I think it's safe to say Mike Singletary did not have a particularly good Sunday. And I'd imagine that will end up being reflected in this week's approval rating. Last week, I made a comment about how if the 49ers couldn't find some consistency we'd find ourselves up and down in these ratings the rest of the way. How right I turned out to be. Two weeks ago, Singletary's rating was at 61%. Last week it sky-rocketed back up to 96%, reflecting excitement over what may not have been such a mind-blowing win after all. Over at ESPN, Singletary's rating has begun a nose-dive this week to 47%, which is the first time it's been below 50%. Heck, it's the first time it's dropped blow 60%.
There has always been a bit of confusion from some about what exactly we're voting for in this approval rating. Is it just how you feel at this exact moment, or is it meant to consider the length of the season. At the end of the season, we'll end up having multiple posts about Coach Singletary. I think we can have separate discussions about his general performance in 2009, and then how he has improved from 2008 to 2009. I like the idea of breaking those up so we can clear up people's views on the man. However, for the purposes of this poll, I continue to leave it up to you to decide what exactly you're voting for in yes or no.
I remain curious at this point though about the development of Mike Singletary as a head coach. A lot of articles about Coach Singletary point to how he's still a relatively new coach who is developing in all facets of the game. There have been a lot of instances where one can sense the growing pains. The game management skills will be coming along, but then hit a road block. Sunday's game against Seattle could arguably be considered the low point in terms of organization. As bad as the timeout to start the game was, it was just one of many instances of what seemed to be a lack of preparation. And it's not even necessarily being prepared for specific game plan issues. It's little things like getting plays in quickly, or proper utilization of timeouts.
Are these just the mistakes of an inexperienced head coach? Is this something Coach Singletary will be able to process in the offseason? You can't exactly practice your game management like you can practice catching passes or working out in the gym. I'm sure some might recommend he play a little Madden, but we won't get into that here. Anyways, I remain curious on the improvements we've seen, and still need to see from Mike Singletary, for this team to continue (or kick-start) its assent back to prominence.