Welcome To Camp Singletary: “Brutal,” For Better And Worse

Aug 4, 2009 at 4:51 AM2


We're not gonna back out now, are we?

This is what Mike Singletary promised us. He promised us intensity, toughness, discipline. He promised us "physical with an F," a phrase he should copyright if he hasn't already. (Hey, if Dennis Green can have "They are who we thought they were"....) We swallowed it all, hook line and sinker. So now that training camp's begun, are we really surprised that it's not a siesta?

This is what we wanted.

Then again, do we really want physical with this much F?

Right off the bat, Singletary's scheduled "a rigorous marathon of two-a-days in full pads, every day from [last] Saturday until the 49ers' preseason opener August 14." Naturally, the press describes it as "boot camp." And the players are duly impressed. "I know this camp is going to be brutal," said Patrick Willis. "Physical and intense," added Joe Staley.

No one added "nerve-wracking," so I'll just go ahead and do it now.

It's no secret that more hitting means more injuries. But as one writer noted, "no one can gripe too much. Singletary, after all, has [a] bust in his honor sitting in the Hall of Fame." "That's the thing," agreed Justin Smith. "He's actually done it. I'm sure under Buddy Ryan they were hitting twice a day. He's definitely speaking from experience, and that makes what he's saying mean a whole lot more."

True enough. Singletary's been there and done that. He knows what he's doing, and that's why—in this and all things—he's earned our trust.

Then again....

We're the 49ers, not the Bears, and our Papa isn't George Halas, it's Bill Walsh. And reading these gruesome descriptions of Singletary's camp, I couldn't help but think, WWBD?

We already know. In David Harris's definitive Walsh biography, perfectly titled "The Genius," there's a chapter called "How to Coach." In that chapter, Harris describes Walsh's first training camp, in 1979. Hold Singletary's approach in your mind as I share with you the following passage:

"One of Walsh's central concerns in his camp regimen was to avoid overtraining. Almost all coaches at the time used preseason camps to stress conditioning and toughness—scrimmages with full contact twice a day, exercise to the point of exhaustion, often using military boot camp as their model—but Walsh believed that this approach led to 'excessive physical and emotional fatigue' that in turn led to decreased concentration, resilience, and ultimately, performance, not to mention higher rates of injury. He often cited studies that showed football players trained that way were more exhausted going into a season than they were coming out of it, exactly the wrong equation. So in the interest of breaking camp fresh rather than spent, he always limited the most strenuous parts of practice and always scheduled recovery time, even though that approach was commonly dismissed as 'soft.' "

So Walsh used his training camps not to establish intensity, but to establish the ability to execute. He didn't take chances (and, in his view, waste time) by making his players sumo-wrestle in nutcracker drills. Instead, he made his players run plays, over and over and over again. As a result, his players not only were healthier, but also knew better how to actually play. And if Ronnie Lott was any indication, they had plenty of intensity anyway. " 'Everybody in the NFL is intense,' Bill warned. 'The difference is who's prepared and who isn't.' "

To put it simply, Bill Walsh would've wanted no part of Camp Singletary.

Does this mean Singletary's boot camp will fail? Of course not. Sure, Walsh's teams were great, but so were Singletary's. Did the '85 Bears look like they were suffering "excessive physical and emotional fatigue"? No. Walsh's studies aside, a boot camp can work. A boot camp, indeed, can produce a champion.

But like he always did, Walsh had a point. A team doesn't win because it's more intense. It wins because it executes better. It wins because it's mastered every nuance of every play, and it wins because it knows precisely what to do, in any situation. Crunch-time in an NFL game involves unimaginable pressure. When it's all on the line, intensity isn't the answer. The answer, in fact, is just the opposite: coolness, focus. Execution. If your training camp prepares you, you can do it. But if it exhausts you, you probably can't.

And preparation is so much more difficult when you have so much to learn. Like Walsh's first team, the present team must learn entirely new schemes, on both offense and defense, and the only way we'll master those schemes is by concentrated repetition. We can't afford to waste energy by proving our toughness. If we can't run our plays to perfection, all the toughness in the world won't get us anywhere.

