Originally posted by NinerGM:
Let's review shall we? Those of you who have been waiting, let's walk through how we got here because it wasn't overnight. Let's review why there are some fans who are frustrated beyond this season and are expecting more from the 49ers because we know it goes well before this season. Not all of us are "knee-jerk" fans who expected all of this to be resolved in one off season. I think most fans start with 2005 as the "rebuild" and are tired of being told that we want immediate results. So here's my question: how much time do you need? Just let us know. 5 seasons, 6? 7? 10? Tell us the average time it takes to rebuild a team from scratch in the NFL and provide some examples.
2005 - 4-12
Granted. Really bad terrible team.
2006 7-9
Soon after the end of the 2005 season, Mike McCarthy, the 49ers' offensive coordinator of one year, left for the Green Bay Packers. On January 17, 2006, the 49ers hired Norv Turner as McCarthy's replacement. Whereas McCarthy based the majority of his offense on Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, Turner has been known to use a power running scheme and vertical passing game more often than the West Coast scheme. Turner came to the 49ers after two unsuccessful seasons as the head coach of the 49ers' crossbay rivals, the Oakland Raiders.
The 49ers gained the 6th pick in the 2006 NFL Draft after winning a coin toss with the Oakland Raiders at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. The 49ers used their first pick on Maryland Tight End Vernon Davis. They then used their next pick (acquired from the Denver Broncos via the Washington Redskins) on North Carolina St. Defensive End Manny Lawson. The rest of their picks were Wisconsin Wide Receiver Brandon Williams, Penn St. RB Michael Robinson, Tennessee DE Parys Haralson, Central Missouri St. Wide Receiver Delanie Walker, North Carolina St. Safety Marcus Hudson, Louisiana St. DE Melvin Oliver, and Arkansas Safety Vickiel Vaughn.
The 49ers had two major free agent acquisitions in the off season. Larry Allen, a perennial Pro Bowl left guard from the Dallas Cowboys, and Antonio Bryant, a talented but oft-troubled wide receiver from the Cleveland Browns. The 49ers also traded Kevan Barlow to the New York Jets for what is believed to be a 2007 4th round draft pick.
2007 5- 11
Free agency
The 49ers addressed their problems in the secondary with the signing of veteran cornerback Nate Clements from the Buffalo Bills. The contract was worth $80 million for 8 years, the largest contract given to a defensive player in NFL history. They also signed strong safety Michael Lewis from Philadelphia on the same day. Other key defensive pickups included linebackers Colby Bockwoldt and Tully Banta-Cain and nosetackle Aubrayo Franklin. The team also addressed its wide-receiver needs by signing former Denver Bronco and Atlanta Falcon, Ashley Lelie and Seattle Seahawk, Darrell Jackson. San Francisco also used the free agency period to extend Gore's contract to 4 years worth $28 million, $14 million of which is guaranteed.
[edit] Draft
In the 2007 NFL draft, they addressed their need for an inside linebacker by picking Patrick Willis in the first round and also gave up their 2008 first round pick to the New England Patriots and selected 28 overall Offensive Tackle Joe Staley. In the 2nd round the 49ers traded their pick for the Colts' number one pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. On the second day of the NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers traded a 4th round pick for Seattle Seahawks leading receiver, Darrell Jackson.
2008 7-9
Despite a disappointing season in 2007, Mike Nolan was retained as head coach. With the 49ers offense struggling the previous season, offensive coordinator Jim Hostler was fired and replaced by Mike Martz. In addition, Scot McCloughan was promoted from vice president of player personnel to general manager. Mike Nolan was fired after a 29-17 loss to the New York Giants in Week 8.
