Is there a method to Sing's "madness"?

Ok, I get that Singletary is a master motivator and Hall of Famer, etc, etc. I also believe he's a good coach who will get better, but his strategy of not utilizing some of his starters in preseason has me a bit perplexed. I get not using Gore or Bruce, but why didn't Hill get a few more reps? He's not exactly God's gift to QB'dom and could have used the preseason to refine his rapport with the receivers. He needs the work yet didn't get it.
And how did he come up with Spencer as the starting corner, when all along it was the Brown/Bly competition? And if Spencer was in the running, as is now apparent, why not give him time with the starting unit? Were Bly and Brown a disappointment? And when did Spencer have time to show enough stuff to beat out the "front-runners"?
The main point is, shouldn't the starters, especially relatively unproven starters, get a bit more work to prepare for the regular season? God knows Hill didn't exactly light the world on fire the little we saw of him?
Just asking.

Originally posted by 4evrfan:
Ok, I get that Singletary is a master motivator and Hall of Famer, etc, etc. I also believe he's a good coach who will get better, but his strategy of not utilizing some of his starters in preseason has me a bit perplexed. I get not using Gore or Bruce, but why didn't Hill get a few more reps? He's not exactly God's gift to QB'dom and could have used the preseason to refine his rapport with the receivers. He needs the work yet didn't get it.
And how did he come up with Spencer as the starting corner, when all along it was the Brown/Bly competition? And if Spencer was in the running, as is now apparent, why not give him time with the starting unit? Were Bly and Brown a disappointment? And when did Spencer have time to show enough stuff to beat out the "front-runners"?
The main point is, shouldn't the starters, especially relatively unproven starters, get a bit more work to prepare for the regular season? God knows Hill didn't exactly light the world on fire the little we saw of him?
Just asking.

One thing we have all noticed about Sing is that he goes by feel and gut when it comes down to close decisions. Nolan, only went by what you did in practice.

I think Sing has a different philosophy. He wants to see players on the bubble in game situations, to see how they respond. Shawntee Spencer and Jason Hill apparently Singletary knew they where going to make the roster, so they did not get the reps in pre season.

I concur with you that it is a little confusing. I would think Hill throwing to Bruce, Jason Hill and Spurlock needs some timing work.

I hope so

What you tend to forget is that the coaches see these guys everyday and then study film of their performances every night. They know these guys very well. It is not always necessary to see them in a few preseason plays.

I'm hoping the method to the madness is that we didn't want to expose what little our offense is doing well. Assuming we're going to run 60-40 then we probably have a pretty limited passing playbook. There are probably a few key wrinkles in the passing attack that are designed to take advantage of teams stacking the box. Giving away those looks in preseason could cost us valuable points in the regular season. We're going to need every point and yard we can get on offense and the team and the coaches know it. Let's just hope we can get over the arizona hump this weekend.

Originally posted by 9erred:
I think Sing has a different philosophy. He wants to see players on the bubble in game situations, to see how they respond. Shawntee Spencer and Jason Hill apparently Singletary knew they where going to make the roster, so they did not get the reps in pre season.

I concur with you that it is a little confusing. I would think Hill throwing to Bruce, Jason Hill and Spurlock needs some timing work.

That is exactly the way it works.

For about 15 years, I coached soccer in a very good program with a terrific coach. His goal in tryouts every year was to isolate those who would absolutely make the team, and the ones who absolutely would not make the team, and set them aside. He gave them only token reps. He would then focus on giving the group in the middle as many reps as possible to get the best vision of what they could do under pressure situations. It worked very well. He has hung a lot of banners in the gym by making sure that the depth he had on the team was quality depth.

It sounds now like that is what Singletary did with both Spencer and Hill.

