One of the biggest concerns for 49ers fans in 2010 has been the coaching staff. A lot of times there is the usual instantaneous reaction to events. A perfect example of that comes when the 49ers go three and out and folks immediately complain about Mike Johnson. Greg Manusky has certainly received his fair share of criticism throughout the season as well.
However, the one consistent it seems has been criticism of head coach Mike Singletary. There have been a variety of instances all season long where it feels like Singletary has been out-coached with relative ease. That makes this weekend's matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers all the more interesting. The Bucs are one of the more amazing stories in the NFL as they are 6-3 after an ugly 3-13 season last year. There has been plenty of discussion among Bucs fans about Morris and there appear to be some similarities between Morris and Coach Singletary. In the Ask Bucs Nation there was some discussion about Morris. Here is the exchange:
chikmagnet_565
Do you guys believe in Raheem Morris?
From the moment he was hired I thought he would be a tremendous failure.
I was right in the 2009 season because it was a disaster.
I'm guessing that you guys have some excellent assistant coaches that have done a great job of developing Freeman and have saved Morris' [site decorum]To me, he's just Mike Singletary without the credibility.
Sander (from Buc 'Em)
I see you know nothing of Raheem Morris
Opinions about Morris are split in the fanbase. But Raheem Morris was a stellar defensive backs coach (and did very well as a DC in college for a year) who got promoted quickly, probably in part because the owners didn't want to lose him.While you can doubt his schemes, you cannot doubt the job he's done to get these players motivated, believing in themselves and fighting through every game. This is an extremely young football team that is winning games despite its youth, and hasn't really missed a beat despite many injuries. That's a credit to the head coaching job Raheem Morris has done.
Is this a matchup Mike Singletary can win on Sunday, or does it even really matter? I don't think we've ever resolved who exactly is to blame for the volume of penalties and that's really what seemed to shoot the 49ers in the foot so frequently last week and thus far this season. I suppose this question applies to the rest of the season as well, but can the 49ers continue winning in spite of their coaching?