S.F. 49ers: It's Time To Fire Mike Singletary

I hate to say it, but it’s time for the 49ers to part ways with Mike Singletary. Maybe not in the middle of the season, but perhaps in the offseason. Singletary is a motivational coach, but he is not NFL coach. While he is defensive minded, he’s not a Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel, or Dick LeBeau. Singletary really brings nothing extra to the 49ers defense, and he’s been even worse with the delegation of this promising offense. Singletary has done a commendable job uniting this team and instilling the team-first approach, but his un-doing is the lack of coaching experience. He is not an x’s and o’s guy and ultimately this is the reason the 49ers are sitting at 0-5 this season.

Singletary can yell all he wants, but it's time for him to go. Picture courtesy of SF Gate.

Granted, Alex Smith isn’t the great quarterback that the 49ers envisioned when then they took him with the #1 pick in the2005 NFL Draft. But in this offense with weapons like Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, and Frank Gore, Alex Smith has the ability to be an adequate system quarterback. But in order to accomplish that, Mike Singletary and his run offense mentality has to go. There have been countless times since Singletary took over in which the 49ers would run the ball to no avail on 1st and 2nd down and put Smith in 3rd and long situations. And you blame Smith for this offense being stagnant for much of the game? Come on, give me a break. Smith has shown his ability to get the ball to his weapons in a 2 minute drill type of offense. He has not just done this once, but many times in fact. Date back to last year when the 49ers were down 21-0 to the Houston Texans. Alex Smith came out in the 2nd half and led the 49ers back while running a spread formation. Even though they lost, Smith was able to make the 49ers competitive. Earlier this year against the defending Super Bowl Champion Saints, Smith led an impressive 2 minute-no huddle drive down the field to tie the game. And then this past week against the Eagles, after that costly fumble Smith led the 49ers down on 2 consecutive TD drives to make it just a 3 point game. On the final drive, he led the 49ers to midfield before the offensive line didn’t pick up the blitz and Smith was hit as he released the ball resulting in a fluttered pass turning into an interception.

What did the “vaunted” 49ers run game do in this past game versus the Eagles? Gore had 18 carries for 52 yards and 2 fumbles. I’m not here to criticize Gore, because he is definitely a great running back and this isn’t his fault. A running back can only do so much when the opposition knows your gameplan and stack the box in order to stop you. This is a direct complaint to Singletary: OPEN UP YOUR DAMN PLAYBOOK . Make it easier on your running back by changing things up and keeping the defense off balance. If given just a little room, Gore is able to break a big run at any time. But the best way to do this is by making the defense scared of your passing attack early. With Smith, Davis, and Crabtree the 49ers are more than capable of doing this. Singletary used Jimmy Raye as the scapegoat by firing him recently, but the fact of the matter is that Raye was just following Singletary’s orders and game plan. The blame lies with Singletary and very few others.

They both may be out of a job very soon. Picture courtesy of Fan Nation.

In addition to terrible play calling, Singletary needs to be criticized on his lack of discipline. After talking a lot about making this a more disciplined team, Singletary is the one who must shoulder the majority of the blame. There is no excuse for those delay of game calls earlier this season just because you couldn’t get the play to Alex Smith in time. Singletary used Jimmy Raye as the scapegoat for this as well since Raye is in charge of delivering plays to Smith. But as the head coach, you have to accept responsibility for the lack of discipline by your coaching staff. Singletary has quickly become notorious for some of his antics. Whether it’s pulling his pants down during a half-time speech or going to-to-toe with Alex Smith in this past week. As the head coach, you get upset and its understandable. But to put it on full display and yell at your quarterback on the sidelines is almost T.O.-esque. There is no room for it in football, you just put even more pressure on your quarterback and make him look bad in front of his teammates. The one positive thing it did was show the Smith has some fire and will not take it from his head coach and on top of that his teammates like Frank Gore and Vernon Davis are behind Alex. NFL legend John Madden even had an issue with what happened between Singletary and Smith, ” That’s really not part of coaching, that’s sometimes I worry about that. I see youth football and I see high school football and coaches yelling at players and I cringe when I see it. I think people get the picture that’s what coaching is and believe me, that’s not what coaching is. I don’t know if you have to yell at players. Now, someone’s going to say you yelled like heck, but I wasn’t yelling at players, I was yelling at officials. That’s not what it is. You have to coach, you have to teach, you have to strategize, you have to encourage. That’s what coaching is, not the opposite.” Madden could not have been more correct, Singletary is no coach,

Regardless of what happens this season, it is time to move on from Mike Singletary. Singletary is nothing more than a motivational speaker and his place is not on the sidelines as the head coach.  The 49ers need an offensive minded head coach that is knowledgeable and able to take this offense to the next level. If the 49ers do decide to give Smith one more shot, he may able to show what he’s truly capable of doing given the right offensive system. But after 6 years, it may be time to move on from him as well. With Jake Locker, Andrew Luck, and Ryan Mallet most likely heading to the draft next year the 49ers may be able to choose the right quarterback for them. But regardless of who the QB is, Mike Singletary should not be the head coach. Singletary, I’m sorry, but you’re fired.

This is just an opinion…so please Pardon My Bias.