I haven't posted the coordinator approval ratings the last couple weeks, but since we're fast approaching the end of the season, it'd be nice to have a baseline for comparison when we do our year in review posts. While Coach Singletary's ratings bounce around with wins and losses, they stay above 50% and really don't plummet too far. Jimmy Raye, on the other hand, has been all over the place. After the week 11 30-24 loss at Green Bay, Raye's approval rating was at 13%. A week later, following the 20-3 win over Jacksonville, Raye was rockin out with a 69% approval rating. To quote John McEnroe, "You can NOT be serious!"
Generally I've been fine with Jimmy Raye. There have been weeks I question some of the play-calling, but I've seen a progression in the play-calling, as rough as it might be sometimes. The team has switched from a power running game to a spread out passing attack. The team struggled trying to find a role for Frank Gore, but they might be coming around to such a role at this point. Over the next two weeks, it'll be interesting to see how they use Frank Gore to complement the passing attack. Even though the team is passing somewhere along the lines of 2 times the amount they're running, is it possible it's still complementing Frank Gore? I'm thinking no, but you never can tell.
One thing that has frustrated me throughout all this is the random use of less than stellar players, specifically the runs involving Michael Robinson. Florida Danny discussed this a couple months ago in pointing to the general proposition that the team should be using the best players to optimize production. On Sunday, in the middle of the 3rd quarter, the 49ers ran Michael Robinson on a 1st and 14 at the Philly 47. Gore had rushed for 37 yards and then 6 yards (negated by a holding call). Robinson then ran for -1 yards. I realize Gore was probably tired at that point, but up to that point MIchael Robinson had 2 rushes for -3 yards on the season. I believe Glen Coffee had already left the game with an injury, but still. Even Moran Norris has been more useful. Personally I say throw a short pass that has more upside. Either way, it's plays like this that still manage to frustrate me.