Tuesday, February 03, 2009
The 49ers' ID
My computer problems are finally coming to a close and a new laptop is on the way. I've rented a ramblin' wreck of notebook that has its quirks (what do you expect for $6 a day) but it seems to execute the basic functions for posting on the site semi-regularly. It's as fragile as Any Whinehouse's psyche, but hopefully it will hold up and I'll be able to post more regularly.
A shout out to Del - please get well soon. Hip replacement sounds brutally painful. Gary Plummer had one a few years but you'd never know it. He plays basketball and keeps up with his maniacal workout regiment. Del you'll be back to yours in no time.Now for today's topic, Identity. Sounds like a subject for a college level course in Sociology or Psychology. But what we're talking about here is the 49ers' identity on offense and defense, something that changes not only yearly, but sometimes weekly.
However, with the direction of general manager Scot McCloughan, the hiring of Mike Singletary and his hiring Jimmy Raye as offensive coordinator, critics can no longer charge the 49ers with rudderlessness.
On offense the team will establish the running game, quite possibly through more zone blocking. Raye's history shows he's adaptable, so he'll probably ditch much of the seven-step drops and deep seam routes characterized by Mike Martz and to a lesser extent, Norv Turner. Raye will likely keep the digital language on offense but go to more of a West Coast feel with shorter drops, quicker throws and more passes to the running backs and tight ends, which fits Shaun Hill's style.
Read More »| Feb 03 at 11:23 AM
Friday, January 30, 2009
Analysis: Raye of Hope?
It's so easy to ridicule the 49ers for their hiring of Jimmy Raye II as their offensive coordinator. The 49ers officially announced that they've agreed to terms with Raye; he'll be in next week to sign his deal. We've all perused Raye's history by now: In his multiple stints as a coordinator his offense has only finished in the top ten once, only one of the teams he coordinated went to the playoffs, and he hasn't stayed more three years in any coordinating job.
The 49ers obviously chose stability over excellence given their recent history of fleeing coordinators. The team was stuck. It was a bear market for coordinators with five teams looking for one at the same time and the 49ers job might have been the least attractive. The Bay Area is expensive, Mike Singletary is a frightfully inexperienced coach who wants to pound the rock, and the 49ers might not have been offering attractive compensation seeing as Singletary isn't making that much.
Overlaying all of it was a desire for continuity on offense; for the new coordinator to stay for more than a year and to lay down the bricks and mortar for an offensive system that could be passed down. On that last point, is Raye that kind of coordinator? If he had a unique and successful system he wouldn't be a coordinating nomad.
The nature of search also gives one pause. They brought Scott Linehan back and he rejected the job; they brought Hue Jackson in for a second time the same day they interviewed Raye and they hired Raye, even though Jackson's short coordinating history and reputation with players is stellar. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Singletary might answer them today with Raye at 1:00 when both are scheduled for a conference call.
Looking back on the search, one wonders if the job was difficult to fill partially because of Singletary. Was he too heavy-handed in what he wanted? Are younger offensive coordinators realizing that the game is changing radically away from the run game with the prevalence of the spread offense in college? Are the 49ers going back to the dark years of the Mike Nolan offenses when they tried futilely to control the clock?
Singletary won himself the head coaching job by allowing his coaches to coach. He was constantly saying how grateful he was to have his coaching staff. Now that he has the job permanently, Singletary must retain his humility or he will fail.
One reason Bill Walsh succeeded because he knew Bobb McKittrick knew more about the offensive line than he did, it was the same with Bill McPherson and the linebackers and George Seiftert with the secondary. For all his brilliance, Walsh trusted his coaches. Young head coaches have fantasized about getting a head coaching job for so long they often have entrenched ideas about how things should be, and they often don't consider that others know more than they do.
That was one of Mike Nolan's flaws. When he named Jim Hostler his offensive coordinator, Nolan meddled in the offense relentlessly and some players will say Nolan had to more to do with the offensive problems that year than Hostler.
Certainly, Singletary must set the overall strategy for his offense, but then he should also leave the tactics to those who know them better. One of Singletary's finest attributes is his gut, his instincts and his accurate assessment for the big picture. He knew immediately that the 49ers needed to let the younger players play, that they needed to get stubborn with their 3-4 defense, and that they needed a change at quarterback. However, going on gut too much can make leave a head coach making decisions more on feel than substance. For example, deciding to back up a scout's assessment on drafting Alex Smith because he likes the look in his eye, or hiring an offensive coordinator (Hostler) because he came up with his own game plans. Nolan liked that because he did the same thing before he got his first coordinator job.
