49ers’ salvage plan probably far too late to matter

This is my Friday column. The San Francisco 49ers hit the iceberg weeks ago. So, why are they benching Colin Kaepernick now? What does this move say about the mindset of the franchise? We’re looking at two issues here: the Jim-Tomsula issue, and the Jed-York-Trent-Baalke-dynamic-duo issue. Although the issues are similar. Let’s deal with the Tomsula issue first. Tomsula is desperate. He realizes he’s in over his head, and probably…

November 5, 2015
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Colin Kaepernick’s mechanics need a trip to the garage

This is my Saturday column. Colin Kaepernick isn’t huge on mechanics. He said so on Wednesday. This revelation shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has ever seen him play. Kaepernick is one of the most inconsistent quarterbacks in the NFL. His college coach, Chris Ault, broke down Kaepernick’s inconsistencies last week to Foxsports.com. Ault was the only college coach who gave Kaepernick a football scholarship. Ault created Kaepernick….

October 16, 2015
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What Colin Kaepernick meant

This is my Friday column. Jim Tomsula started it. Wednesday morning in the 49ers’ auditorium, a reporter asked him how Colin Kaepernick is different compared to a year ago. Through two games, Kaepernick’s passer rating is 98.1. Last season, it was only 86.4. What changed? “We’re not asking for the same things,” Tomsula said. “It’s not the same. There’s really not things to compare it to — what we’re asking…

September 24, 2015
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Colin Kaepernick: “I’m not being asked to do things outside of my character.”

SANTA CLARA – Here’s an interesting exchange from Colin Kaepernick’s Wednesday press conference. Q: Coach Tomsula just said a few minutes that you’re not being asked to do anything that you’ve been asked to do in previous years. What do you think he meant by that, and what’s your take on what you’re being asked to do that’s different? KAEPERNICK: I would say the biggest thing is I’m being asked…

September 23, 2015
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49ers showing a new style of management in preseason work

This is my Friday column. Halfway through 49ers’ training camp, these are the biggest differences from last year: The mechanics of calling plays during practice Jim Harbaugh would stand in the middle of the huddle and call the play while holding a diagram of it. The quarterback would just watch, a passive observer like the offensive linemen and everyone else. Harbaugh was the de facto quarterback in the huddle during…

August 7, 2015
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For 49ers, this season all about one man

This is my Sunday column. SANTA CLARA – Training camp for the San Francisco 49ers started today. What person on the 49ers is this season all about? Is it the man standing in the middle of the practice field directing drills — head coach Jim Tomsula? No. Practice isn’t the full picture. Games may not even be the full picture. Look beyond what the team presents you. The key figure…

August 1, 2015
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What we won’t miss about Jim Harbaugh

This is my Friday column. Yesterday we covered what we’ll miss about Jim Harbaugh. Today we’ll cover what we won’t miss, or at least what I won’t miss. Harbaugh’s offense It was stone-age. Let me amend that — the passing game was stone-age. Harbaugh’s running game was pretty good. That’s where he expressed his creativity. But his passing game boiled down to, “Drop straight back, throw downfield and hope for…

July 3, 2015
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What we’ll miss about Jim Harbaugh

This is my Thursday column. When the 49ers’ training camp begins in about a month, practices will be shorter, quieter, less intense than last year. And someone will be missing. Jim Harbaugh. His absence hangs over the 49ers’ entire season. He’s the biggest story on the team, and he isn’t even on the team. Let’s acknowledge he who must not be named. These are the top five things I will…

July 2, 2015
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49ers picking up the pace on offense

This is my Saturday column. SANTA CLARA The 49ers have a brand new offense. The old one was the slowest in the NFL, and not just during plays when they lumbered around the grass. They were slow between plays, too. They couldn’t even get plays off. The Niners led the league in delay-of-game penalties each of the past two seasons under head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman….

