Trent Dilfer on Colin Kaepernick: 'He just needs a big old hug'

Former quarterback Trent Dilfer is never one to shy away from an opinion. He was back with more on Colin Cowherd's radio program. You can listen here, but I have transcribed it below.

Dilfer has plenty of opinions about quarterbacks, some of which I agree with, some of which I am not so sure about. This latest one lays the blame for Kap's struggles on the coaching staff. I don't think we can simply blame a single person for what we have seen this season. Many want to see Greg Roman fired, others want to move on from Colin Kaepernick, and of course there is the venn diagram of people who want both of those things.

Bill Barnwell actually had a great article looking at the many problems at offense that extend beyond just Colin Kaepernick. It's worth a read, as I don't think these issues can be boiled down to one specific thing. Dilfer's comments might be one reason, but I see it as just one of many possibilities.

What do people think about Trent Dilfer's comments below, as well as the Barnwell article linked above? One thing to keep in mind also with Dilfer is that he is friendly with 49ers ownership. That may have nothing to do with these comments, but with numerous rumors that the 49ers front office is in some way part of these leaks about the locker room and other issues, what's to stop them from voicing their opinions about the coaching staff through a trusted media person? I have no idea whether or not that is connected to this, but it is at least something to keep in the back of your head when considering the source of given comments.

Here is what Dilfer had to say:

I know the kid, I believe in the kid, he needs to be rehabilitated. That staff has done a horrible job. Now listen, I'm gonna get ripped for saying this, I'm going to go back to the Bay Area and they'll say, "Dilfer ripped Harbaugh and Geep and Roman". I like those guys, ok? They've done a horrible job developing Kap. They approached it the wrong way. They had it right for a while when they had some pistol in the offense, when they didn't try to put him under center all the time, when they're running more movement, fluid type pass concepts. Now it's become a target offense. This is some high level conversation.

Maybe the biggest thing is look at Kap. Go back and look at an interview when he was at Nevada-Reno, his freshman, sophomore year, and his confidence, personality. The kid's a great kid. The kid has a soul. The kid is charismatic, he's fun, he's fun-loving. He gets along with everybody. The different cultures around the locker room. He's different. He's been hardened and broken by the NFL from a mental standpoint, from a social awareness standpoint.  He just needs a big old hug. He needs a coach that will come in there, I wish Mike Holmgren was still in the NFL. He needs a Mike Holmgren that can come in and tell him how good he can be. And listen, kid, I got the tools to make you good again.

Colin still has a chance, it's just, it's been, my vocabulary is killing me here. I don't have the vocabulary to explain. He's just been beaten down to a place where he's not himself anymore. And now you see it unfortunately, when you get beat down emotionally and socially that much, and mentally, this is the result on the football field. I know it sounds very esoteric, that's what it is.