The sudden hiring of Raye looks like a going-on-gut hire, and who knows it may work out. But one can only hope that offensive coordinator search and the Raye hire wasn't an example of more head-coaching hubris, because we all know where that will lead.
| Jan 30 at 12:37 PM
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Raye Is New Offensive Coordinator
Several Web sites -- including SI.com and NFL.com -- are reporting that Jimmy Raye, 62, is the new offensive coordinator for the 49ers. Raye has been coaching in the NFL for 32 years including a 1977 stop for a year with the 49ers. He's also been an offensive coordinator for several teams including the Raiders under Norv Turner. He's versed in the digital system and last coached with the Jets, a team that didn't renew his contract when they made a head coaching change to Rex Ryan. More information and opinion are coming, but right now I'm experiencing some computer problems.| Jan 28 at 08:34 PM
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Hue Jackson is Back
Former Falcons offensive coordinator and current Ravens quarterback coach Hue Jackson was back for a second interview Tuesday for the 49ers offensive coordinator opening. The last time they had a candidate in for the second time (Scott Linehan) they 49ers offered him the job.
Hopefully they'll do the same here. Although some of you believe I endorse every new candidate the 49ers announced, I've really only supported Jackson. I've tried to match qualities of the other candidates with what the 49ers' but that doesn't mean I endorse them.
I thought the 49ers should have acted faster on Linehan if they wanted him, particularly because his experience speaks for itself, and I think he could have been a good hire, but that's not akin to an endorsement. The 49ers might eventually be thankful Linehan landed in Detroit because Jackson could be a superstar. I've talked to a few league insiders who say his ability to connect to players is outstanding, so we don't have a Jim Hostler here, and that was also one of Linehan's problems in St. Louis.
Also, Jackson's relationships with past players such as T.J Housmanzedah and Chad Johnson could open prospective free-agent and trade doors.
On Tuesday, the 49ers interviewed former Ravens, Chargers and Falcons assistant Mike Johnson for the quarterbacks job. Johnson had a habit of following or preceding Jackson. He was the Ravens quarterbacks coach under Brian Billick before Jackson got there last year. Johnson was also with Atlanta as the quarterbacks coach as their quarterbacks coach from 2002-5 where he helped Michael Vick become a Pro Bowler, and that was before Jackson became Atlanta's offensive coordinator.
Before heading into coaching, Johnson was quarterbacked in the USFL, the CFL and tried out in 1990 for the Cardinals.
| Jan 27 at 10:18 PM
All For One Stadium
The NFL should know better. They are trying to insert logic into the 49er-Raiders stadium fiasco.
The league recently urged the Raiders and 49ers to share a venue in Santa Clara where the 49ers are attempting to pass measure that would allow them access to over $100 million in public money in their effort to build a $916 million stadium.
Sharing the effort with the Raiders would mean doubling the dates, which would make the stadium far more viable. But it would also mean the Yorks and Al Davis would have to get together on the deal, and these two parties have proven to be deal breakers, not makers.
According to city of San Francisco, John York capriciously pulled out of negotiations on a stadium deal in San Francisco. Davis went far down the road on deal created by the NFL and former 49ers president Carmen Policy to keep the team in Los Angeles, but Davis eventually shunned the deal. More recently, Davis was courted by a group of New York investors who wanted to buy minority interest in the Raiders. Again, Davis showed interest initially, but once things got serious, he backpedaled.
In these shaky financial times, it would make great sense to share the effort, but the romantic notion of the Raiders playing in Oakland and the 49ers playing in San Francisco still holds an allure. The 49ers were the first professional team to get established in the city. Former mayor Diane Feinstein said the 49ers' success in 1980's helped drag the city out a dreadful time marked by the Jonestown massacre, the assasinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone, and the AIDS epidemic.
What other team has such a tight history with its city?
And the Black Hole in Santa Clara? The Silicon Valley is just as the names describe, it's little soulless and antiseptic with its strip malls and low-slung computer company campuses. How will the earthy, underdog, silver-and-black costumes fit in that environment? More importantly, would Santa Clara ever approve a measure with the Raiders on the ticket?
| Jan 27 at 10:03 AM
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Dan Reeves, Reaaaally?
Dan Reeves interviewed for the offensive coordinator position Friday afternoon. There's a surprise candidate. I could see Reeves as an advisor, but making the 65-year-old, who hasn't coached since 2003, the play caller smacks too much of the Raiders when they brought in Reagan-era offensive coordinator Tom Walsh. Your thoughts?
| Jan 24 at 10:46 AM
Friday, January 23, 2009
Hire Jackson Now
As expected, Hue Jackson interviewed for the 49ers open offensive coordinator position this morning, and this is the guy the 49ers should hire. He has a varied background, as a coach of running backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks, he connects with players deeply and has called plays under the most difficult circumstances.
