What has Sing done since he became head coach to be a better coach?

Unfortunatley, longasian, it is 3 times. Even tho we all want to, you can't forget
Er-wreckson/donashole. True, er-Wreckson had some experience, but it was unsuccessful. My recollection was he was the only one who would take the job...

Originally posted by pasodoc9er:
I've already posted about things bigMike might do to be a better coach. Generally. Specifically, here are a few things he COULD do to become a much better coach:

Offense: is obviously the weakest link in our chain. If we go 6-10, 7-9, maybe even repeat 8-8, i will be so bummed that i will eat my shoes. For bigMike, i think it ends his HC career, so he has to get the O right this yr. No question where the problem lies---it's the OL. So here are some thots on how bigMike can guarantee his job, and become a better coach.

The old dictum, "build lines 1st" is just as true today as it was 30 yrs ago. Okay, staley played well until hurt, and then sims came on to play like a starter the last 5 games. That leaves chilo who has backslid, instead of progressing, and our center. (I am assuming that AD and poti play to their capabilities and are bonafide starters).

Yes, this is an OL problem, but it is bigMIke's job to see it is fixed. Here's where i would look: Briefly, Chilo---have solari, bigRay, and bigMIke drag out chilo's last yr at USC films and see what he did to be so effective. Then see (from tapes) what he isn't doing now that he did then, or vice versa , to make himself less effective today than 2 yrs ago. I think he is fast enough, but may need to work on quickness, maybe strength, technique(is he too high, too low, too slow to get his hand under a DLs pads, whatever). Maybe needs to get smarter, too, and needs to study his adversary and their D play with bigRay, bigmike, solari on a weekly basis. What happened to his patented "pancake blocks". Something is wrong and the 3 guys mentioned above, need to help him rediscover it. I think this is going to happen, but bigMike needs to be personally involved, too, in a very big way. It is essential he understands what is wrong and how to fix it.

Center: Okay, i have another complete thread on this, but here would be some things to look at for heitmann:faster, bigger, stronger, quicker, smarter:

Faster: i think film will show he is fast enough.

Bigger: Don't know on this one. Is he giving away 30 lbs to NTs or DTs? If so , then he needs to change technique when outsized by a particular opponent.

Stronger: Don't know here either, but coaches will know. If this is a problem then more work with weight and training coaches. Also film will help identify if a problem or not.

Quicker: If i had to bet money this would certainly be one of the problem areas. True it is hard teach "quick" , but there are certain drills that can improve on this. Maybe his left hand comes up too slow to meet his opponent. Maybe he plays too low: maybe too high. Maybe he needs to re-set his feet position. Against a guy who is much quicker, maybe his stance could be altered to counter this, if even a fraction.

Smarter: Is this a recognition problem, ie is he going thru his sequence, DT plays straight up, to the side (ie, 3-4 vs 4-3)? Basically he has the 0 hole, and the 1 & 2 holes to contend with. If he gets beat, was it because he didn't recognize who he has to block...or, who he has to help block? Is his lower body (leg) strength adequate? Same for upper body...if not, strength and training coaches should be able to help.
I am not well versed in OL play, but can recognize when it isn't working, say, the last 5 yrs. Altho this is truly the OL coaches jobs, bigMike is the one getting fired if his OL doesn't perform, especially since we just took two first rd OLs. Hence he has to become an expert in our most pressing need department.

Most of the above will be obvious from reviewing with heitmann his game tapes over past 4-5 yrs. What he does best is just as important at what he does worst, but the weaknesses have to be identified and then "fixed" to the extent they can be. If our C play is in the middle of the pack, say 15-18, then so goes our team, and so goes bigMIke's job. With the talent we now have, he has to produce. Fixing chilo and heitmann are at the top of his list as HC must do items. We are talking lots of game film review and finding what it is that makes our C play subpar. This has to be fixed, and when so, by definition , bigMike will become a better coach. This is not his area of expertise, but as HC it now has to be, especially after we just pulled off a miraculous draft with two very good OL starters.

If our C play can't be fixed, then we have to look elsewhere. My guess is that with solari, bigRay and bigmike all working with our C, we can get good to adequate center play. But this "issue" is not one where bigMike can work at it, toy with it, and then settle for whatever happens. This "issue" needs to be straightend out, not so MS can become a better coach, but more importantly, so he can keep his job as HC. Bigmike is responsible. It is his job. He needs to become an OL expert(with plenty of help from bigray and solari), so he can make this star studded OL one of the best. If fixed, it will go a long way towards MS retaining his HC job for a long time. If not fixed...then i don't see him retaining his job.

i guess you should be the head coach then.

also, i love how every time someone is unhappy with something on the current team, its "Bill Walsh would have done this," "Sing should read Walsh's book over and over and over again," "Walsh, Walsh, Walsh," etc.


Bill Walsh hasn't been the coach here for 20 years. He was the best, the greatest, and that's all fantastic, but its seriously time to move on and get over it. Bill Walsh is dead, RIP, and he's not coming back.

Originally posted by HessianDud:
also, i love how every time someone is unhappy with something on the current team, its "Bill Walsh would have done this," "Sing should read Walsh's book over and over and over again," "Walsh, Walsh, Walsh," etc.


Bill Walsh hasn't been the coach here for 20 years. He was the best, the greatest, and that's all fantastic, but its seriously time to move on and get over it. Bill Walsh is dead, RIP, and he's not coming back.

i agree! and to top it off he went 8-8 his first year as head coach! i think all of you tend to forget or NOT KNOW since most of you are youngins that thee "bill walsh" was 2-14 his first year as head coach and was 6-10 his 2nd year... you all are placing so much blame on his x's and o's... who ever said he doesn't know anything about x's and o's? last time i heard middle linebackers knew all the x's and o's from every single offense they went up against!

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Honestly, how would any of us know what he's done specifically to become a better coach? We can observe his actions and compare them to previous years, but that's about it.

An impossible question to answer correctly.

I agree with the point well made. Hessian, you will note my above quote was carefully worded as "Coulds", observations, and thots. None of what i wrote said what bigMike has done to become a better coach. It would be impossible for anyone except MS himself to know that. There is no harm in suggesting coulds, observations, and thots. If i were head coach, i wouldn't know where to start. Nah, that isn't true. I would have started building lines first...and guess what? At start of his second full season, that's exactly what bigMike did.