Tuesday, November 18, 2008

San Francisco gives coach another year to clean up the mess he made

By AILENE VOISIN
THE SACRAMENTO BEE

last updated: January 03, 2008 11:44:29 AM

SANTA CLARA -- For someone who presumably was stripped down to his coaching boxer shorts, one might have expected to see an embattled Mike Nolan fully exposed, noticeably humbled and more than a little contrite.

Nothing doing.

Though minus his personnel powers -- those having been formally transferred to his former underling, Scot McCloughan -- the 49ers coach presided over Wednesday's anticipated news conference like a man in charge, which apparently, he still is.

Impeccably dressed in an off-white, open-collar dress shirt and light brown suit, Nolan stood alongside team owner John York and newly promoted general manager McCloughan, awaited his moment, and then dominated the microphone.

Far from fully exposed, he was in full swagger. The alpha male in the room was the man who many presumed was going to be fired.

Instead, the 49ers' 5-11 record earned McCloughan a raise, cost offensive coordinator Jim Hostler a job and ruined everyone's New Year's Eve with a series of marathon meetings. But Nolan stays. Three consecutive losing seasons and an increasingly disgruntled fan base notwithstanding, York is giving Nolan another year to clean up his mess -- the mess the 49ers co-owner helped create three years ago when he empowered an unproven head coach (Nolan) with enormous clout regarding personnel matters.

In a rare moment of candor, even Nolan conceded that by overseeing the coaching staff and personnel issues, "You can get spread a little thin. This will allow us to do more on the football side ... allow for closer attention to detail."

Is this a good thing? Defensively, yes. Nolan's strength has always been on the defensive side of the ball, as reflected in recent offseason acquisitions of Patrick Willis, Michael Lewis, Manny Lawson and Nate Clements, among others. But offensively, he can't find the scoreboard with binoculars, which means two things: First, he better hire an offensive coordinator the caliber of a Mike McCarthy or Norv Turner, preferably someone who recognizes the importance of wide receivers and/or tight ends who can catch passes before attempting to make plays. And secondly, he needs to begin shuttling to San Diego and renewing his acquaintance with Alex Smith.

Of all of Nolan's questionable moves -- promoting Hostler, drafting a tight end with stone hands (Vernon Davis), those ill-conceived clock and game decisions -- his handling of his young quarterback's injury tops the hit list. When Smith sustained a severe shoulder separation and needed a comforting hand, Nolan became all thumbs. Instead of demonstrating real leadership and relying on his eyesight and instincts, not exclusively what he heard from medical types employed by the organization, he buckled under the pressure to win games.

Nolan should have looked at his third-year quarterback and acknowledged the obvious: There was no way Smith should have been on the field a mere three weeks after incurring the injury. In his Oct. 28 return against the New Orleans Saints, the former No. 1 draft choice overthrew receivers, skipped passes off the grass and repeatedly made his throws from a sidearm motion, often wincing and clutching his shoulder.

Yet Nolan, who last season praised the 6-foot-4-inch, 210-pound former Utah standout for his resilience, inexplicably (and publicly) began questioning his quarterback's toughness.

"I didn't look at the statistics, but obviously, the quarterback's job is to win games," Nolan began that afternoon. "Just like those games where we won, and the statistics weren't that pretty, I thought the quarterback did a good job because we won the game."

That was it, the first visible fracture in the fabric of the coach-quarterback relationship. Smith felt betrayed and undermined within the locker room. Nolan felt Smith should have been more forthcoming about the extent of his discomfort. Yet even after subsequent medical opinions revealed what was apparent against the Saints -- again, that someone in the 49ers' front office should have protected the franchise quarterback from oncoming 300-pound linemen, and probably from himself -- Nolan refused to budge.

He turned to Trent Dilfer, Shaun Hill and Chris Weinke while Smith underwent surgery to repair the torn ligaments, and offered nothing in the way of comfort and support.

Not much has changed. On Wednesday, Nolan and McCloughan reiterated that Smith will "compete" for the starting job next season, and neither precluded the possibility of drafting or signing another quarterback.

But this is where Nolan would be wise to shed his trademark stubbornness. He might even consider play-acting for a while, for this reason: Every ownership group has its limits. Entering his fourth season, Nolan probably has one more shot at a contract extension, and until further notice, Smith offers his best chance for success. He should save the spin and speak from the gut. Hire an innovative offensive coordinator and then stick with the defense.

"If there was some way to improve the lack of communication, as Alex called it, I would have," Nolan insisted Wednesday. "We were two people exchanging conversation but not hooking up as well."

That's his problem, the problem he initiated, his problem to solve.

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