Signings
Pos. Player Free Agent Type 2007 Team Contract
WR Isaac Bruce Released St. Louis Rams 2 years, $6 million [1]
RB DeShaun Foster Released Carolina Panthers 2 years, $1.8 million [1]
LB Roderick Green UFA San Francisco 49ers 1 year
QB Shaun Hill UFA San Francisco 49ers 3 years, $6 million [2]
WR Bryant Johnson UFA Arizona Cardinals 1 year [3]
QB J. T. O'Sullivan UFA Detroit Lions 1 year, $645,000 [1]
CB Allen Rossum Released Pittsburgh Steelers 1 year, $870,000 [1]
DE Justin Smith UFA Cincinnati Bengals 6 years, $45 million [4]
DT Isaac Sopoaga UFA San Francisco 49ers 5 years, $20 million [5]
CB Donald Strickland UFA San Francisco 49ers 1 year, $800,000 [6]
LB Dontarrious Thomas UFA Minnesota Vikings 2 years [1]
Draft
1 29 DT Kentwan Balmer North Carolina Pick from the Indianapolis Colts
2 39 G Chilo Rachal USC
3 75 CB Reggie Smith Oklahoma Swapped picks with Chicago Bears due to tampering
4 107 C Cody Wallace Texas A&M
5 --- --- --- --- Forfeited due to tampering
6 174 WR Josh Morgan Virginia Tech
7 214 LB Larry Grant Ohio State
2009 Currently 3-5
he 49ers released Mike Martz on December 30, 2008. One day following the firing of Martz, the 49ers released quarterbacks coach Ted Tollner and running backs coach Tony Nathan. "To get where we needed to go, I felt those decisions needed to be made at this time," said Mike Singletary.[4] Tony Nathan's replacement came on January 7, 2009 when former 49ers' fullback Tom Rathman agreed to become the new running backs coach.[5]
Before the 49ers found a new quarterbacks coach, they introduced two new coaching positions on January 12, 2009. Mike Singletary's nephew Vantz Singletary became the 49ers' inside linebackers coach, while Al Harris was signed as the 49ers' pass rush specialist coach.[6]
One month after the firing of Martz, Jimmy Raye was finally hired as offensive coordinator, making him the seventh offensive coordinator in seven years for the 49ers. Along with the hiring of Raye, Ted Tollner's replacement Mike Johnson was signed as the 49ers' quarterback coach.[7]
The 49ers' next coaching addition would be Jason Michael as an offensive assistant on March 6, 2009.[8]
Draft
Michael Crabtree
2 Traded Traded to the Carolina Panthers
Glen Coffee
4 Traded Traded to the Carolina Panthers
Scott McKillop
Nate Davis
Bear Pascoe Compensatory Pick
Curtis Taylor
Ricky Jean-Francois Compensatory Pick
FA
Marvel Smith
Brandon Jones
Demetric Evans
Dre Bly
Tony Pashos
*Special thanks to Wikipedia and Ninernation
This pretty much sums up our journey over the last 4 and a half years. With all rebuilding teams, you need a strong front office, scouting, excellent drafts, possibly good free agent signings, and in some cases, a little luck.
A few of the rebuilding jobs that have taken place this decade included San Diego, Atlanta, New Orleans, and the New York Giants. In all of the aforementioned cases, the teams drafted a good QB. And in one case (San Diego), the Chargers went out a drafted another QB with their top pick after Brees third season, and by that time, he had produced about as much, if not more than Alex Smith. I'm not saying they should've thrown in the towel on Alex Smith in '07 or '08. But maybe they should have made some kind of move around that time as an insurance policy, in the event the QB situation did not pan out. The Chargers drafted Rivers as their insurance policy. We drafted no one until this season and signed JT O'Sullivan.
Our drafts have been ok overall, but our biggest problem is that we haven't selected too many game-changers/game breakers. And unfortunately, when given the opportunity to bring in those types of players, we have passed on them.
The final ingredient we are missing is quality coaching. Player development has been severely lacking for the better part of 5 years. But we have to remember, although Singletary was a part of the regime, he was not the head. So it isn't fair to lay the blame of our failures since 2005 at his feet.
With all that being said, we're headed in the right direction and can still finish 8-8/9-7 which is what most realistic fans predicted all along.
BTW, in defense of Scotty, I believe he did attempt to address the pash rush need in 2007 by signing Adalius Thomas. He decided he wanted to play on the east coast, so he never had a chance. As for the draft, how many world beaters have been drafted in the 2nd-7th rounds in the last 4 years that would've addressed this problem? I didn't count the 1st round because off of the top of my head, I don't think any have stood out that we actually had a chance to draft.