We have no idea if Mike Nolan will be a good coach or even if he can win with the 49ers, but he's already gotten on SFist's good side. Last week he petitioned the NFL to be allowed to class up the joint and wear a suit on the sidelines. The NFL, otherwise known as the No Fun League, refused to let him.
Nolan wanted to wear a suit to honor his father who was coach of the Niners in the late 60's and early 70's and because he wanted a look that said professional and responsible. We would also like to think that Nolan did it for obvious reason- it's old school. Way old school. Talk about your retro jersey. Would Vince Lombardi be Vince Lombardi if he wore a frumpy sweatshirt or dressed like a frat boy just hitting the links. Would Don Shula have become Don Shula? Would Tom Landry be Tom Landry without the hat? We think not. The NFL, however, said no because they just can't allow one person to be on the field who can't be used as a billboard to sell official NFL merchandise. Of course, we might feel differently about this if it wasn't for the fact that every NFL franchise is apparently trying to out-ugly each other in coming out with their new duds. And yes, SFist's beloved sport, baseball, makes their middle-aged paunchy coaches wear uniforms, but baseball is the only sport in which the manager actually enters the action to bring in a new pitcher. Or, in Felipe Alou's case, several pitchers. Hell, Felipe still looks like better in a uniform than SFist could ever hope too.