The 49ers Front Office: A Critical Year Redux

…And more NFL people to be prepared to handle the draft and subsequent free agent signing periods. SIngletary has a vision of how the Niners should look. Perhaps Scot McCloughan did not share that vision. Scott was a decent GM, but not so great that he is a major loss in his departure. The draft will be “Done by Committee” which is the way most teams (sans the team with the Old Dude in the Power Chair wearing a silver and bleak diaper) do the draft. I think Singletary SHOULD have the final say on all picks, but he also needs to hear all the information and look at all the possibilities. The Niners are going to draft an Offensive Lineman with one of their 2 first rounders.

 The other pick will be best player available in a position of need. Like FS, SS, CB, Pass rusher, Running back, and return man. I like the Niners selecting the best lineman left on the board with the 13th pick, then going after Spiller if he is still there or a DB with the 17th pick. Also they need to use some of the later round picks on O-Line and DB’s as well to create depth.The main focus of this off season should be to plug the holes in the sieve of an offensive line from last year to give whomever is taking the snaps a fighting chance to get a pass away without getting decked every time he sets up to pass. The Defensive Backfield is getting long in the tooth, so they need to bring in some youth there too.

Spiller would fit so many needs the Niners have, that if you can get him, you have to conciser drafting him. Change of pace RB with speed, Receiver with speed, return man with Speed…did I mention he has speed? Speed is something the Niners have precious little of. Spiller would be a Chris Johnson type threat as a RB, could catch passes from the RB position, or could be shifted to the slot to go down field and be a deep threat that will open up the underneath passes to Crabtree and Vernon Davis. Niners have no speedy receivers to scare any defensive backfield. Spiller would be that threat. Also as a RB, he could spell Gore and give the Niners a totally different look as a speed running team that attacks the edges of the defense. Pound Gore inside, Run Spiller outside. Coffee for short yardage. That is how the NFL does it these days. The days of the 30-40 carry a game RB’s are long gone. If you want Gore fresh for the playoffs, he needs help carrying the ball during the season. And last but not least, Spiller is a return man that will scare special teams coaches to death. He has “Take it to the House” ability every time he touches the ball. There is little doubt that the Niners field position would improve dramatically with Spiller returning kicks and punts.

 So IMHO Spiller is the kind of player that the Niners could really use to fill so many needs, it’s like drafting 3 guys in one. Great value there. Maybe if Spiller is gone, the Niners could look at Javid Best from Cal later in the draft to do some of the things that Spiller could do. Best is a local kid from Cal, he’s fast but is injury prone and has already had a concussion. That is kind of a red flag for teams drafting, so he will probably slip into the late 2nd or maybe even 3rd round. Still a good value if he can stay healthy!! Offensive line is most important, but you really cant pass on a triple threat like a Spiller or at the worst Best. The NFC Worst is up for grabs and the team needs to plan for making a run at the conference title THIS SEASON! Hopefully the Niners FO has the necessary sense of urgency to get what they need to do done! This could be our year to break out!

be a coach that has the ability to not only put the fire in men but also pick schemes as well if not better than his coordinator(s)? And also have a good eye at picking talent and putting together a team? I think that Singletary has a good grasp of the game but is not a coordinator, he has a good grasp of personnel but not an eye in the way that Parcells or Bellichick have. His abilty is as a figurehead and front man and as a man who can get players to bring out their best. I think that if they wanted a Uber Coach they would not have wanted to pick Sing but would have gone the other way. I think they were tired of the Uber Coach era in picking Sing. Let’s remember Ditka’s reign as Head Coach, both for the Bears and the Saints. With the Bears he let the coordinators do their job with some input and majjorly just inspired the team and fronted for the media.

One can argue both sides of Scot’s effectiveness as a GM. He way very, very good with player evaluations, the draft, and roster management; other aspects of the full GM’s job, not so much. But then, what kind of help did he get from within this organization? From above, having to deal with those who have money (thanks to Denise’s father) but not a clue how to effectively manage a sports franchise. From “below”, having to try to work with other incompetents (e.g., Marathe and selected others). In my judgement Scot probably did a much better job than we had any right to expect, given the circumstances. Can anyone else be expected to do any better? Probably not. The only real, long-term hope for this franchise to succeed on the field is for the Yorks to hire an experienced GM (e.g., Dungy, Reese, or others), give him complete authority to build an organization (including an effective front office), get the hell out of the way, and reap the financial rewards of the increase in franchise value. Unfortunately the Yorks aren’t smart enough to do that!

Singletary as the Uber Coach? That would be yet another disaster! I like him as a person and as a head coach, but he’s struggling to learn his present job, much less to take on many, many more unknowns.

God, these people make it difficult to retain and enjoy your loyalty to and enthusiasm for the team!

but one thing i can say about singletary that he has over scott and nolan is ( balls ) to make a decision and stick with it .Nolan saw all those turnovers jt o’sullivan was making but he acted like he was intimadated by martz 2 even bench him he let mike call 7 step drops when we were backed up on the 2yrd line but he never said anything.Singletary may not have all the exp that i hear people say but he has the guts 2 make a decision and stand by it the first thing you heard from are players when sing got the job was he’s real straight forward with you even if you don’t like what he’s saying and you got 2 respect that so its easy 2 play hard 4 a coach like that so im totally down with sing let’s go niners ‘’ 2 THE WHEELS FALL OFF ’’.

You really think this? By all accounts the Niners did their homework, and then some, before they hired Nolan and McCloughan. They put together charts of historically successful guys and where they came from, they asked other owners and front office folks around the league, and they added what they wanted in a GM (young, forward-thinking, grow with the organization).

Past that, the whole “Uber coach” idea is a bit of a media creation as far as I can tell. I’m sure guys like Dungy and Parcells will be the first to tell you they get too much credit/blame for what happens in their organizations. Maybe the HC can be the identity when it comes to selling tickets, but Singeltary has no experience with 90% of what goes on with the Niners day-to-day operations, and can’t be more than a figurehead when it comes to “running the show”/

and some of us 2 look forward 2 if your ready to throw in the towel throw it in theres 31 more franchise with exp coaches im sure they’ll have you

be whining about coaches and GM if you want 2 thats on you im goig 2 stay positive. And 2 me and im not trying 2 throw anybody under the bus but ‘’ 65% of the conversations on here is complaining ’’ now that might have 2 do with people day-2-day lives and i understand that but men ‘’ It can’t be this bad ‘’ theres franchises that would kill 2 be in are position .We got a young team with potential superstars to 1st round picks but it seems that most not all most of us don’t do nothing but complain about were we are life is good 2 me and im honestly happy 2 be where we at yes i vent but some of yall thats all you do is cry this and that whaa whaa whaa give it a break allready .

wrote 65% of ya’ll just get on here and complain but didn’t lol realize i was complaining while talking about people who complain ( its the libra in me ) .Its a sports blog and even though it gets old sometimes some of the best conversations starts from some kind of complaint i’m not perfect and don’t mind pointing myself out if im the one who was wrong so to the 65% i owe you a apology im sorry ‘’[ so let the complaints begin ’’.