Ten Reasons why Mike Nolan Should Be Fired

In No Particular Order

1. Having 49ers financial consultant Paraag Marathe in the booth during games - Marathe, who knows nothing about Xs and Os, communicates with Nolan throughout the game on stats and instant replay challenges. Marathe is a financial and accounting genius, but he is not a "football guy." My sources told me that Marathe makes $100,000 a year as an employee of the 49ers.
2. Getting rid of WR Antonio Bryant - Why did Nolan get rid of the best WR the 49ers had last year? A player who was passionate about the game and who often complained on the bench about Alex Smith's wild throws. Was Bryant a malcontent or was he just frustrated by Smith's inaccuracy? Watching Smith play more and more, it is definitely the latter. Bryant was a threat as a WR unlike Darrell Jackson and Arnaz Battle.
3. Hiring VP Player of Personnel Scot McCloughan - Mr.McCloughan isn't just missing an extra "T" in his first name. He might be missing some brains as well. How could he trade next year's first round pick to the Patriots in order to select OL Joe Staley in this year's draft? This is the same man that traded a fourth-round draft pick next year to get WR Darrell Jackson from Seattle. Why would the Seahawks trade a player to a team in its same division unless the player was either hurt or past his prime? The answer is they wouldn't!
   
4. Drafting Alex Smith with the number one pick in the 2005 NFL Draft - Smith was not NFL-ready coming out of Utah. Nolan said he liked Smith because he put Smith through some weird drills before the draft, and Smith never questioned him. Nolan believed that made Smith coachable. Nolan also kept on raving about Smith's intellectual ability. Smith is a NFL quarterback and not a lawyer or doctor. His 4.0 GPA at Utah won't help him on the football field. By the way, Shawne Merriman, Braylon Edwards, Derrick Johnson, and Jason Campbell were all drafted later on in the first round. In the second round, the 49ers drafted David Baas when LB Lofa Tatupu was still on the board. Tatupu is now the heart and soul of the Seahawks defense while Baas is a backup on the 49ers.
5. Calling timeouts at the wrong time in the game - Nolan has made this mistake in every game it seems. He often challenges a play also when the play was obviously called correct by the referee.
   
6. Hiring Jim Hostler as offensive coordinator - The 49ers called a timeout today on 3rd and Goal at the Falcons two yard line. After the timeout, RB Michael Robinson gets stuffed for a two-yard loss as the defense sold out on the run. Before the timeout, the 49ers were gashing the Falcons with the run and the Falcons linemen were gassed and tired. After the timeout, they were well rested and were able to tackle Robinson to force a Joe Nedney field goal. Why didn't they do a play-action pass on 3rd and Goal?
   
7. For caring more about how he looks than how the team plays - Nolan spends too much time asking the NFL to allow him to wear a suit and tie on the sidelines during games. Maybe he should try to think of ways to get his team to play better than worry about the fashion police.
   
8. For repeating the same things every week at his weekly press conference with the media - After every game and every loss, Nolan uses different words but says basically the same things. His speech to the press will go something like this - "We will get better. We will improve, I can promise you that. We will not jump ship and we will stay the course and see this thing through. No one in our division is running away with the title and we have a big game coming up in Seattle."
9. For not preparing his team to play in the beginning of each game - It seems that the team is down by 20 before the second quarter has started. The team is never prepared to play and that is the coach's fault.
10. For being conservative on offense - Nolan is way in over his head as a head coach. It appears at times that he is allergic to touchdowns,and that is why he often has his team play conservatively in the red zone and settle for field goals. Does anyone not remember last year's 4th and 1 against the Rams in Saint Louis?
    

49ers Offense Experiencing Growing Pains

Alex Smith is not Tom Brady, but he is no Rex Grossman either. No one should be surprised that the 49ers lost at Pittsburgh last Sunday 37-16. Smith finally threw for a touchdown but also had a costly interception. The 49ers are sitting pretty at 2-1 and tied with first place with the Seahawks as they head into a pivotol battle this Sunday against Seattle at home.

The key to Sunday's game will be getting Frank Gore back on track. Gore needs to get at least 100 yards and a touchdown. The defense has been playing well all year and kept the team in the game last week. Nate Clements will have to shutdown WR Deion Branch and the defense must not let Shaun Alexander run wild. Alexander is still a great running back, but he is nicked up and does not possess the speed of Willie Parker. Parker was the player who gave the 49ers defense fits all game long in Pittsburgh. TE Vernon Davis will be out for at least two weeks so WR Darrell Jackson must step up against his former teammates.

