I think my opinions about her writing have been mentioned in the past and I won’t touch on it again, really.

Like Fooch, I think that Nolan definitely deserved another shot. He was left in a bind last season, in terms of offensive coordinator options, and he went with an inexperienced guy in Hostler. While there were potentially other options out there (i.e. Tollner), keeping Hostler wasn’t a completely bad idea at the time of the announcement. It certainly didn’t inspire any excitement, but I don’t think it was news worth bemoaning at the time, either. Hostler talked a pretty big show at the time. He mentioned how he’d keep Turner’s offense going. He mentioned he’d involve Vernon and Delanie more. A big deal was made about how he, for the past few years, would create his own secret game plan before each game and evaluate how that may have come out after each game. He seemed like he could be ready to take the reins.

The miscommunication with Smith was a sad debacle where multiple sides were at fault, although I think Gay really thinks it’s all on Nolan. The doctors, Nolan, and Smith all had differing opinions on Smith. Doctors told Nolan he’s healthy enough to play, but to what extent was probably never disclosed. Smith said he could play. Of course Nolan would want his best QB out there at the time. If you’re being told someone is healthy, and you’re not a doctor, you can’t really say otherwise until they say otherwise. Anyway, that’s pretty much all water under the bridge because it seems like they’ve patched things up since.

Hiring an inexperienced head coach is nothing unusual. To give him power over personnel, maybe that was a little unusual, but he hired a well-regarded scout to be his right-hand man. I don’t think that the drafts have been bad, but the final verdicts are definitely still up in the air. The only definite good things to come out of the five first round picks the 49ers (not counting Balmer this year) are Willis and Staley. Manny Lawson and Vernon Davis are very much still up in the air and it seems that Smith’s time as a 49er is pretty much over.

Long story short, I don’t think ownership has to explain anything to anyone. They made, at least, a pretty okay choice in bringing in Nolan as a coach, as he definitely has improved the entire team (front-office, structure, and personnel). They’ve opened up their checkbook that was once said to be glued shut with Loctite. Most important of all, they stepped aside and stopped meddling in the football side of things, which is something that they have very little understanding of.

With all that said, it’s kind of hard to directly blame Nolan for the lack of results, though. Sure, he’s made a few mistakes as a head coach, and we all know what those have been. However, I think the lack of results on the field don’t necessarily have to do with him at all. If we notice, the defense has looked okay to good (except this past weekend, they couldn’t stop anyone for the life of them). The special teams is pretty good. The personnel for those two units have produced some sort of results probably because they are the most stable units in terms of coaching. The defensive coordinators have changed, but in the end, it’s still Nolan’s defense that is being run. The offensive talent hasn’t translated into success because the person heading the offense has been inconsistent. Nolan has put some good coaches in that position to call plays (i.e. McCarthy, Turner, and now possibly Martz). He couldn’t predict that an inexperienced coordinator would get a head coaching gig. He couldn’t predict a coordinator everyone thought was washed up as a head coach would get a new head coaching gig. I think the biggest part of this team’s failure has to do with that revolving door at offensive coordinator, and I find it really hard to blame Nolan for all of that.

With all that said though, I would totally understand an overhaul of the coaching staff after this season if the 49ers continue to flail. What constitutes “flailing?” I think if the team goes 7-9 or 8-8, Nolan should stay on for the final year of his contract (without an extension). I think that if the team doesn’t reach 7-9, though, Nolan should be sent packing and the ownership (and McCloughan) should take their chances with a new staff.

Huh?

The one thing I dont understand is the criticism of Nolan’s personnel moves, which is why his loss of power in that regard makes no sense to me. That’s the one area where he’s been successful.

Quality players acquired under Nolan: Larry Allen, Nate Clements, Jonas Jennings, Walt Harris, Michael Lewis, Justin Smith, Marques Douglas, Joe Nedney

Disappointing players acquired under Nolan: Antonio Bryant, Ashley Lelie, Darrell Jackson, Aubrayo Franklin, Tully Banta-Cain

That’s a pretty damn good track record. The rule simply seems to be, dont let him sign wide receivers. Not to mention the drafting of players like Gore, Willis, VD, Lawson, Baas, Snyder, and Staley. His only real busts in the draft were Smith and Brandon Williams.

Even the Smith pick is understandable. The Niners happened to have to 1st pick in the worst 1st round in recent memory. This is like the year the Warriors had the 1st pick and took Joe Smith. There was no one else to take! The year before, we’d have had Eli Manning. The year after, Mario Williams. There was no clear cut #1 overall pick in 2005. Who came out of that first round that was worth anything? Demarcus Ware, Shawne Merriman, Luis Castillo, Braylon Edwards, and ?. That’s 4 players out of 32 that are star caliber. And I dont think you can argue that they should have traded the pick when its a pick that nobody wanted. No one wanted to pay first overall money to anyone in that draft. The Yorks were also under a lot of pressure to draft a QB at the time because the fans and media felt that any other position drafted would have supported their cheapskate reputation. That’s not a good reason to draft anyone, but it was a factor nonetheless.

Look at the team Nolan inherited. Terry “Antichrist” Donahue left him with BY, Justin Smiley, Arnaz Battle, Andy Lee, Eric Heitmann, and no one else worth a crap. And, oh yeah, we were still in salary cap hell.

To expect anything more out of Nolan personnel wise is unrealistic and foolish beyond description. Given the state of the team he inherited compared to what it is now, he’s been successful. Nolan’s players are not the reason we havent posted a winning record during his tenure.