2011 Season will build off of 2006 Norv Turner Season

I like our chances for 2011. There are a lot of similarities to the 2006 Norv Turner season.

Like 2006, we have a coaching staff that understands offensive execution; although Norv’s approach emphasized more vertical passing, and power running, his roots are in the WCO. The biggest positive difference between 2006 and this year is that the team has better players at almost every position; see Grant Cohn’s summary from today’s Press Democrat – he does a nice job of detailing the improvements at the key positions.

I include Alex Smith in that list of improved players. He’s a veteran, and under Harbaugh’s instruction (like with Norv), Alex will improve and gain better control of his game. I know it’s just one week and the pre-season, but the dramatic improvement from week 1 to 2 is encouraging – you can see Harbaugh’s impact and influence with this team.

Another thing about Alex – a lot is made of ‘Alexcuses’ (mostly fans and the media). The one person not making excuses is Alex. He takes responsibility for where he is at – as an example, he put last night’s INT squarely on himself.

I see success. We finished 2006 with a 7-9 record. With the pieces we have in place now, and with what seems like a favorable schedule, I predict 10-6, division champs and in the playoffs.

Call me crazy . . . you gotta believe.

so we are going to build off of a team from a half decade ago with only a handful of players left (smith, gore.....?) and 0 of the coaching staff left?

call me crazy......i do not believe

In regards to a steady improvement, it is something that a great coaching staff can achieve. With the ever fluctuating NFC West, the 49er nucleus of players may be the best suited to see the type of drastic progress where the stars begin to align. An emphasis on error free football, high efficiency, and strong clock control offense may help this team take the leap. The Raider game certainly was a glimpse of that.

My point is that the fundamental 'success factors' needed for this season (offensive minded coach, offensive strategy) are consistent with the success of 2006. That was the last season that real progress seemed to be made offensively - it seemed that the pieces were in place then (a big piece of this was coaching).

This season, all of the pieces are there, including better talent on the field. I just see the two season linked in that sense. We saw progress in 2006; I see continued success in 2011.

Originally posted by Okie5a:
My point is that the fundamental 'success factors' needed for this season (offensive minded coach, offensive strategy) are consistent with the success of 2006. That was the last season that real progress seemed to be made offensively - it seemed that the pieces were in place then (a big piece of this was coaching).

This season, all of the pieces are there, including better talent on the field. I just see the two season linked in that sense. We saw progress in 2006; I see continued success in 2011.

You cant measure success from beating a team in much worse shape than we are. Raiders ran a very vanilla scheme like we did on both sides of the ball. Lets try to measure any success against a quality team on the road. To do anything else is a waste of time.

Originally posted by 49erDynasty:
In regards to a steady improvement, it is something that a great coaching staff can achieve. With the ever fluctuating NFC West, the 49er nucleus of players may be the best suited to see the type of drastic progress where the stars begin to align. An emphasis on error free football, high efficiency, and strong clock control offense may help this team take the leap. The Raider game certainly was a glimpse of that.

I totally agree - I think this is the type of improvement Harbaugh will bring to the team, specifically higher efficiency and better clock control. This will carry over to better production in the red zone too.

Originally posted by jimmy49erfan:
You cant measure success from beating a team in much worse shape than we are. Raiders ran a very vanilla scheme like we did on both sides of the ball. Lets try to measure any success against a quality team on the road. To do anything else is a waste of time.

You're right. It is just pre-season. I do think the Raiders have better talent than many people give the team credit for though.

That said, the true test will be at Philly and Baltimore - we'll probably loose those games, but I guess I'll I'm saying is that for the first time in five years, we have something to build on (psychologically) if you look at the foundation that was in place in 2006.

Check back in after game 6. Are we 4-2 or 2-4

I hope we can see great improvement from the whole team as the season progresses. Gonna be exciting to watch

Originally posted by smashmouth51:
Check back in after game 6. Are we 4-2 or 2-4

Neither. We're 6-0.

Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
Neither. We're 6-0.