The loss to Pittsburgh was not surprising as the Steelers are one of the top three teams in the AFC with a great defense. No one expected rookie coordinator, Jim Hostler, to outcoach veteran defensive coordinator, Dick LeBeau, who is one of the best coordinators in the game. Hostler was overmatched in this battle. Instead of running Gore up the middle countless times, he should have called for more screen passes and sweeps. Everyone knows that Casey Hampton is a big run-stuffing tackle and yards would be hard to come by in the middle. I am sure the Seahawks will be ready for a double reverse by a wide reciever as Hostler likes to call that play at least once in a game. Although Smith threw 35 times, he should have attempted 50 passes. How about spreading the Steelers defense out by putting four WRs on the field? I guess Hostler never thought of that. Hostler decided to have Smith roll out of the pocket a few times, but the Steelers were disciplined and were always in position to make the tackles or disrupt Smith enough to make him hurry his throws.

This is the third offensive coordinator in three years for Smith and that has to be hard for him. Norv Turner was a perfect tutor for Smith but the Chargers made the mistake of making him their head coach. Turner is a great coordinator but a terrible head coach. The 49ers miss his creative play-calling and experience which Hostler does not yet have. Unfortunately for the 49ers Faithful, Smith and Hostler will experience growing pains together throughout the season.

49ers Offense is Offensive

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. The San Francisco 49ers somehow are 2-0 and know all about being lucky. The defense has been very impressive but their offense is quite offensive to say the least. Who is at fault for the anemic offense? Although fans place the blame squarely on Alex Smith's shoulders, he is not as big of a problem as the shoddy and very conservative play-calling by offensive coordinator,Jim Hostler. Niner fans are already wishing Norv Turner never left as the offensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Chargers.

How bad is the 49ers offense? They had only eight first downs last week compared to 20 by the Rams. Alex Smith has thrown zero touchdowns in two games. Vernon Davis only has four catches in two games when he should be the primary receiver on each passing play. Davis should be what Tony Gonzalez is for the Chiefs but he appears to be nothing but a decoy so far. Hostler has to do a better job of calling plays to get Davis open. Smith had a sheepish grin on his face after the game while telling reporters that he knows the offense has to get better. Mike Nolan and Hostler are doing Smith no favors by not letting Smith pass the ball in crucial downs. Instead of playing to win and showing faith in their young quarterback, they are basically telling Smith that they do not trust him in key situations. Steve Young was on a local tv show and said that Smith needs to demand more responsibility from his coach and that you should be able to tell if a quarterback will be any good by the end of his third year.

As the 49ers head to Pittsburgh later this week, they should not expect to score many points against one of the best defenses in the league. The Steelers have only allowed 10 points in two games. Smith will probably be under pressure the whole game and won't have time to throw any intermediate or deep routes. Pittsburgh did not give up more than 100 yards to any running back last year so Frank Gore will have trouble getting his yards.

The 49ers defense will have to key on #39, Willie Parker, who is one of the fastest backs in the NFL. Parker can easily turn a five-yard run into a 50-yard touchdown once he finds a small opening. Expect more than 25 carries from Parker on Sunday. Besides Parker, the other weapons on the team are veteran WR Hines Ward and speedy WR Santonio Holmes. Ward is one of their best blockers on running plays and loves to lay big hits on defensive backs. I am still not sold on their new head coach, Mike Tomlin, and am waiting to see how he handles the team during difficult times and games. The Steelers should win this game by 10 points, but the 49ers have nothing to lose on Sunday and should open up their playbook so we can see what they really have in Smith. Nolan has been able to laugh at all the criticism of the team's offense in the first two games by saying the bottom line is that they won both games. He won't be laughing anymore though if the 49ers start losing games due to the conservative play-calling by Hostler.

49ers Pictures at Mixed Martial Arts Event

Due to popular demand, here are the pictures of the 49ers at a San Jose mixed martial arts event in the summer. Pictured are Alex Smith, Mike Nolan, Jeff Ulbrich, and Jim Hostler.





Jim Hostler Offensive Coordinator

Jay Glazer and Nolan