Here is Part Two of Mike Singletary’s media session today.
In this part, Singletary addresses how he approaches the combine, as far as weighing what’s important. He also said the 49ers’ approach does not change with Kurt Warner’s retirement and the arrival of Pete Carroll in
Q: What do you look for during the combine?
Singletary: During this combine, the thing I’m looking for is all of the intangibles that you really can’t see on film. You look at film and that’s the determining factor. If you have a pie chart, and what is the most important thing? It’s the film. But when you come here, you get a chance to see how the guy is wired up. You have a chance to interview a guy. You have a chance to kind of get a feel for what he’s like, if he fits the identity of the 49ers. That’s really important coming out of this thing with the limited time that you have with them personally, and trying to fit some of the pieces together if you look at the weight lifting, if you look at the height and the measurements and all of those things. You just try to put it all together coming out.
Q: How is the combine different for a coach, as opposed to when you were a player?
Singletary: I think the combine is more for the fan, to me, than anything else. When we sit down as coaches, I know when I sit down, I’m looking at the film. I think a huge part of what this is all about is being able to look and say, the guy is 6-10, he’s 400, he’s all of these things, he can run like the wind. But if you put on the film and he’s not hitting people and he’s not getting it done, then I have to look somewhere else. Because I want football players. So when you come here, you just have to make sure that you don’t lose sight of what you saw on film. I think when I was a player coming out, it was more on the film. Now, sometimes because of the intangibles involved, depending on the offense you’re running, depending on the defense you’re running, I think it’s a lot more specialized now.
Q: What does Kurt Warner’s retirement mean to the 49ers?
Singletary: It doesn’t change anything for us. If Kurt Warner is still there, if he’s gone, it doesn’t matter. I talk to your team all the time about focusing on us. It’s not about any other team in the NFL, because the most important thing for us is to look at the things we need to do to get better. If we do that, everything else will take care of itself.
Q: How can you best utilize a tight end that you draft?
Singletary: I think it depends on what you’re looking for at tight end. We got a tight end that can run pretty good, so maybe we look to find something that balances the guys that we have. We have a couple guys that can run pretty well. So maybe we look at a guy who can block. Maybe we look at a guy that can play H-back. It depends on how we continue to evaluate this offseason, what we come up with and what that next guy needs to look like.
Q: What are your thoughts on seeing Richard Dent not make the Hall of Fame this year?
Singletary: My same reaction every year. How do you have one of the greatest defenses of all time and have just two guys off that defense in the Hall of Fame? I don’t make any bones about it. Once again, I think the film speaks for itself. I’m always happy for the guys who get in. I’m never going to sit back and say, ‘Well, that guy shouldn’t have made it. This guy shouldn’t have done that.’ I just know that Richard is a guy who should be there. But hopefully at some point in time, it’ll happen.
Q: How do you feel about the feeling that with everything that has happened in the NFC West, the 49ers should win the division?
Singletary: I think it is a grave mistake for us, as a football team, to think just because you take Kurt Warner out of the mix, to think it’s our division. The thing we have to do in
Q: With Chris Foerster leaving does that make re-signing Tony Pashos more difficult?
Singletary: I don’t think so. I talked with Tony. I think Tony had some familiarity with Chris Foerster. But I talked with Tony, and Tony feels comfortable about what we’re doing. He feels good about what we’re doing in
Q: What is the feeling of the coaching staff about playing a regular-season game in
Singletary: I’m excited about it. Our team is excited about it. It’s another opportunity to maybe showcase who we are and I think it’s great for the game of football to go out of the country and having the entire world see what this game is all about. It’s a great opponent that we’re facing there, so we have do the best we can to be prepared.
Q: Why did you hire Kurt Schottenheimer as special-teams coordinator when it’s been so long since he has coached special teams?
Singletary: I think a good football coach is a good football coach. When you’re able to find the experience, the passion, all of the things that goes into what makes a great coach. I just know from everybody I’ve talked to, sitting down and visiting with he and his wife – my wife and I had a chance to do that. I came away from it feeling very comfortable about Coach Schottenheimer and what he can bring to our football team from a special-teams point of view. So I’m very excited about that.
I thank you very much.
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