June 12, 2015
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49ers putting footwork back in Kaepernick’s game

This is my Friday column. SANTA CLARA Forty-Niners offensive coordinator Geep Chryst thinks of Colin Kaepernick in terms of Stephen Curry. “If you were to say the reason why Curry is a great 3-point shooter is because his feet are exactly 8 inches apart when he shoots the ball, that may be true in a lot of cases,” Chryst philosophized Thursday afternoon. He was sitting at a circular conference table…

June 11, 2015
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49ers face facts about their identity

This is my Saturday column. SANTA CLARA Do the 49ers have a face? They certainly used to. They had Jim Harbaugh, hands down the face of the franchise the past few seasons. Who made the Niners nationally relevant for the first time since the ‘90s’? Harbaugh. Who made them winners again? Harbaugh. Who made it possible for the Niners to build a new stadium? Harbaugh. Who did the cameras constantly…

May 30, 2015
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49ers all in with a new look

Here is my Saturday column. SANTA CLARA Little differences. Jim Tomsula wears a black 49ers tracksuit with red sleeves and a gold zipper on the upper left arm during Thursday’s OTA. He tucks the jacket of the track suit into his polyester pants. Jim Harbaugh wore khakis, a sweater and a baseball cap during practice when he was the 49ers’ head coach. He looked like a giant kid who had…

May 22, 2015
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HBO’s Harbaugh profile an exercise in sensationalism

This is my Tuesday column on HBO’s feature about Jim Harbaugh. I know you want to hear more about Alex Boone calling Jim Harbaugh “clinically insane.” Everybody knows that stuff already. I’ll get back to that in a minute. Tuesday night, HBO is airing a snap shot of Jim Harbaugh’s return to the University of Michigan. What do we learn from the show? That’s what we’ll get into first. Then,…

April 20, 2015
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49ers have no simple solution to Willis’ absence

This is my Friday column. SANTA CLARA It was a test. I knew the correct answer to the question I was going to ask Trent Baalke. I wanted to see if Baalke knew the answer, too. Baalke was sitting in the 49ers’ media room facing a semi-circle of reporters, answering questions about the state of the franchise. This was Wednesday, March 11 — the day after Patrick Willis retired. Losing…

March 13, 2015
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Trent Baalke answers lots of questions

SANTA CLARA— Trent Baalke answered a few reporters’ questions in the 49ers’ media room Wednesday afternoon. Here’s a transcript of the interview. BARROWS: Has Justin Smith decided whether he will retire? BAALKE: As I said at the end of the season, I think at this stage of his career, he has earned the right to make that decision when it’s right. I think he’s still sorting through that process. He’s…

March 12, 2015
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Baalke: “Head coach at University of Michigan is a heck of a football job. I know that’s something that he always wanted to do.”

This is what what Trent Baalke said Wednesday morning at the NFL Combine. Q: What are some of the things you consider when you evaluate wide receivers? BAALKE: Can they catch the football, probably No.1. They come in all different sizes, as we know. All different speeds. You really try to match that guy up with your quarterback and what your quarterback’s skill sets are. Some teams put a premium…

February 18, 2015
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Warriors-Hawks promises a measuring stick for postseason

This is my Friday column previewing the Warriors-Hawks game. WARNING — this is a basketball column. 49ers’ fans, feel free to skip this. OAKLAND The Warriors play in Atlanta Friday Night against their alter ego — the Atlanta Hawks, the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Is the game a special test or just another regular season NBA game? “Just another game,” Andre Iguodala whispered through gritted…

February 5, 2015
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49ers see runs of success in their quarterback’s future

This is my Sunday column. Keep running him until he breaks down. That is the 49ers’ plan for Colin Kaepernick next season. I can’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, but I can make a case. Exhibit A: Mike Shanahan and Rob Chudzinski – the top candidates to become the Niners’ new offensive coordinator, according to reports. Shanahan was Robert Griffin III’s head coach…

January 17, 2015
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Report: 49ers promote Jim Tomsula to head coach

According to Adam Schefter, the next head coach of the 49ers will be Jim Tomsula. Jed York got rid of Jim Harbaugh for this guy? Update: According to Matt Maiocco, the next defensive coordinator “is expected” to be Jason Tarver. Jed York got rid of Vic Fangio for the guy the Raiders didn’t want?

January 14, 2015
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