Reeves might be the best choice (now), but he is not the right choice


Let's face it - Scott Linehan pulled a number on us. He used his family as an excuse to decline a job he did not want. WHY he didn't want the job is perhaps the most important part of the situation, but it is also the matter on which we have the least information.

What we know is that Linehan used his family as an excuse because when he accepted the offensive coordinator position with the Detroit Lions, he told now head coach Jim Schwartz that he would be moving his family to Detroit. If familial stability, and we can infer, locational stability was really an issue he would not have moved his family.

Who knows. Maybe this is more a comment on the California school system than it is the 49ers.

Newly minted coach Mike Singletary is seeing some of the luster wear off of his seemingly gold plated office chair. He can't seem to find an offensive coordinator and he is going back...waaaaay back - to an NFL throwback in Dan Reeves.

Reeves was one of Nolan's mentors, and that mantle has apparently passed to Singletary. Singletary consulted Reeves, in addition to other NFL coaches, in his attempts to gain guidance in his coaching travails.

If hired, Reeves will do an okay job. His offense based on the running game, something Singletary covets. Reeves has experience and has been successful with other franchises.

However, Reeves offense is known as being very conservative. And, as Matt Maiocco reports, Reeves passing offense may lack structure causing potential problems for the 49ers air attack.

Given the options, Reeves may be the best option. He has proven he can be successful and he can assist in effectively mentoring Singletary on the job.

But is he the best option? Reeves is the best of the worst in this case. No one has wowed Singletary and the available coaches are dwindling. Inexperienced coaches simply will not do, and that seems to be all that's available. It is now February and the 49ers are intimately familiar with the dearth of coaches available after early February (see: Norv Turner).

It's the same problem that existed under Nolan, and it was the biggest knock on Singletary. A defensive coach, by definition, cannot completely ensure offensive consistency. Nolan couldn't do it and Singletary is seeing how difficult consistency can be first hand.

Reeves looks like the front runner, but he is a stop gap. Sure, Reeves will coach for 2, maybe three years. Who will succeed him? What offensive system will they run? Will the 49ers be coached more like a Dan Reeves team than a Singletary team? How much does Singletary know about game day offensive game planning? Will he always be beholden to an offensive coordinator?

These are all important questions and questions that should have been answered when Singletary was hired, not months into his tenure.

Singletary may be a great head coach, and he may do great things with the 49ers. At this point, though, the offensive coordinator search is creating more questions than answers.




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