense has been on the field, changes need to be made.  That's the problem.  That and our quarterbacks are incredibly inaccurate (yes I know an injury has been involved) and Darrell Jackson drops a lot of balls yet has an uncanny knack of getting open which helps him drop more balls.

by PastGlory on Nov 27, 2007 3:08 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Very true.
Hostler does seem to lack adjustments at any given point during a game.  His lack of adjustments is something you expect out of a first-time playcaller, though.  I'm not making an excuse for him, but it is true.  Sure, really good offensive coordinators will learn faster than a whole season worth of calling plays, but it's still a very valid expectation.

I do hope that Nolan searches far and wide outside of the organization for a new offensive coordinator.  I've endorsed (though my endorsement means very little) Ken Zampese, the QB coach for the Bengals.  He's the son of the guy who taught Norv Turner what he knows, so there can't be much more "clout" out of the gates than that, really.  He's also done a fairly good job with Carson Palmer in Cinci.

The wonderful thing about Jackson (and Lelie, Gilmore and such for that matter) is that he doesn't HAVE to be on the roster next year.  By that, I mean the team has no monetary tie to him whatsoever.  They didn't pay him any bonus money, so he has no impact on the salary cap if he gets released.  What does this mean?  He'll have to earn his roster spot next year, which will definitely be more difficult to do (as I strongly believe the 49ers will bring in more than one capable WR to compete).

by sfgfan on Nov 27, 2007 3:22 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Tarell Brown
With Spencer hurt for at least one game and Hudson out for at least two, Tarell Brown may get his most significant shot at playtime during his rookie season.  I'd look for the two rookies, Brown and Goldson, to be active this weekend in Carolina.

by sfgfan on Nov 27, 2007 4:52 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Bo Knows Best
An interesting E-ticket article on Bo Jackson is at ESPN.com.

by sfgfan on Nov 28, 2007 10:27 AM PST reply actions   0 recs

awesome article
I read it and loved it.
Niners Nation - The premier 49ers blog on the Internet!

by Fooch on Nov 28, 2007 11:37 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Bo Jackson
what a savage.  I love that they mentioned Tecmo Super Bowl.  God I miss that game.
Bring back the classic Uni's!

by wjackalope on Nov 29, 2007 8:27 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Not that we didn't already have an idea...
... but Hostler supposedly called all the plays Sunday.  The extent of Tollner's presence for that game (and the foreseeable future) was as a discussion partner in between offensive series.

Source: Matt Maiocco article @ the Press Democrat

by sfgfan on Nov 29, 2007 2:54 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Crap
If it is true that Hoss called all the plays, fine. I just hope Gore doesn't find out about this.
Hostler the Horrible

by jfainsf49 on Nov 29, 2007 2:59 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Gore and Willis
Gore wins Ground Player of the Week:
http://www.nfl.com/partner?partnerType=players-air-and-ground

Willis wins Defensive Player of the Week:
http://www.nfl.com/partner?partnerType=players-defense

No word yet on Rookie of the Week, but if that douchebag safety wins, I'll be shocked.  He wasn't even nominated for DPOTW, so how he could beat out Willis is beyond me.  Currently, it appears Willis is ahead 42% to 39%.

We are not who I thought we were.

by marcello on Nov 29, 2007 6:00 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Nowhere to put this
But I had to talk some shit to the Cal fans here.  It's 20-10 Stanford, with about 12 minutes to go.  Now, I didn't go to Stanford, but my mom did and I was raised a fan.  We had season tickets up until I was in junior high, back when Stanford was actually good.  Anyways, this is far from over, but WOO WOO for now.
We are not who I thought we were.

by marcello on Dec 1, 2007 6:44 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Worst. Fumble. Ever.
Why the fuck would you try to switch hands while getting hit in a crowd?  Stupid
We are not who I thought we were.

by marcello on Dec 1, 2007 7:09 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Big game
:(

I leave the school for one year and everything goes to shit.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 2, 2007 9:55 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Is Longshore hurt?
His accuracy (especially down the stretch) in that game was TERRIBLE.  I'm not a huge Cal fan, but his performance had me rather upset.

by sfgfan on Dec 3, 2007 12:20 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

He could be hurt
He had a severe ankle problem that kept him out two or three games earlier in the season, and there's always the chance it's nagging and he just can't plant on it to save his life.

But I never got that "I'm convinced by Longshore" feeling, even when he was playing well... and somehow I'm inclined to believe that his confidence was high coming in this year and he rode that to early success, but when things started to fall apart around him he just crumbled with them.

It's not fair, maybe, because this is his first full year starting and everything, but I think the fact that there have been times when I've been nostalgic for the pocket presense of Joe Ayoob probably says more than anything else I could come up with right now...

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 3, 2007 12:51 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Wait a second
This isn't his first full year, is it?

Oh how quickly we forget.... Still, I just don't know what went wrong with him. Maybe it was the ankle, but it's looked like much more than just an ankle problem to me, like a confidence problem, or a fear problem. I don't know, exactly.

I do know I never got the feeling that any game (even the gimme games) was a given the way I did with a guy like Aaron Rogers, even when Nate was playing well. He never looked quite right in the pocket. He never quite buckled it down when buckling down was called for. It's all frenological-pseudo-scouting style analysis, but it's all I've got.

I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 3, 2007 12:56 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

First year
First year, or not, some of his throws were VERY terrible.  This is true of some that should have been pretty "easy."  Maybe I'm just being hard on him, but there's no arguing that his accuracy was way off.

by sfgfan on Dec 3, 2007 1:24 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Welp
Howie, I guess you owe it to the University of California to go back to school and never graduate.

by groug on Dec 3, 2007 1:48 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Hmmm
Can I have some sort of Beer And Gym scholarship? I could drink lots of beer, but I'm not willing to take my svelte 5'7" frame over 180lbs. Not 180lbs of fat, anyway.
I keep reliving the moment when Steve Young almost fell down. Over and over. / My Blog, For Writers

by howtheyscored on Dec 3, 2007 1:54 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

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