Official San Francisco 49ers Off-Season Thread (5-7): Let's get ready for the Draft!

[Los Angeles]

We know our needs. I'll update the thread with as much news & notes.

With SING as our leader, we now have an idenity, I hope we get a good pick during the draft, wouldn't mind trading that as well.

Updates:
[h2]http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/12/28/four-years-10-million-for-singletary/[/h2]

[h2]FOUR YEARS, $10 MILLION FOR SINGLETARY[/h2]
Posted by Mike Florio on December 28, 2008, 10:08 p.m. EST

It's official - Mike Singletary is the new coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

Per Matt Maiocco of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Singletary has signed a four-year, $10 million contract.

Singletary also reportedly has the contractual right to hire and fire assistant coaches. It's unknown at this point whether he'll be firing offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

Jay Glazer of FOX reported earlier in the day that Singletary would be willing to bring Martz back, but that the front office wants to get rid of him.

Co-owner Jed York announced the decision to keep Singletary to the team after Sunday's win over the ********. York also proclaimed, "This is the last time our season ends in December."

Technically, the Niners need only to get to the playoffs in 2009 and perhaps 2010 in order for that statement to be accurate, since an expansion of the regular season undoubtedly will push the final week of the regular season into January.

But York seemed to be making a blanket vow that the 49ers will become a perennial playoff team. It would be quite a feat, given that the Niners haven't been to the postseason since 2002.

The NFL Network is reporting, with "99.9 percent" certainty that Mike Martz is out as 49ers offensive coordinator after a meeting this morning.
No confirmation yet. But if it weren't true, I'm sure it would be easy to get somebody at the 49ers to deny the report. The NFL Network cited a "league source."



So, apparently, the instability with the direction of the 49ers' offense continues . . .



Coordinator/head coaching shuffle

1997-2000 Coordinator - Marty Mornhinweg; Head coach - Steve Mariucci

2001-'02 Coordinator - Greg Knapp; Head coach - Mariucci

2003 Coordinator - Knapp; Head coach - Dennis Erickson

2004 Coordinator - Ted Tollner; Head coach -- Erickson

2005 Coordinator - Mike McCarthy; Head coach - Mike Nolan

2006 Coordinator - Norv Turner; Head coach -- Nolan

2007 Coordinator - Jim Hostler; Head coach - Nolan

2008 Coordinator - Mike Martz; Head coach - Nolan/Mike Singletary

2009 Coordinator -- ????; Head coach -Singletary

 

[GreenNGold89]

I still don't like Hill that much, but if we're going to stay with him, I REALLY hope we can go find a Number 1 WR.

 

[reliantj]

Official on KNBR He is coach.
Sign Haynesworth or Rocky Barnard...

 

[beermann2]

NFL network breaking news Mike Singletary will stay as 49ers head coach!! Awesome!

 

[sf savage]

Well deserved. Glad we look like the Niners are headed in the right direction.

 

[sylvestermcgrizzly]

Word retooling the o-line...signing a big DT(hint hint)...finding a reliable QB for yrs. To come...singletary leading the charge....we can make a push for thedivision

 

[danikerhino]

Damn I know it might be a long-shot but I really hope we can keep Mike Martz.

 

[100proof]

They must've signed SING in the damn locker room

Good thing too...Sing could have left san fran and wrote his own ticket anywhere he wanted to go.

 

[moe200069]

Thank goodness we play in the West, our division is going nowhere in a hurry.

 

[zdiddy5]

I think we all expected a little too much this season to be honest. I think we defnitely had a great year when you look back on it..

Had we been able to score on the 1 yard line against the Cards on MNF, and also been able to come through at the end against the Dolphins we could have maybetook the division and made the playoffs this year.

I dont think even the players believed in themselves until Singletary came along.. not givin' a flying $@@+ about VD85 being on the field or not really setthe tone for the rest of the season.

You guys think Bruce will retire? I hope not, he can really be a great #2 receiver for us, which also brings up the point that we need a legit #1 go toreceiver. Hopefully Vernon will come out and have a break out year RECEIVING the ball next season. I mean once that man gets his hands on the ball hes usuallyone of the top 3 quickest players on the field and can get around anyone, but he can also bring out his Under Armor commercial side and straight destroy anyonewho gets in his way.

Shaun Hill surprised me this year, but I dont think we count on him to take us to the playoffs, hopefully we can sign or trade for a legit QB or WR.

I can finally say I am excited for the next 49er season to come!

Big ups to everyone who stuck with us all season, win or lose.

 

[ady2glude707]

Just showed Jed introducing Sing as the HC for the niners on fox!

 

[lightweight champion]

So who do you guys think we'll draft? I know it's pretty early but I'm excited for this offseason.

I say we get Sammie Stroughter somewhere in the 3rd-4th round maybe even as late as the 5th.

 

[MON5T3R]

We finished off the season strong but now we need to address the team's needs in the off season.

 

[owensstr8clownin]

First of all Great to have Singletary stay as our coach.

2nd We need a DT that can take some pressure of our DE's to get more pressure on the QB.

3rd for my wish list I would love a playmaking Safety. is there any in the draft?

 

[100proof]

Originally Posted by Lightweight Champion

So who do you guys think we'll draft? I know it's pretty early but I'm excited for this offseason.

I say we get Sammie Stroughter somewhere in the 3rd-4th round maybe even as late as the 5th.

It depends w/ nolan gone they might do away w/ the best player on the board and go for biggest need. If thats the case we gonna have wait and seewhat the 9ers do in FA before they look to the draft.

 

[sohi 23]

Good job signing up Coach Singletary.

