Posted By: drew (09/02/2008 10:33:45 AM)
Comment: THE 49ERS NEED TO GET A NEW COACH!!!!

Posted By: ross (09/09/2006 5:55:03 PM)
Comment: The demise of the niners starts with York. He doesn't know anything about football, and he is improving but he's giving Nolan a little too much power. Nolan is going to be a good coach, but not too many coaches are good at being the GM also. York just thought he could rake in the dough because of the niners storied history, and the amount of great fans. But he forgot this is football and you need a good team on the field, it doesn't take a rocket scientist. Two years ago our three quarterbacks were all seventh round picks- Rattay, Dorsey and Pickett. That was the most penny pinched team I have ever heard of. York is a chump, and he is starting to get a little support now because he is making some strides, but he won't get my support until we acclomplish at least a winning season. Donahue was an idiot, but with a penny pinching owner what GM could do a decent job? When Eddie D. had to give up the team that was the worst thing that could of happend to the niners. RJ I can't believe you blame our demise on Eddie D. With him if the niners had a couple of bad years there was always assurance we would get better. With York there hasn't been hope, and personally I still don't have any.

Posted By: Matt Witthaus (09/09/2006 1:52:19 PM)
Comment: Matt, how long do you think it will be before Smith is benched and Dilfer is the starter?

Posted By: RJ (09/09/2006 11:02:21 AM)
Comment: Yes Eddie did do all that and I thank him for it, but don't forget he did screw up and lost the team, therefore he is to blame and thats a plain and simple fact!

Posted By: Carl (09/09/2006 8:41:03 AM)
Comment: Well, the reason the 49ers fell so far down was because they were elevated to such greatness by Walsh. And while it's no secret that Walsh was arguably the best player draft guy ever, he was not good at picking his own heir in Donahue. Sure, a lot of individual people contributed to the demise of the 49ers, but it was really a team effort. And I wouldn't blame T.O. or any other player for the demise because they wouldn't of been allowed to grow into such a distraction if the management didn't take control of the situation. Ultimately, it falls on York because he's the capt. of the ship and he didn't have the experience to take over. It reminds me of Steve Young taking over for Montana and everyone compared every little thing Steve did wrong to all the great accomplishments Joe did. York needs time to get the experience and learn from his decisions. When he hired Nolan and stepped back, I was immediately impressed by Yorks decision and started supporting him and renewed my faith.

Posted By: D.Ayers (09/09/2006 8:30:37 AM)
Comment: Hey R.J. HOW DARE YOU PUT ANY OF THIS OF Mr.DeBartolo LAP!!!He was the greatest owners this side of Art Rooney his free wheeling spending helped the team become the class of the league for over 20 years,His fruit baskets for players with new babies and trips to Hawaii after his pro bowl players ended their long seasons is just two examples of why her now is a salary cap in the N.F.L It's like blaming Bill Walsh for us running that

Posted By: RJ (09/09/2006 7:42:20 AM)
Comment: The one person who holds most of the blame for the demise of the 49ers is...Eddie D. He is the one that went out and got busted and lost the franchise, handing the keys to his sister and her dork of a husband. So to me it all starts with Eddie D!

Posted By: Tim (09/09/2006 12:10:44 AM)
Comment: Two questions: 1) One the practice squad, is the initial team given the option to add the practice squad member to the active roster on a quasi "right of first refusal" basis? For example if Seattle tries to claim Gibran Hamdan can we protect him? The reason I ask is there is such a scramble to add players (not to mention secrecy of who is signing whom) to the PS but if they are just there for practice fodder it seems like the PS is not as advantageous as I really had thought. Wasn't the purpose originally designed to keep phantom "injuries" from always appearing at the end of training camp and those allowing certain teams to horde players? 2) If the Niners are 10 Million under the cap this year do you think their financial strategy will be to start extending contracts of some of the key players midway through the season thus taking the financial hit this year, using up that 10 million, and positioning themselves for improved cap management in the future. I fully respect Nolan for not trying to quick fix and bring in an expensive acquisitions like Robaire Smith who would make the team better but not make a significant difference in the win column and certainly not get us into the playoffs. It seems like he is following the play book from the glory days when the Niners would add key components through free agency to shore up weaknesses short term for the annual playoff push. Net-net is do you think the Niners will spend that money and if so, assuming all stay reasonably healthy, who should they start extending?

Posted By: ninerdude (08/09/2006 7:45:45 PM)
Comment: The biggest mistake the Niners made was not firing Seifert and replacing him with Mike Shanahan. Seifert, an alleged defensive "guru" didnt have the answer to stop the Cowboys in the early 90s and the front office failed to recognize the true value and success Shanahan brought to the table. His play-calling kept us in those NFC championship game shootouts. Thus, our drafts throughout the years failed miserably and signing big name FAs kept us in the hunt for sometime even winning us 1 more SB. Bottom line is we depended on lockerroom leadership to keep the Niner standard while Cerrato, Policy, Mooch,York, Donahue and Erickson ruined us in the long run with crappy drafts and poor salarycap management. Nolan is the best thing to happen to us and we should all be thankful he took the job noone in the NFL circles wanted.

