Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
Nicely done, really well done NC. A couple comments:
OL ...sure lots of suspense here, most of us wondering who will actually show up. Will it be a run blocking OL , or a pass protecting OL...or will we fail in one, the other , or both? Last yr , sure , i would have been worried about our OL at this point in time. This yr , with hard head harbaw (HHH) gone, i feel comfortable that IF we have a weak spot on OL, or say even two....this yr I feel comfortable that any weakness in OL can be coached around. Naturally you want your OL to protect Kap, make holes for Hyde, but if we have a position that is weak, we can coach around it. LAST YR? No fricking way. (Example---OL couldn't keep kap protected, so obvious thing was to throw quick hitters where the big pass rush didn't matter because the ball was already gone. Did JH ever do that? Nah) The last thing to go thru HHH's brain would have been coaching around a weakness. This yr, I think like most true NFL HCs, our HC will be able to do so. The last thing i worry about this yr is JT being wedded to his way of thinking and ONLY his way. No way hardhead would ever try coaching around a weakness. That just shows a basic lack of interest in trying something new. Essentially HHH learned it from schembechler, and that is the way he thought and coached. Never considered other options...and frankly, i don't think he had the personality nor the smarts to do it.
OTOH, JT seems very disposed to trying all sorts of things (look at the way he is experimenting with OL at present), and I would bet the farm that he actively searches for input rather than everything being harbaws... my way or the hiway... The benefit here is that if we have a weakness, we coach around it while at the same time looking for someone who is better than a guy who can't cut it. Many times over the past 4 yrs, harbaw could have coached around a deficient piece...say Goodwin...but yet he never did. Other coaches do that all the time. Our problem was we got a guy with great creds who was as unimaginative as a pineapple.
New era in Dodge, has already begun. There is an esprit d' corps I don't recall except for briefly in harbaw's first yr here. That disappeared rapidly, however, when it became apparent that this guy wasn't a thinker....he was a one idea guy...and that idea was his and his alone. One of the positions you didn't chart , Command, was HC and all the other coaches JT has brought into the fold. Lots of experience as OCs , DCs, and on down the line. No, JT is not a marquee coach, nor was he atop the list of available HCs. We tried that route already with harbaw. And it, or rather he, failed. Who would have guessed that as good as he was around a microphone, he would be so poor as an innovator, and so locked into his own ways? No wonder the atmosphere is so positive around the clubhouse and on the field. I think the team sees JT as a guy they can work with, no histrionics, no going nutty on the sideline....no showing up at gametime with no gameplan, no playcalls, no half time changes, no delayed plays coming in. Nor, will they see red hankies hit the ground with chance for success about Zero.
Nope, i think the team has its blue collar guy, a guy they know and have worked with before.. LIked by all, or certainly respected by all. No showboating, just old fashioned hard work and coaching. Pressers? pizz on them. For all i care he can say 2 words and that is fine by me. But i am looking for JT to be that guy on the sideline that actually makes a difference....in a positive way. HHH on the sideline made a difference alright. And that difference was that we routinely got outcoached by the top tier teams. Ie, our HC wasn't nearly as smart as the opponents, and he lost us some big games. Unfortunately, 3 of those were during the end of post season play. 2 NFCC game and 1 SB. Outclassed, out thoght, out coached. That was our former coach. How on earth could we not do better wtih someone other than harbaw at the controls?
Good point about the coaching changes, the willingness to try new things, get input from all, player connections, etc. In fact, this is from MB yesterday covering some of this very stuff.
It also shows the differing philosophies between the 49ers' current and former coach. Jim Harbaugh viewed the 49ers' facility as a sanctuary. Harbaugh believed there is no finer place than a football facility, and he wanted his players there grinding as much as possible.
A good argument could be made that they ultimately were ground down by this concept. That's what Alex Boone said in his interview with HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" in April. Boone noted that Harbaugh's intensity jump-started the middling 49ers when the coach arrived in 2011. But Boone said it became tiresome in ensuing years. "I think he just pushed guys too far," he said.
It also starts to explain the huge number of injuries the 49ers suffered last year, as well as their unprecedented rash of retirements.
First-year coach Jim Tomsula, on the other hand, wants to give his players as much time off as possible so they are fresh and energized for the start of the season. Tomsula's theory is that if his guys start to miss football, like you, they'll be eager for its return. The 49ers see this as Tomsula's strength – his insight into his players' makeup and a sensitivity toward what they need and how they'll respond.
In his players' eyes, Tomsula's spring practices were a success. The sessions were fast-paced. There were no major injuries. And the 49ers concentrated on correcting every component – getting to the line of scrimmage quickly, for example – considered problematic under Harbaugh. Left tackle Joe Staley, who is suddenly the veteran voice of the franchise, called it one of the best offseasons he has experienced since joining the team in 2007.
"Everybody's very focused and excited," he said. "I think with a new coaching staff, (there is) new energy, new ideas, I think that has something to do with it as well."
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/article27925813.html#storylink=cpy
Originally posted by genus49:
My biggest concerns/questions are how the OL will shake out and the corners.
If i had to pick the biggest concern I'd say corners but if our pass rush can play up to its potential that should help out whomever gets the nod back there. It sounds to me like we're going with a more aggressive approach on defense which will leave the secondary in a lot of one on one situations and if the rush/blitz doesn't succeed they better make a damn play or we can be giving up some chunk yards.
Need guys to stay healthy and the sophomore kids to take a big step up.
I think the OL will be ok with the switch to ZBS and some fresh blood in there but until they prove it it's a concern.
Genus49...mine too. I know it's still way early but OL is clearly my biggest concern but it's LESS of a concern than last year even with Iupati and Davis (in/out of the lineup) and 100 interior changes. 52 sacks? The good news is that these are high-graded talent with a ton of upside and they have all slimmed down and have experience in the ZBS.
