Mike Singletary Fired: Jim Harbaugh, Jon Gruden, Etc, Please Pick Up The White Courtesy Phone

I considered posting a fan post on why I thought Billick could be the best option. I think Gruden and Harbough would be great additions, but here is my quick synopsis of why Billick makes a lot of sense.

1. SB Winning NFL Coach
2. Offensive Background
3. Ran a High Octane Offense in Minnesota
4. Ran a TE based offense in Baltimore (numbers 2 and 3 show that Billick can get the most out of the personnel he has)
5. Knew enough to stay out an All-Time great defense’s way.
6. Has some connections to the Niners’ glory years.
7. Well connected within the NFL to help form a strong staff.
8. My perception ist hat he is respected around the league. (This may not be true its just my perception.

Been there done that. Knows personnel around the league and knows the 49er organization. Hopefully likes the Bay Area. Will win with the 49ers.

Biggest competition for him will be with Dallas who will fire their guy as the result of losing to Arizona on Saturday. If Dallas stays with Jason Garrett I think we’re in a good spot to get Gruden.

College coaches going to the NFL for the first time scare the hell of me. Harbaugh may be the exception but I believe Gruden is a lock to be successful with the 49ers.

My Preference: Gruden.
Bargain Basement Choice: Billick who has to be itching to get back to work.

So far as Harbaugh goes, I don’t see him leaving Stanford just yet. He’s repeatedly said he’s happy and just isn’t the sort of guy who is motivated by money and fame. Harbaugh may be a fan favorite here and at Michigan, but he’s recently called out the administration at Michigan for being soft on academic issues that really ruffled some feathers. Michigan is much more likely to get Brady Hoke, who aside coaching Nate Davis at Ball State, was an assistant at Michigan, and has a record of turning two NCAA programs around (SDSU, BSU).

And it’s hard to know who they’ll hire as GM until after the season, since they can’t interview people currently under contract ( all the best candidates ).

A strong GM candidate will open the door to many more “mid-level” coaches who aren’t as known or experienced as a head coach because it moves the onus off of the Yorks and onto the GM.

I still hope they get Harbaugh he’s my #1 candidate, but the news that he’s going to sign with Michigan feels like a back-room deal to me, so that door may be shut.

Before they need to hire a coach.

Coach:

1) Cowher
2) Gruden
3) Billick

Do not want Harbaugh…he will likely be a guy looking for a better job and bail as soon as he gets one…

Sorry but Gruden will be a mistake. Poor judge of talent and overrated. Is rather have a HC that didn’t have so much handed to them, and not so reliant on free agency.

I’ve been away for a few and really can’t say who I would like for a new HC. I do agree that a GM should be 1st. My question for now is…
Didn’t Mike Lombardi work for the 9ers in the Bill Walsh era?
And does anyone think he could do the job?

I’m asking because I really don’t know.

Harbaugh, Gruden either one….and keep Alex Smith as a back-up. Thats just my Ute fan talking.

That was a nasty injury. I was going to have my CBs next year as

1) Draft pick (Peterson hopefully)
2) Spencer (gotta save somewhere)
3) Adams (may not be back in time)
4) Brown (he’s not that bad)
5) FA

oh and Harbaugh of course. Gruden would be a back choice, like milk on a hot day.

I wonder how much of this year was really on Singletary…I look at this Niner team and I see a lack of talent in critical areas

1) QB: Too obvious to even talk about
2) Secondary: Again obvious
3) O-line: This is where is really hurts especially after the 49ers spent two 1st rounders
4) D-line: Great against the run but gets no pressure without blitzing

The way I see it, the Niners’ talent pool is as follows:

Not replaceable: Willis, Vernon Davis, Gore (pre-injury), and Crabtree (maybe)
Not easily replaced: Justin Smith, Manny Lawson, Josh Morgan, Delanie Walker
Replaceable: basically just about everyone else

but Gary Radnich….

find the GM and get out of the way! WE STILL WANT WINNERS!

Let him figure out who he wants to be his head coach.

A few comments above talking about Steve Young, Billick. The answer is surely somewhere in between.

Great players, like all-time legendary great players such as Mike Singletary and Young, simply do not make good coaches, by and large. In any sport. Go to Canton, select 100 busts of anyone in there for playing exploits, and I’ll show you 99 bad coaches, at least.

So no to Steve Young – no thanks.

But that doesn’t mean we have to look for a Sb winning coach either. A good HC out of college or an NFL OC would do for me.

What’s the general opinion here about these guys. I have mine, just want to hear someone else’s. And I understand that the possibility of one or more of these guys coming here is pretty remote, but just considering:

Mike Shanahan (Offensive coach. Grew up in the Walsh ranks.)
Mike Holmgren (See above. Also a San Francisco product.)
Mike Martz (I’d love to see him come back & show up Sing.)
Jeff Fisher (Yes he’s a defense mind, but TONS of experience.)

other than Gruden or Harbaugh.

It’s much much much more likely to be a coach that the new GM knows, a first timer, or someone who got screwed by a bad GM or situation in a previous stint.