Posted By: Cliff (08/09/2006 5:12:15 PM)
Comment: I feel nolan is doing a good job with the team. He seems to be working the draft very well. The offensive line looks better than it has for quite a while. I do wish Newberry was with us though. We did bring in some quality free ajents and it seems there is a lot more team unity this year than there was the past few years. What I don't understand is why the majority of the public think it takes so long to rebuild a team.I think the mindset of the niners right now is that they are capable of winning it all. When the 81 season started and we had a brand new secondary plus a very consistant gamer of a quarterback, the team started to gel. It took a while for the team to realize just how good they were. Even with the great draft that we just had and montana at quarterback, it was two players that really solidified that team. They were both defensive players. Hacksaw, and Fred Dean.They made the whole team play better. You need a defense to win games,I think Nolan should have hit the F/A market right from the begining and picked up a quality defensive linemen or linebacker. No matter what happens I will bleed red and gold. I think poor drafting and management plus too many misdiredted egos were the downfall of the niners.

Posted By: Kendrick (08/09/2006 4:03:37 PM)
Comment: I've said it before and i'll say it again until somebody hears it. Stop trying to brainwash us with the blame game. It is more than obvious that each year only some teams are actually competing for the title. i estimate that number to be around 8. the other teams are the actual winners because financially they pay less and enjoy the same revenue streams. the niners had just won 5 superbowls but were operating in the red. someone upstairs decided it was time to downsize and get back profitable. They fired seifert (a winner)and brought in mooch to be a loser. (just like they are doing in green bay with mccarthy)the problom with mooch was the SOB kept winning and they fired him. Yes it was donahues baby but it was by organisation design. T O and all that crap was just a distraction. jerry rice knew and he ran from it the same way jevon walker ran from greenbay. This franchise gave me 5 superbowls and i love them for it but i get really angry you guys paint a bowl of crap white and tell me its rice.

Posted By: Bill Bird (08/09/2006 3:27:31 PM)
Comment: I agree that Walsh has to shoulder much of the blame for the demise of this team. He hand selected Donahue and nurtured him for years. Could he not see the tremendous error in judgement he was making? Perhaps, he had too much of York's ear and Eddie D's before that. The hiring, nurturing and promotion of Captain TDon with the ship will hang like an anchor from Walsh's legacy.

Posted By: Jason Wagener (08/09/2006 2:54:11 PM)
Comment: I do agree with you on this one. But think about that warm winter day in Tampa. I recall right before half time, the 49ers got a great return, or a long pass. Instead of trying to get atleast 3 points, Mooch decided they should sit on the ball & take it to the half. I believe that sealed his fate right there. Another name no one added; Kevin Barlow. Thank Nolan he is gone! He has already fumbled for the Jets. Can anyone tell me how many fumbles Barlow had in his tenure with the 49ers? I don't think I can count that high. When the team was purged in 04, Barlow should have gone with the rest of them. Last years draft should have been for defense first. Using the first pick in the draft for a QB is risky, & if Smith does not start throwing Touchdowns instead of Interceptions soon, Nolan could have problems keeping his job. I already have started secretly hoping that is, that Smith gets an ankle sprain, so we can see a veteran come in & lead us down the field. Not to mention, Dilfer doesn't throw that many int's...

Posted By: Jeff Shaffer (08/09/2006 2:14:30 PM)
Comment: I would add the loss of O-line coach McPherson (sp?) was a huge hit because it exposed the 49ers long neglect of true top-shelf o-line talent. I think Nolan's emphasis on o-line help as his first step is a great move. Nolan seems to understand that building a team starts with the line, then offensive talent, then defensive talent because it takes longer for an offense to develop (2-3 yrs) than a defense (1-2 yrs). He is being smart in his progression of building the team -- this way the team should peak in performance at the same time. Lastly, I understand the desire to sign FA talent immediately -- but I think Nolan and McCloughlan realize that spending the money on 1 or 2 big names isn't going to make much of a difference at this point in the teams development -- so why spend now. Even though cap dollars don't roll forward to spend next year, bonus dollars on FA contracts accrue in the following year and hurt your cap room then. So they are saving their FA dollars when the team is ready to plug in those 1 or 2 guys that will make a big difference when the team is ready. Its frustrating to watch today, but it will make us better later and longer.

Posted By: Ryan Donaldson (08/09/2006 12:50:33 PM)
Comment: Matt, ask this question why were the 49ers so good with Mariucci, and Garcia, his name is Terrell Owens, he made Garcia a pro-bowler, he made Kevan Barlow a 5.0 yards per carry running back. Don't give me this blah about how he divided the locker room, he was the reason they were even in games! Yeah Horrendous attitude, TO wants the ball and wants to win games! What a horrible attitude. If the 49ers still had TO, if Donahue would have offered him an extension, Alex Smith, would definitely have more then 1 touchdown pass in his career.