Hopefully he can turn it around and help bring Bay Area Sports up

 

[ady2glude707]

Originally Posted by OwensStr8Clownin

First of all Great to have Singletary stay as our coach.

2nd We need a DT that can take some pressure of our DE's to get more pressure on the QB.

3rd for my wish list I would love a playmaking Safety. is there any in the draft?

Goldson, if he wasnt injured earlier in the season, Roman wouldnt be starting

 

[sylvestermcgrizzly]

There will be a few good safety's in the draft but honestly gettin someone on the D-line is of the utmost importance...we hardly get a push up themiddle...and that's what makes our db's that more marginal....d-line then db's...I also want another playmaker at WR....Bruce played greatespecially down the stretch but he is extremely long in the tooth...QB would also be great since I came to the realization that Alex Smith just isn't afranchise QB

 

[tsamshox]

The 49ers need alot of things....#1 receiver, RB, Nose tackle, and a CB

 

[eagle 0n]

Can't wait till next season

Right man, right time

The 49ers did the right thing. The smart thing. The popular thing.

Even stranger, they did it quickly.

When was the last time you could say that?

Perhaps never in the Yorks' tenure. Until Sunday.

The 49ers wasted no time. They did no dithering. They didn't outthink themselves. They named Mike Singletary head coach within minutes of the end of the 2008 regular season.

A season which, by the way, ended with a win, bringing Singletary's record to 5-4 and giving him a running start on 2009.
"I don't think we could have written up a script any better than how it happened," newly appointed team president Jed York said in announcing the hiring.

Well, sure they could have. The 49ers could have fired Mike Nolan a year ago, rather than wasting the first seven games of this season. A true fairy tale script would have had Singletary's team clinching a playoff berth with Sunday's win, rather than missing the playoffs for the sixth straight year.

But we digress. And if you had been on the field at Candlestick when Singletary walked off - after a come-from-behind victory over Washington - you would have thought the team had made the playoffs. The stadium was rocking and the new coach was treated as the utlimate rock star. It has been a long time since there's been that kind of excitement in the old concrete dump.

In 10 weeks, Singletary has completely changed the vibe around the 49ers."It's the right choice," said former 49ers stalwart Bryant Young, who retired a year ago but was on hand for Sunday's big announcement. "This is what the team needs right now."

Are there concerns about Singletary? About hiring another rookie defensive-minded head coach? Sure there are. But Singletary is a special person, a better candidate than the Yorks could ever have stumbled upon by themselves. And whatever concerns are lingering about him are mitigated by the force of his presence and the depth of his football intellect."He's born for this," said the person who knows him best, his wife Kim. "He's such a leader. Such a presence."

In the postgame news conference announcing the hiring, half the attendees were his family. For the first time since he has been the head coach, all of Singletary's children were on hand: Kristen, 22, Matt, 20, Jill, 18, Jackie, 15, Brooke, 14, Becky, 12 and John, 10.

When he retired from playing after the 1992 season, Singletary didn't pursue a coaching career, in order to be home while his children were small."That was my nightmare," Kim said with a smile.But she wasn't kidding. She tells the story of how, with four small children, Singletary had one house built. Then built another across the street, because "he likes to see things being built.""He has so much creative energy," Kim said. "He had the kids unloading the dishwasher with intensity. That didn't work so well at home. "

Singletary finally got into coaching six years ago, as an assistant in Baltimore. He was hired by Nolan as an assistant head coach and for four years watched as the 49ers struggled in mediocrity."He had to keep himself under wraps," Kim said. "He was very respectful of Mike Nolan, but he had stuff bursting to come out.""There was so much of him that was squelched."
Singletary kept himself busy by taking notes, and talking to anyone who could help him learn more: referees, former coaches. He revamped the 49ers playbook for himself - throwing out what he didn't think worked and keeping what he thought did. He compiled eight industrial size binders at home.

"We own Kinkos," Kim said.
"It was his way of dealing with the frustration," she added.

And on Oct. 21, after Nolan was fired, Singletary finally had a platform to let it all come out. He had a few early missteps - like his rant after the first game and the revelation that he had dropped his pants at halftime - but he wasn't discouraged.

"It wasn't embarrassing," Kim said. "It was more like 'Note to self: don't do that again.'"
And when he apologized to the fans as he walked off the field for the first game, it was genuine." I think that was pent up for the last few years," Kim said.

There has been so much losing, so much frustration, so little direction or passion around the 49ers for so many years. Then Singletary fell into the Yorks lap, through no grand plan or scheme or football insight of their own. And - in nine weeks - things feel totally different.

As his wife said, the man likes to build things. And you can already see the new building taking shape.

 

[Los Angeles]

What DE is a beast that we can draft?

 

[x8deep33]

A new FS would be a good start...Goldson has no choice but to be ready to start. Release Roman and start Brown at CB.

 

[deuce king]

I'm happy we finished up the season strong and that Singletary is signed on for the long haul. As far as we should be try to sign or get in the draft, wejust have to wait a bit to see how both the college and NFL season finishes out.

 

[secretzofwar]

Anyone else like a one year deal for Mike Brown if the Bears let him go?

He's an injury risk, but he's one of the best in the NFL when healthy.

I also LOVE Malcolm Jenkins, who seems to be in the Niners' slot on all the mock drafts.

 

[assistantsupervisor81]

Originally Posted by secretzofwar

Anyone else like a one year deal for Mike Brown if the Bears let him go?

He's an injury risk, but he's one of the best in the NFL when healthy.

I also LOVE Malcolm Jenkins, who seems to be in the Niners' slot on all the mock drafts.

Mike Brown is def an injury risk but he brings so much to the table if he can only stay healthy we wouldnt have to get rid of him