Originally posted by 4evrfan:
Ok, I get that Singletary is a master motivator and Hall of Famer, etc, etc. I also believe he's a good coach who will get better, but his strategy of not utilizing some of his starters in preseason has me a bit perplexed. I get not using Gore or Bruce, but why didn't Hill get a few more reps? He's not exactly God's gift to QB'dom and could have used the preseason to refine his rapport with the receivers. He needs the work yet didn't get it.
And how did he come up with Spencer as the starting corner, when all along it was the Brown/Bly competition? And if Spencer was in the running, as is now apparent, why not give him time with the starting unit? Were Bly and Brown a disappointment? And when did Spencer have time to show enough stuff to beat out the "front-runners"?
The main point is, shouldn't the starters, especially relatively unproven starters, get a bit more work to prepare for the regular season? God knows Hill didn't exactly light the world on fire the little we saw of him?
Just asking.

I agree with your thought that you would think that you would want yor starters to have as much time together as possible. I doubt if Bly or Brown were disappointments ...... I can almost hear Singletary saying what a nice problem to have though. My only thought is why Spencer when he has a history of getting dinged up and not Bly. Maybe he is worried about Bly the gambler ???? I have to admit that I'm scratching my head a bit.

I think that the motivator in Singletary is oozing out here maybe. It sends a message to other players perhaps even Nate Clemment ?????

I'm not sold, at all. After dealing with years of the Empty Suit; people need to see more results, less talk.

He's relying too much on his ability to simply will the team to win, and less to actually formulate technically sound and reliable plan (our teams Fysicalness will surmount our dire situation at QB/Pass Rush/WR/OC?) It feels like the emotionally charged pep talk you'd give a couple of soldier who were prepping to charge a WW1 machine gun nest.

[ Edited by IDontGetNaked on Sep 8, 2009 at 10:55:36 ]

One other point; teams do not need four practice games to get ready to play the regular season. Two would be just fine. The main reason there are four games instead of two is that owners get to pay players the minimum but charge stupid fans the same rate as real games. IOW, the extra two practice games are a cash cow for the owners and as long as the coaches have camp fodder to throw at the fans instead of using up their stars, they don't complain.

Just look what happens in the fourth practice game; no teams play their starters more than a series or two. The stars never even suit up.

Guys that have played as long as Spencer know what to do and the coaches already know as well. The real battle in camp was to see if Bly had enough left to keep or if Brown would clearly send him to the bench. Brown was injured a lot and so Bly stayed in the mix. It is clear now that in the eyes of the coaches, Spencer's job has been secure for quite some time. Hill now seems to have been the same.

Singletary's greatest attribute is to demand a solid work ethic from players and then see who would actually carry it through. Accountability has been a watch word with him from the beginning - something that everyone on the team, and in our nation could do well to heed. Don't expect a free ride. Earn it. If you don't, you're gone.

That is what Singletary has brought and it may just be enough to take a mediocre team to a level of over-achievement that might get them a wild card slot.

I think he is learning on the job by trial and error, I think he is smart enough to learn from his mistakes, but he is going to make them, no doubt.

I worry about the things Singletary has done this offseason and preseason. He has done sooooo much that goes against what made the Niners a huge success in the 80's and 90's!

Things that go against Bill Walsh...hitting so much in practice, running the ball so much, big O-linemen, the stupid nutcracker drill that injured Willis, Baas, and Brown., etc.

Singletary keeps talking about needing to get turnovers. Spencer is NOT a ball-hawk! He only gets picks if they fall to him. He is not aggressive. He gives up completions. Why did Singletary choose Spencer? He played against 3's and 4's this preseason!

I really worry about Singletary's old, old school methods and thinking.

I don't think Singletary has this great master plan. I think Bly was the best cb in Mike's mind, but in the last game Spencer showed enough to make Mike think that Spencer was the better cb.

Mike has shown the ability to pick who he believes is the best player, not the one that had a higher draft pick or was paid more money. Keeping Finley and letting Pascoe go is an example. Spencer is now another example. I think this will make the backups work harder (which will push the starters), because they truly believe they have a chance to be the starting player.

This is Singletary's rookie preseason as a head coach. I think it probably takes several years at this thing as head coach to really develop a "method" for preseason.