In Atlanta last year, Jackson was the offensive coordinator under Bobby Patrino and he survived and even thrived in the most challenging season any NFL team ever endured. When quarterback Michael Vick was arrested tried, and jailed, Jackson was the Falcons main contact with Vick and he still stays in contact with him even though Vick is in the pen. When players chafed under Patrino's non-communicative leadership and complicated playbook they often turned to Jackson, and after Patrino fled with three games left, Jackson took over the play-calling duties for the final two games and the Falcons exploded for 71 points with Chris Redman at quarterback and street free agents at both tackle spots.
Hue Jackson coaching up his players
He previously called plays for Steve Spurrier's one-year experiment with Washington in 2003, that is sometimes he called plays and sometimes he didn't. Spurrier would go back and forth as the play caller and sometimes leave Jackson hanging. According to the Pro Football Weekly archives, Spurrier dumped the play-calling chores on Jackson just before their 24-7 loss to Buffalo that year. Two weeks later, Jackson got more lead time and called plays in a 27-20 win over playoff-bound Seattle; the victory snapped a four-game losing streak.
Jackson's versed in a variety of systems from Spurrier's run-and-fun to a West Coast grounding as coordinator for one explosive season at Cal under Steve Mariucci in 1996. Jackson also coordinated the USC offense under former 49ers assistant Paul Hackett at USC for four seasons (1997-2000). In the NFL he has coached running backs with the Redskins, wide receivers in Cincinnati and last year, phenom rookie quarterback Joe Flacco in Baltimore.
He has a reputation as a task master but also someone who engenders a high amount of respect from his players. Some attribute the restless behavior of Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmanzadeh last year in Cincinnati to Jackson's departure.
Hiring Jackson would also kick open the door to troubled but talented players such as Ocho Cinco, Vick and to lesser extent Houshmanzadeh.
It sounds as if Jackson is very much a Mike Singletary type of coach - tough, respected, and able to communicate concepts others can't. Jackson also has ties to Northern California, he was standout quarterback for UOP in the mid-1980's and also played basketball there. He's the guy.
| Jan 23 at 12:00 PM
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Responses Galore
The short Jason Cole story that Eureka81 cited on Yahoo is interesting, saying Scott Linehan's disinterest in the 49ers was partially due to the 49ers staying with quarterbacks Shaun Hill and Alex Smith. Many implications there - first that Alex Smith will actually stay, and second, that Linehan apparently has no faith in Hill, a player he knew when he coordinated the Vikings' offense.
Linehan worked for a long time with Alex's uncle, John L. Smith, and has known Alex for years. Say what you will about Linehan, he probably knows how to evaluate quarterbacks. Or maybe he doesn't, he did bench Marc Bulger this year, which contributed to his firing. I still don't get why so many in football think Hill can't play. He won with a team that has a fairly lengthy history of losing, doesn't that say something? So he looks like the resurrection of Billy Kilmer, who cares? Hill produces.
I applaud Linehan for not taking the job if he doesn't believe in the 49ers' quarterbacks. I also agree with Eureka on using your family as an excuse for not taking the job. Obviously, if Linehan takes the job in Tampa he'll have to uproot the family again. Just leave the family out of it.
According to Matt Barrows, who's on the scene with the full contingent of the 49ers' coaches and scouts at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Hue Jackson has emerged on the OC radar.
bc_inthe_bay writes that Steve Logan, the former coach of East Carolina, is mainly responsible for the development of Matt Ryan at Boston College. Just forget Jeff Jagodzinski and hire the Eagles' offensive coordinator, a guy who's actually called plays. It sounds as if Jagodzinski isn't an NFL head coach soon, his head will explode. Who needs that?
By the way, bc and others, sorry for the "Golden" Eagles labeling, instead of just Eagles. Maybe I was thinking of "Golden Bears" or "Golden Griddles."
Of course, I want to weigh in on the zone blocking debate. I agree that Joe Staley and Eric Heitmann are well suited for zone blocking and Chilo Rachal, although still raw, could fit any system. David Baas, and Adam Snyder wouldn't be effective, and neither would Barry Sims (the Raiders dumped him because of their transition to zone blocking).
The 49ers could acquire a zone-blocking line fairly easily because they are zone linemen are typically undersized and come relatively cheap. Also, do the 49ers really want to keep the line they have now outside of Heitmann, Staley and Rachal? That line has given up more sacks than any other offensive line in the last two years, and they're run blocking has been only fair.
Patm2143 sorry to hear about your disability, as a rec league junkie in my mid-40's, I'm so thankful for every softball and basketball game I can play, because I know it won't last. The 49ers have a utility man on the offensive line and it's Snyder. He can play anywhere on the line but center.
I heard Mel Kiper on radio last weekend, he also thought the 49ers might take USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. Pro Football Weekly had the 49ers taking another Trojan, linebacker Rey Maualuga with the 10th pick.
