After a disastrous season, and yesterday's playoff-possibility-ending loss to the Rams, Niners coach Mike Singletary was canned last night. He had the job for 26 months. "Team President Jed York fired Singletary soon after the team returned from Sunday's 25-17 loss to the Rams," reports The Chronicle.

Singletary was a Hall of Fame linebacker from his days with the Chicago Bears.

CBS 5 notes: "The 49ers began 0-5 and will finish with a losing record for the seventh time in eight years. They went 8-8 in Singletary’s first full season, then produced an unbeaten preseason this year only to drop their first five games. It was the franchise’s worst start since losing seven in a row to begin a 2-14 season in 1979 — in the late Hall of Famer Bill Walsh’s first year as coach."

Taking over for the team in October 2008, the Niners were 18-22 under Singletary's rule.

"One of the greatest experiences of my life was having the opportunity to coach the San Francisco 49ers," Singletary said in a statement released by the team. "What made it so special were the players. They were some of the most outstanding men I have ever been around in my life."

As SFist's sports writer Daisy Barringer pointed out again and again, the Niners just weren't up to snuff. And Sunday was a jarring, though not too surprising, end to a bleak season.