The Mike Singletary regime in San Francisco is effectively over. Anyone who cant see the writing on the wall for this season's coaching staff was also probably singing the praises of Nintendo-64 in 2005. Goldeneye may have been good, but come on.
The issues are not new (no strong Xs and Os background being the primary culprit) they are just more apparent after a 1-6 start. Sing wishes to will his team better, and quite simply will doesn't mean squat when other teams play smarter.
Singeltary made the 49ers his team, and much like other teams around the league, the team became an extension of it's coach. The only problem is that Sing is a volatile motivational specialist who fails to understand the complexities of football strategy at the elite level.
So now the 49ers, with an aging defense and young offense, need someone who can take them beyond motivation and into the realm of elite strategy. And I'm not talking Mike Martz strategy (You're welcome, Jay Cutler). We need an innovative offensive expert to lead this team and take an offense with so much latent potential into something that actually functions after the 20-play script.
But we do not need that coach now.
Firing Singletary mid-season would be the wrong move, and it would cement Jed York's Daniel Snyder-like delusion. Say what you want about Jerry Jones, but when he was asked who was to blame for the Cowboys start he first pointed the finger at himself. He did not make some outlandish playoff prediction via text message.
Problem 1. Who takes over?
There really is no option to hire an external coach mid-season. Between the hiring of a staff (any respectable coach would want his own staff) and any schematic changes the team would effectively revert to a week one stage while the league was at mid-season form. It would be like strapping a helmet on a Justin Beiber and telling him to block a blitzing Patrick Willis. (If anyone knows how I can arrange said carnage, please let me know).
So who would replace Sing? Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky, offensive line coach Mike Solari and defensive line coach Jim Tomsula come to mind. Tomsula, who coached in NFL Europe before being hired to the 49ers, is the only one of the three with head coaching experience.
And at the end of the season, whomever is selected is either going to want the head coaching job, or leave when someone else is hired. The problem here is that each one of these coaches would be a good addition to a staff and if a new coach is brought in at the end of the season, it would allow the coach to make overtures to any of the current staff he wants to keep. Having an interim head coach effectively renders that person useless after the season if he is not hired for the job.
Problem 2. No really, who takes over?
Waiting until the end of the season also allows Jed York, Trent Baalke, and Paraag Marathe to begin sourcing candidates for the coaching vacancy. The problem with the 49ers in the past is that they have fired coaches without so much as an inkling of a plan to hire a replacement. This is exactly how we ended up with Dennis Erickson, and to a certain degree, Mike Nolan.
Start researching which offensive minded candidates you want to interview. Do some preliminary research. For the media, of course you have to keep your "Sing is our coach" face on. But anyone with eyes can see this is the only response the team can give.
Problem 3. Al Davis syndrome
One of the reasons the Raiders are in such a mess is Al Davis. He requires complete allegiance to He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-Al-Davis and, if he so desires, will fire the coach without provocation. No head coach is going to want to put himself in such a volatile position and as such, Oakland is seen as the place where coaches go to die.
If, two seasons in a row, Jed fires the head coach mid-season what message does that send to potential candidates. You've got one guess, and the answer rhymes with "Shtay Haway."
The only thing this team gains from making a mid-season move is further complications and loss of whatever prestige the 49ers have left in an already lost season.