And then, of course, there're those "higher rates of injury." I know, I know, football's a dangerous game, and injuries can happen at any point in the season. But training-camp injuries are just the worst. Suffer enough, and your season ends before it even gets started. That's why, during even a Walshian camp, I'm completely stressed out. I'm almost afraid to check the news, always dreading another blown ACL.

The point is, training camp's already stressful enough. And deliberately increasing the risk isn't helping at all.

But again, this is what we wanted. For years, we'd been struggling to find an identity, and Singletary provided one as soon as he took over. His identity's a good one, and a training camp like this is just part of the deal.

So no. We're not gonna back out now. Singletary's gonna dish it out, and we're gonna take it, no matter how brutal it is.

For better, and for worse.
The opinions within this article are those of the writer and, while just as important, are not necessarily those of the site as a whole.


2 Comments

  • JJ
    Very valid point. We have been searching for an identity since Mooch left and an identity is what Sing brings. Don't get me wrong, I love the late Mr. Walsh, but he wasn't the only coach to win a Super Bowl and his philosophy isn't the only one that ever worked.
    Aug 4, 2009 at 9:13 AM
    0
  • MD
    good article. this sort of camp is set out to make sure we've got the guys that are going to push through the physical punishment and to make sure there aren't any quitters. I like this camp. Yes, there's always injuries that you have to worry about. the way i see it, though, is that those guys that get injured in camp would likely get injured early in the season. sure there are always freak accidents, but i feel most of those who get injured are prone to it no matter what.
    Aug 4, 2009 at 8:40 AM
    0

Facebook Comments



More San Francisco 49ers News



49ers Notebook: Crucial offseason for Purdy; O-line confidence; Shanahan on new kickoff rule, Dobbs signing; Hufanga eyes training camp return

By David Bonilla
Mar 26

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn't have to field as many quarterback questions as he did a year ago after Brock Purdy underwent surgery, the arrival of Sam Darnold, and the uncertainty surrounding the future of Trey Lance. The quarterback situation is clearer now than it has been in recent years. For Purdy, this offseason holds significant importance. It marks the first time he can focus on on-field improvement during minicamps, OTAs, and training camp. While he had this opportunity as a rookie in 2022, he was buried on the depth chart, limiting his practice reps. Last year, Purdy was still recovering from surgery to repair the torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. He didn't get to throw to his teammates until training camp in



Details emerge on 49ers' 1-year deals with Jon Feliciano and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles

By Site Staff
Mar 19

Offensive lineman Jon Feliciano and linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles recently re-signed with the San Francisco 49ers on one-year deals. OverTheCap.com has revealed the contract information for both deals. Feliciano signed a contract that includes the minimum base salary for a player with eight accrued seasons of experience—$1.21 million. Flannigan-Fowles' base salary is slightly higher, at about $1.77 million. Feliciano is scheduled to count about $2.28 million against the 2024 salary cap, while Flannigan-Fowles is slated to consume almost $1.3 million. The linebacker's reduced impact is due to the 49ers using a portion of up to $1.45 million of salary that won't count against the salary cap for veteran players. The 49ers are paying Feliciano a



New Netflix show "Receiver" will feature 49ers' Deebo Samuel and George Kittle

By David Bonilla
Mar 19

After the success of "Quarterback," the NFL has announced a new series on Netflix called "Receiver." This series will follow a similar format but focus on those who haul in passes. San Francisco 49ers fans will be delighted to learn that two popular team players, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle, will be among those featured in the upcoming show. The two 49ers stars are among the most charismatic individuals on the roster, so it's easy to see why they were chosen for the series. The other stars of the show will be Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders, Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings, and Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit



49ers: Newlyweds Brock and Jenna Purdy share photos from honeymoon

By David Bonilla
Mar 21

Earlier this month, Brock Purdy tied the knot with his fiancée, now Jenna Purdy, in Des Moines, Iowa. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback's lovely wife recently shared photos from the couple's honeymoon in the Turks and Caicos Islands. "Honeymoon w/ my husband," Jenna captioned on Instagram as part of a series of photos shared this


Latest

More by Jeff Kaplan

More Articles

Share 49ersWebzone