San Francisco 49ers To Pound the Rock in 2009

Is this finally the season the San Francisco 49ers revert to their old winning ways and emerge as the "sleeper team" that so many experts have believed them to be the last few seasons?

It very easily could be, after the Niners made two dramatic midseason switches to the two most important positions on a football team: head coach and quarterback.

Mike Nolan, in his fourth season as San Francisco's head coach, was fired after a 29-17 loss at the hands of the New York Giants. The defeat dropped the Niners to 2-5 and Nolan was replaced by assistant coach/linebacker coach Mike Singletary.

The 49ers didn't appear immediately inspired by the personnel change and hit rock bottom the following week. Hosting the Seattle Seahawks, the 49ers were demolished 34-13 in a game that will probably best be remembered for Singletary's unorthodox coaching methods.

Trailing 20-3 at halftime, Singletary pulled down his pants to illustrate the embarrassment of the team's performance. Vernon Davis would later take an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, prompting Singletary to not only remove Davis from the game, but also to eject the former sixth overall draft pick from the game.

In a heated post-game press conference, Singletary said, "We are not a charity. We cannot give them the game."

Many interpreted the comment as a reference to J.T. O'Sullivan's play at quarterback. O'Sullivan got off to a solid start in 2009 but was too prone to turnovers (11 interceptions and six fumbles lost in nine games) to give the Niners a realistic chance to consistently win games.

Singletary replaced O'Sullivan with Shaun Hill after halftime against Seattle and stuck with him the rest of the season.

Hill lost his first start of the 2008 season in a Monday night meeting with the eventual NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals, but he led the Niners to a 5-2 finish down the stretch.

Hill improved his career record as a starter to 7-3, and the starting quarterback position will be his to lose in 2009 after posting a 13-8 TD-INT ratio and throwing for 227 yards per game in 2008.

Former top overall pick Alex Smith will return from shoulder surgery, but he faces an uphill battle to overtake Hill.

Frank Gore, fresh off his third straight 1,000-yard season, may well receive as many touches as any player in the NFL in 2009, as Singletary has promised to establish a "pound the rock" mentality.

Jimmy Raye left his position as the running backs coach of the New York Jets to replace the pass-happy Mike Martz as offensive coordinator of the 49ers, and he and Singletary appear to be on the same page as far as offensive philosophy is concerned.

There should be some intriguing battles at the pass-catching position, as nothing appears set in stone. Last year's leading receiver Isaac Bruce will try to hang on to a starting position, but at the age of 36, it's far from certain.

Returning receivers Josh Morgan and Jason Hill flashed some big-play potential toward the end of 2008, but each will have to battle for playing time. The Niners also signed Brandon Jones from Tennessee and drafted Michael Crabtree with the 10th overall pick, so the wide receiver starting positions appear to be wide open.

Davis could be the wild card for the offense, and Raye has promised to get the former first rounder more passes in 2009.

The Niners kept their entire starting offensive line intact, as the versatile Eric Heitmann will return to center to anchor the unit.

Chilo Rachal and David Baas are likely to start at guard and each is capable of creating some running lanes up the middle. Joe Staley returns to protect Hill's backside at left tackle, and Adam Snyder rounds out the linemen at right tackle.