Singletary as Coach & Fans' Perceptions

[Fritz]

When Mike Singletary was named the 49ers head coach, I thought they'd gotten the next great head coach. Tough, knowledgeable, smart.

And when he dressed down Vernon Davis, many of us fans, myself included, applauded. Dammit, I thought, that guy's a coach. He's my kind of guy.

And lots of us liked Singetary. He's what fans think a coach should be: old school, tough.

And in the past two years the niners have been favored to be one of the up and coming teams in the NFL.

But they have sucked. Badly. Now they are winless in six games.

So what happened? Is Singletary not the coach we thought he would be? Did we fall for that perception thing - that "we want someone tough" thing? Is Singletary a crappy coach, or has something else happened along the way? Is it that he's a decent coach but a crappy talent evaluator? What do you all think?

[Joemailman]

Personally, I was never on the Singletary bandwagon. I've always felt he has had a way of getting people to believe that he was better and smarter than he really was. I will say that what has happened in San Francisco, as much as anything, shows what happens when you make the wrong decision about who your QB should be. Singletary wasn't there when they drafted Alex Smith, but he did make the decision last year that Alex Smith would be his starting QB. He, or they, got it wrong, and they won't be a winning team until they get it right.

[ThunderDan]

Personally, I was never on the Singletary bandwagon. I've always felt he has had a way of getting people to believe that he was better and smarter than he really was. I will say that what has happened in San Francisco, as much as anything, shows what happens when you make the wrong decision about who your QB should be. Singletary wasn't there when they drafted Alex Smith, but he did make the decision last year that Alex Smith would be his starting QB. He, or they, got it wrong, and they won't be a winning team until they get it right.

Football is crazy sometimes. At the end of last year Alex Smith (maybe all last year) looked really good. The game had seemed to have slowed down for him and the O was getting on track with all of the big weapons.

This year they suck.

I never liked Alex Smith but I also felt sorry for him being thrown in like he was instead of sitting on the bench learning behind a veteran QB. I always thought that Singletary was too intense to be HC. That's great for a coordinator and stuff but your head coach has to be calm and collect and never lose his cool during a game.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Singletary is a lot like how my son's Little League coach was (and I've coached with the guy for 2 years). He believes that there is only one way to do things and it's his way. He cannot admit fault and will dress down players when he feels they don't perform perfectly. When you nitpick and don't show a lot of respect for the team you are supposed to lead, you lose any desire the players have to do well.

Singletary's personality was far better suited to success when he was a player, but it doesn't translate to coaching very well.

[pbmax]

Its the Matt Millen effect. Football people give reporters and the public a limited version of what's truly important and they don't normally talk poorly about their own. So the people who knew, or strongly suspected he was unqualified either did not want to speak out about him or were protecting access.

There were a few who mentioned that he had some holes in his resume, such as having limited coordinator and NFL coaching experience. But they were the vast minority.

The public and the media always think emotion and fiery-ness are what wins games. Silverstein credited this for the defense's solid play in today's Vikings game article. Everytime a team is behind, they are lethargic or flat or the coach did not have them ready emotionally to meet intensity. When they are winning, its the opposite. Its substituting effect for cause.

Singletary represents ALL that the public believes is important in winning football games. And I bet right now people are blaming the overpaid players, the incompetent GM and the media for the 49ers struggles all in an effort to avoid confronting the real news. Holmgren was correct, emotion works well for 3 plays. And then its the talent and execution.

And the football watching public are morons. Except for us Rats, of course.

[Tarlam!]

Personally, I was never on the Singletary bandwagon. I've always felt he has had a way of getting people to believe that he was better and smarter than he really was. I will say that what has happened in San Francisco, as much as anything, shows what happens when you make the wrong decision about who your QB should be. Singletary wasn't there when they drafted Alex Smith, but he did make the decision last year that Alex Smith would be his starting QB. He, or they, got it wrong, and they won't be a winning team until they get it right.

I love the passion and the obvious leadership of the guy, but that doesn't automatically make him a good teacher. He seems old school.

We talked a little about Coughlin and him getting the players behind him. Apparently, Coughlin relented from the old school coaching, which I suspect Singletary is employing. Maybe the modern gladiator doesn't take to having his arse kicked, though Belicheat makes a habit of it and seems quite successful.

Not many starting rookie QBs make it in their first season and I'd wager that Rodgers' career would be very similar to Smith's had he been selected. Rodgers matured a heck of a lot before they gave him the reigns. Smith would have benefitted from a similar ripening period, I'm sure.

[bobblehead]

First, I think every coach has strengths and weaknesses. EVERY one.

Second, I think a great coach is very balanced. He can't always be a tough mean prick (except Lombardi). He can't always be a players father figure. Most importantly he needs to know his limitations.

If I were to critique MM it would be that he is so sharp offensively that he thinks he can outgameplan any defense, when sometimes you just have to gameplan to your strength and do what you do well. A really good attack plan that features the fullback dive on short yardage might be effective, but we don't have the horses to do that.

But I will take him for what he is. Very sharp in gameplanning, a phenomenal (or lucky) QB coach who teaches them how to think correctly. A guy who seems to really understand the x's and o's.

singletery seems to be tough as nails and thats about it. It may have been what SF needed, but it wassn't enough to get them winning.

[Fritz]

Its the Matt Millen effect. Football people give reporters and the public a limited version of what's truly important and they don't normally talk poorly about their own. So the people who knew, or strongly suspected he was unqualified either did not want to speak out about him or were protecting access.

There were a few who mentioned that he had some holes in his resume, such as having limited coordinator and NFL coaching experience. But they were the vast minority.

The public and the media always think emotion and fiery-ness are what wins games. Silverstein credited this for the defense's solid play in today's Vikings game article. Everytime a team is behind, they are lethargic or flat or the coach did not have them ready emotionally to meet intensity. When they are winning, its the opposite. Its substituting effect for cause.

Singletary represents ALL that the public believes is important in winning football games. And I bet right now people are blaming the overpaid players, the incompetent GM and the media for the 49ers struggles all in an effort to avoid confronting the real news. Holmgren was correct, emotion works well for 3 plays. And then its the talent and execution.

And the football watching public are morons. Except for us Rats, of course.

This is what I think I was guilty of. I got sold on the tough guy emotion stuff. I were wrong.

[Scott Campbell]

Personally, I was never on the Singletary bandwagon. I've always felt he has had a way of getting people to believe that he was better and smarter than he really was. I will say that what has happened in San Francisco, as much as anything, shows what happens when you make the wrong decision about who your QB should be. Singletary wasn't there when they drafted Alex Smith, but he did make the decision last year that Alex Smith would be his starting QB. He, or they, got it wrong, and they won't be a winning team until they get it right.

Bump for fun.

[gbgary]

huge turnaround. must have been singletary.

[Fritz]

Harbaugh is a weird dude.

[MJZiggy]

Harbaugh is a weird dude.

But his brother is cute.

[LP]

Harbaugh is a weird dude.

He was a shit eating Chicago Bear. What do you expect?