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Well, that sucked.
Now we've got all these rumors swirling that Head Coach Nolan II will be fired after this latest underwhelming showing.
American Football Spectacular's New York American Football Giants correspondent Joon Lee has some verrry specific opinions about Nolan and the state of the Niners:
Don't have much to say, so I will make a connection between the 49ers and NYG through one common thread: Mike Nolan."The "rivalry" that once was in the 1980s and early '90s is all but dead. The 49ers have been in a long state of decline and mediocrity ever since the cheating Eddie D and Carmen "I am a salary cap genius" Policy left and the Yorks took over.
I guess John York was taken in by Mike Nolan's interviewing skills -- impressed by his articulate, confident tone of voice and commanding demeanor. But let's examine Nolan's performance as a Defensive Coordinator. Nolan was brought into the NY Giants' organization as D Coordinator by Dan Reeves, who took over from the bumbling Ray "I take umbrage" Handley, a f__king disaster, and worst personnel move made by the late great Giant GM George Young.
Nolan's first year with the Giants was a near-mutiny by the Giants defensive players, who were used to an attacking, "I'm going to kick your f__king ass, and let you know I'm going to kick your pussy ass" style of physical, intimidating brand of defense. Nolan instead, played a more passive, bend-but-don't-break, read-and-react defensive style. Nolan, as today, was an obstinate know-it-all who wanted players to adapt to his style, rather than utilizing the talents he had and fitting a system to fit those talents.
Pepper Johnson, a solid physical LB, led the revolt, saying no one on the Defense liked this style and questioned the legitimacy of Nolan's schemes. The Giants lost several early games due to the defensive lapses. But after realizing that Reeves would stick by Nolan, the players "drank the Kool-Aid" and started buying into the scheme. What resulted was moderate success, at least enough to get them into the playoffs. But nothing beyond one or two rounds.
Reeves eventually got canned and Nolan was canned with him. Eventually, Nolan somehow became D Coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, where he took over from the departed Marvin Lewis. Now, anyone who follows football knows the Ravens had loads of talent on D so anyone could have had success and Nolan was the beneficiary of this mega-talented group. Ergo, he lands the interview with John York -- and bingo! -- snows him with his oratorical splendor (sounds like the Presidential election, boys & girls... but I digress).
Nolan is a strange and cautious man. Glenn Dickey of the SF Examiner summed it up best when he said "Nolan is more preoccupied about sounding and looking like a Head Coach than being a Head Coach."
Nolan likes to wear suits, fine, then you better also produce like men who those suits -- Tom Landry, Vince Lombardi and his own father, Dick Nolan. Nolan plays not-to-lose and we all know what happens to coaches with that mind set -- Marty Schottenheimer always made it to the playoffs only to lose because he shut down the offense with conservative play-calling and a reliance on his vaunted defenses.
Nolan has Mike Martz as his Offensive Coordinator, yet he just can't let go of this trait and reels him by not going for a very-makable 4th down plays in enemy territory, going for field goals instead. Field goals are for f__king losers and Nolan loves them!
The 49ers need to wake up and understand, Nolan is a loser far too-cautious and conservative to ever win in the NFL. You need a strong leader who also puts trust in his players to produce and lets them fail on the field. That's how Bill Parcells, a hard-driving control-freak tyrant wins over his players -- he plays to win -- he goes for it on 4th down! Nolan has already lost the locker room by his "It's never my fault" "My schemes are innovative" "I am a football genius in my own mind" persona. Dr. York, if you want to restore the 49ers to competitive NFL play and restore a once solid NFL rivalry with my Big Blue, you gotta fire Nolan's ass right now! Make Martz your Head Coach, he'll at least win back the players and they'll play for him, and the offense will thrive once you get a real QB in there.
Thank you and "Go Big Blue!"
Joon is the most entertaining NYG fan this side of Carl Brutananadilewski. You got somethin' to say about this? Have at it in the comments!
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I'm no football genius--anyone who claims such title is a fool for football is waaay too complicated for the casual fan and fanatic alike; the only genius was our Bill Walsh. Therefore, I won't pretend to know the cause of our beloved Niners mediocrity. However, judging from when I start to lose my voice screaming at the TV when watching games, I have to point to our offense.
Our defense is solid enough. Not premier, but not pansy. Shit, it's the defense that scores our points, especially on blocked kicks. And for most of the game, our D at least gives our offense a chance to put points on the board. Willis, is by far, our only Pro Bowl caliber player.
But man! Our offense. Our red-zone offense. Our 4th quarter offense. Our let-me-run-with-the-ball-in-one-hand-so-please-knock-it-out-of-my-hand quarterback. Is that a coaching problem or a JTO problem? I don't know, but it has to stop, like a month ago.
I know Nolan is very, very unpopular right now, and rightfully so--a coach has to take responsiblity for his team. But that blame has to go around to all parties, including players that do not execute, of which there are plenty.
We could have won this week. We should have won last week. JTO made sure we didn't. My hoarse voice tells me so.
The American Apparel banner that ran above this story said "WE'RE HIRING IN SAN FRANCISCO"
Well, Nolan's gone. Fired earlier today.
I stood up for Nolan for a long time, but he had to go. He's simply the worst game day coach I've ever seen. A major problem with the 49ers has been sloppiness, and that's reflected in Nolan's erratic performance during games. The way he blew those two replay challenges last week are inexcusable. A 13 year old with a TiVo would've done better.
And it's not that he lacks the guts to go for it on 4th downs--it's that he's completely tone deaf about WHEN to go for it. Sometimes he wimps out when the offensive line is dominating. Other times he takes needless risks.
Last year against Cincinnati is one that sticks in my mind. Late in the 4th quarter, he could have kicked a field goal to make it a 3-score game and essentially put the game away. Instead he went for it. I think they got the first down, but there was no need to take that risk. The TV coverage showed T.J. Houshmandlaraza talking about it on the sideline. T.J. was mystified about why Nolan was going for it.
God, I want my 49ers back. A pox on the house of York.