Originally posted by JerryRice1848:
Originally posted by Mr.Mcgibblets:
Originally posted by dj43:
I think it is time for a reminder about coaching staffs and their duties:
First of all, the Offensive Coordinator is almost always the equivalent of the Chairman of the Board of Directors in most companies. He makes the big decisions, sets the direction, then relies on his underlings to carry out the specifics. The case is much the same in football. Other than in parts of the OTAs and TC, the OC is working with the position coaches so much of the time that there is little time to work with individuals on technique. Consequently, it is not accurate to say "Mike McCarthy did this, and Norv Turner has done that, etc..." The truth is, the 49ers were such a talentless, rudderless ship under McCarthy that there was little time to work with Smith, and it showed. Nolan looked at the offense as a necessary evil. Turner was a bit better and that example is telling. In just a short period of time, AS became a more effective player though not a great deal of technical improvement occurred. Part of that was scheme and part was the fact Norv did spend some time with Alex working on the fundamentals he had never been taught before. Martz is a schemer, not a technician. The rest of the OCs are forgettable.
Secondly, the most important person in terms of teaching technique to a QB is the QB coach, NOT THE OC. Here is where the real crime of Nolan/Singletary lie. At no time during those years did the 49ers have a QB coach who had actually played the position at any level since HS. Cincy was the only other team during those first 6 years that did not have a QB coach that had never played the position. I don't care how much football a guy has seen or played, if you haven't played the position, and understand the complexity of it and how the position needs to be viewed, you CANNOT coach the position effectively. It was AT THIS LEVEL that the 49ers did the greatest disservice to Alex Smith. Not until Mike Johnson arrived did Smith have an every-day tutor that had actually played the position and could teach it. It is IMPORTANT to note that Smith's turnaround started under Johnson. He improved in both technique and efficiency, though the technical improvements were not huge. All of which goes to show how important the position coach is to the individual player as opposed to just the OC.
Now Smith, and the 49ers, have something they have not had at any time during the Smith era; an offensive minded HC that has also played the position and hired position coaches with an established reputation of success in teaching technique as well as game plan. The result has been the best QB play since Jeff Garcia.
It is also important to recognize the efforts of the off-season in which the FO brought in 3 WRs via signings and the draft, and also drafted an explosive RB, which clearly show that the staff recognized a need to improve the receiving end of the passing game. Whether Peyton Manning had been signed or not, the FO had fully recognized that the WR corps was sorely lacking and new blood needed to be brought in. I'll leave the WR picture at this point as that topic has been well-covered in another thread. Suffice it to say, the 49er receivers are nothing special.
So before we go all crazy about switching QBs in the middle of a winning season, look at the bigger picture and realize that a QB switch at this point in the year would be ludicrous.
Masterpiece... was a pleasure.
Mike Johnson?
Johnson, though relatively inexperience, had at least played the position and the improvement in Smith's play became quickly noticeable. It all goes to show that given the proper coaching he is capable of winning.