Think guys like mornhinweg, gilbride, mularkey, shurmur.

The whole point of hiring a GM with experience is to say, “hey, we’ve hired a guy who will make a good coaching hire, he’ll now hire whomever he wants.” They won’t need to go hire a “name” just to deflect blame in 3 years when they fail.

/ducks

But I really, truly honestly think the Niners should seriously consider Russ Grimm as the next Head Coach. Why? He’s been an O-Line coach in the league for several years and is highly regarded. He has hall of fame pedigree (yes, I understand this didn’t work out with Coach Sing). He can instill a toughness into the offense that the team hasn’t had since, well, ever (speaking in terms of current century). The team’s offense sucks, and Russ Grimm is offensive minded.

The second option? Rob Ryan. He may end up as loud-mouthed and brash as his twin brother Rex, but he’s been a successful Defensive Co-ordinator for years. He’ll back his players, and he’ll make sure his guys are tough. The only reason I wouldn’t sway away from Ryan is because he is so defensive minded, but that could actually be a positive. It would fix the team’s lack of intensity and aggressiveness, and I’d imagine he’d stay TFO of the offense’s business and give pretty free control to a mastermind OC.

My top choices are Russ Grimm and Rob Ryan. After that, I’m not too convinced about anyone else. Gruden would be nice, but the team isn’t going to spend that kind of money on a coach.

Is it too early to buy our Chuckie dolls?

Hear me out…I understand that the CFL is very different from the NFL and inferior in terms of talent…fine. I’m completely aware of that and point it out a lot (I’m a bigger fan of the NFL).

But Trestman is a very good coach. Since he was hired Montreal has made the finals every year, and has won two out of three times. And these were his first three years as a head coach.

He has some NFL experience as an OC, so it would help our offence…would definitely make it better than it was this year.

One thing is he’s coached a lot of great QBs before and that is naturally our biggest need. He has an eye for good QBs (he recruited Testaverde and Kosar in college) and a lot of his time in the NFL was spent as a QB coach with guys like Young, Plummer and Gannon so I think he could be a huge help.

My money is on Harbaugh/Luch though. I’d love Steve Young to come in and be QB coach, Ronnie Lott to come in and be Secondary Coach. Tom Rathman is getting the most of our RB’s, even with a short leash. When he can open it up (like he did when he was playing) we would see more Westbrook catching passes for huge gains, like Rathman did.

If we somehow sign Harbaugh then Luck will declare for the draft and Harbaugh will find a way to draft his boy.

Gruden as Head Coach. Love the idea of bringing in Steve Young in some capacity.

is the best option out there imo. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking getting him to come to SF. But that’s who I’d vote for.

Cower would be awesome but he’s probably headed for NY

but he made an interesting statement Saturday night. He said that there has never been a Superbowl winning coach that went on to do the same with another team.

So I’m anxiously awaiting what happens with GM. However, I think Gruden is the most likely, especially if we manage to pull Holmgren out of Cleveland. But I can’t push for that scenario because I get too damn excited and it seems very hard to actually make happen.

But I’m also all for Harbaugh. I really, really like him. In fact, I think he may be a better coach than Gruden. I would get behind either of those guys.

As for the people we aren’t as aware of… I think Jed knows he needs to make a splash at this point. When you say “money is no object, the object is winning the Superbowl,” that tells me you are going after the big, proven names and won’t take no for an answer. I like it. I hope that isn’t a BS sales pitch.

I’m not on board with Cowher or Dungy. We have got to go offensive minded, and those guys wouldn’t really change the philosophy of this team very much. Maybe Jeff Fisher, but even then I’m tentative about anyone remotely defensive minded.

Hoe about:

Holmgren as GM
Gruden as HC
Harbaugh as OC

Give Gruden a 3-4 year contract and Harbaugh takes over afterwards.

From all the comments, Gruden would seem to be a great choice to get the house in order but maybe not a great long-term prospect.

We seem to concur Harbaugh is a great offensive mind, but unprooven in the NFL. OC in the NFL is nothing to sneeze at…

with a new staff there is a chance somebody will want take us back to the 4-3 D. how smooth of a transition do you guys think it would be?
i think the D-line would manage nicely, but what happens to Takeo?

Dennis Green? Forget about the “they are who they thought were”. He had challenges as a coach, but he built good teams in Minn and AZ. He’s a good judge of talent, he just had trouble managing all that went into being a head coach. AND, he has Niner background. He learned under Walsh. And…Billick and some guy named Dungy both were under studies of his. Hmmm?

So I say:

GM – D Green
HC – Gruden or Billick

Green and Billick have history, AND 49er pedigree.

I just realized a couple things that make me think that even with his 17 years of HC experience, I now think I wouldn’t want him to come here. In all those years of being a HC, he has only SIX winning seasons. 11 seasons of .500 or losing records. . .? Also, the amount of time he’s been a HC ironically raises a red flag for me. Depending on how much longer he intends to be around, he may be good for a short-term fix. However, I think what this organization needs right now is not just a new approach to its offense, but a long-term one that for the most part we can consider “indefinite”.