Posted By: Mike (08/09/2006 12:48:23 PM)
Comment: Personnel moves in the Dwight Clark/Carmen Policy era didn't help. The Niners had a lot of dead money in players who didn't contribute and drafted poorly for years. I'd argue that the institution of the salary cap and the Niner front office incompetence in personnel matters was the root cause. And oh yeah, Terry Donahue was horrible.

Posted By: Dave (08/09/2006 12:10:23 PM)
Comment: You pretty much nailed it Matt. The combination of inexperienced ownership and the worst GM since Joe Thomas destroyed the franchise. In ten short years (1994 to 2004) the 49ers went from first to worst. What a fall! The sad thing is that it was the architect of our greatness, Bill Walsh, who hand selected the captain of our destruction, Terry Donahue. The Walsh giveth and the Walsh taketh away.

Posted By: Niner (08/09/2006 11:38:23 AM)
Comment: How about Bill Walsh taking some responsibility for bringing Donahue here? For the most part, I don't hear anyone calling him out on a terrible personnel decision.

Posted By: Mack (08/09/2006 10:40:38 AM)
Comment: You mentioned Terry Donahue's miserable draft record, but I'd add that he was equally pathetic in free agency. He gave big contracts to underachievers Kevin Barlow and Ahmed Plummer and missed the chance to lock up Julian Peterson to a long term contract before he hit free agency. Overall, it was Donahue's failure to acquire and retain talent (including coaching talent) that really drove the franchise down. John York shares the blame for not stepping in sooner but, as you said, at least HE learned from his mistakes.

Posted By: schoolyard (08/09/2006 10:33:18 AM)
Comment: York is getting what he deserves,we had the lowest payroll two years in a row,and it really show on the field.york took over from the best owner in the world and destroyed the 49ers for years!!!

Posted By: Caltranz (08/09/2006 10:04:11 AM)
Comment: I'm not sure what year it was but the decision to get rid of Mooch, Garcia, Owens and Herst in the same year was one of the worst personel moves in the history of the NFL. A move like that would put any team in the league under. When you eliminate your three highest producing positions on offense you are setting up the organization for a long run at the bottom. It is hard enough to replace one of these positions let alone all three. Imagine if a 10-6 team from last year did that. New England was 10-6 last year. Do you think they would get rid of Corey Dillion, Tom Brady and Givins because of money or if Bill Belicheck hurt the owner and general managers feelings? This isn't tennis... this is football and you don't purge a 10-6 team. Donahue is by far the reason.

Posted By: Thomas (08/09/2006 9:38:12 AM)
Comment: I think Nolan does have a good plan for building a young team through the draft and I like the additions he has made. I do think drafting Alex Smith was a mistake though. Granted, no QB could have succeeded under the circumstances surrounding this team last year, but fundamentally Alex Smith has alot of problems. His footwork in the pocket still looks very poor, his passes are oftentimes badly off the mark and he doesn't see the field well. Alex Smith has not thrown a single TD pass this entier pre-season vs. any of the first team defenses he faced while throwing three more picks. In contrast, Jay Cutler steps in and casually tosses for two TD and 200 yards in his first ever NFL game. Excuses about Alex Smith's supporting cast only go so far.

Posted By: gyred (08/09/2006 9:05:13 AM)
Comment: One comment that's been made is that the 49ers lack the executive presence of a proven NFL veteran who can help Nolan through all the managerial and league issues. Someone who "knows the league" inside and out, and is above the level of McCloughan. Do they have this person yet? I know several high profile candidates turned them down last year (or signed elsewhere.)

Posted By: traj (08/09/2006 9:04:48 AM)
Comment: I think that the Plummber contract was an albatross and should be added to the list. Also, the transition from Hearst to Barlow was a poor personnel evaluation. Lastly, this is what has mystified me in the last couple of years: they sign Marques Douglas and Jonas Jennings, but for the same money combined or even less, they could have gotten an edge pass rusher, a capable corner, or an insurance player in place of Battle. That's just weird to me. Either Nolan is too stubborn or York is too cheap as far as giving any one player more money than anyone else.

Posted By: rum53 (08/09/2006 9:02:57 AM)
Comment: I don't think you can put any blame on the players. It's the coaches and front office's job to put the right players in situations to succeed. Any failure to call a time out or to kick a field goal cannot be used as an excuss for the teams failures. The only expection I would make to this is TO. He clearly devided the team.

Posted By: qman (08/09/2006 8:24:30 AM)
Comment: i dont see the niners doing any better than last year maybe on offense a slight better but the defense side its young defense with one old dog but the future looks bright so go out and get some cheap sunglasses