I've learned not to engage in political debates on this site, although politics is a big interest. But just one final thought, aren't Nazis fascists?
| Jan 21 at 10:07 PM
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Jeff Jagodzinski Come On Down
The 49ers widened their offensive coordinator search Tuesday in Mobile, AL by interviewing former Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski. Controversial, fiery, with a grounding in the West Coast system and zone-blocking run game, Jagodzinski might nudge ahead of Colts receivers coach Clyde Christensen and former Browns coordinator Rob Chudzinski as the favorite to replace Mike Martz.
Jagodzinski was fired by Boston College after saying he wouldn't interview for the Jets head coach opening. He did anyway, and on Jan. 7, he got the big haircut from BC athletic director Gene DeFillippo. In two years with the Eagles, he led B.C. to a pair of bowl games and developed quarterback Matt Ryan.
Even at the college level, Jagodzinski spurned the idea of going with the prevalent spread offense and ran a successful pro style scheme. He likes to throw deep, he worked in Green Bay under Ray Rhodes and Mike Sherman, then went to Atlanta to work with the modern creator of the zone-blocking scheme, Alex Gibbs, and was hired back to the Packers to be Mike McCarthy's offensive coordinator in 2006.
In that one year, Jagodzinski and McCarthy led the Packers from 4-12 record under the last year of Mike Sherman to a 8-8 record.
Jagodzinski would seem to be a solid choice, with his knowledge of the west coast offense and the zone blocking scheme. A drawback maybe Jagodzinski's ambition, which led to his firing at B.C. If the 49ers offense takes off, Jagodzinski would have little compunction about interviewing for another NFL head-coaching job.
RESPONSES TO RESPONSES: Latopia made a good point about my post about an experience football person advising Mike Singletary and Scot McCloughan to move quickly on hiring Scott Linehan.
What I should have written and what I started off writing, is that its OK to act boldly. One interview is enough to determine that Linehan should or shouldn't be the next 49ers offensive coordinator, particularly with Linehan's history.
The 49ers acted decisively when they ditched Mike Nolan at mid-season and hired Singletary. They could have acted faster on Linehan.
As many of you have noted, maybe Linehan isn't the right guy. Sometimes the best decision you make are your second choices. Bill Walsh, apparently wanted his former quarterback at Stanford, Steve Dils, instead he went with his second choice, Joe Montana. That's just one example in a long line of second choices that have turned out well for this team.
| Jan 20 at 07:40 PM
Monday, January 19, 2009
Linehan Fall Out
So what did the 49ers learn, if anything, from the Scott Linehan snub for their still gapingly open offensive coordinator position? They learned that even with the momentum and energy generated by new coach Mike Singletary, they still occupy a low-rent place in the NFL hierarchy; they might have also learned that decisive action is rarely wrong.
Linehan ditched the 49ers for the mere possibility of employment with the Buccaneers, Jets or presumably the four other teams looking for offensive coordinators. The stain of the last five playoff-less seasons, the team's awkward firings of head coaches, the organizations inability to work a stadium deal, and the legions of former administrators, players and coaches who delight in bad-mouthing the current stewardship of the team make the 49ers close to last on the NFL's place of employment list.
Unfortunately, the 49ers are a team still laboring under the York ownership, even though son Jed York has now replaced his father as the organization's face and presumably, chief decision-maker. Under the Yorks, the 49ers have become a team others kick around. Just put the Linehan snub in with last year's docking of a draft pick for what appeared to be a feeble tampering case in the 49ers pursuit of Bears linebacker Lance Briggs. The league wanted to make example of someone and the lowly 49ers proved to be an easy target. The team doesn't get much love from the major media outlets. An ESPN ticker constantly announced the possibility of Dom Capers becoming the defensive coordinator in Green Bay, but completely ignored the 49ers-Linehan news, even though the Linehan news was all over local blogs and web sites.
What the 49ers sorely lack is an experienced and respected decision-maker, who can size up a Scott Linehan right after the season, see his grounding in the digital system, his past work with Shaun Hill, and most importantly, his success as a coordinator and say, "He's our guy!"
On the morning after the last day of the season, Mike Martz should have been fired and Linehan halfway hired. The only question I would have for Linehan was if he still had a passion for creating game plans. He called plays in St. Louis but seemed to constantly be handing off the duties to others (Greg Olson, Al Saunders). If Linehan retains that desire (and I think he does) he should have been announced in the week after the season. Instead, it took the 49ers nearly four weeks to simply offer him the job and by then other opportunities drew Linehan away
.Where's the liver-spotted old football hand who might be able to tell the first-year head coach, the 27-year-old owner and the second-year general manager to act immediately? And why are the 49ers so resistant to hiring such a person?
| Jan 19 at 08:02 PM
