With Garoppolo going down, Shanahan can show his coaching chops

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan gestures on the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

SANTA CLARA — Now, Kyle Shanahan can show he’s more than just a squiggler.

We know he’s a squiggler deluxe. He squiggles X’s and O’s on a dry-erase board with the best of them. He designs clever plays and game plans, which are important. But they’re not enough.

Jimmy Garoppolo is out for the season with a torn ACL. The 49ers need more than squiggles. They need a psychologist, a leader, a real head coach. Someone who can make the 49ers believe they still can win.

Click here to read the rest of my column.

This article has 249 Comments

  1. He can start by finding new lines coaches, position coaches, defensive coordinator.

    The unsung “hero’s” on his staff are downright aweful. I can remember the last time I watched a team that tackles as bad as this team. When Willis came in and others, they lost a lot of games but they always did the fundimentals needed to be a tough defense. This team couldn’t tackle me in my high school years.

  2. Interesting read Grant. You sprinkle in a curious dose of sophomoric sarcasm, and conclude in a pretty well balanced manner. Not that you care, but I’d give you a solid B+.

    This IS Shanahan’s moment to demonstrate–across the season–what he’s capable of doing as a head coach. Some people are at their best when stuff goes totally bad very quickly. There’s no time to drift–the clock-like grind of the NFL season offers no mercy. I’m really interested to see how he moves forward, and how the players respond–to Kyle as well as their own sense of ownership.

    Not bad.

  3. Robert Saleh has to be on the hot seat after these first 3 games. Not saying fire him now but these next 13 games he’s gotta prove he can squeeze out every last drop of fight in these young guys

    1. Not saying fire him now but these next 13 games he’s gotta prove he can squeeze out every last drop of fight in these young guys.

      Problem is there’s a significant lack of talent and/or depth at most of the defensive positions. Some of that is due to the ongoing process of cleaning up the mess Baalke left behind, and some of it is due to more recent head-scratching choices in the draft (oh, hi, “King” Solomon and “Whiffy” Witherspoon!). Doubtful that any of the best defensive coordinators in the league would be able to fix the inconsistency, gaps, and other problems with the Niners defensive unit much better than Saleh can. Which is not to say he isn’t clearly out of his depth in comparison with them…

        1. I like him, but how would even Lord Fangio stop any opponent’s passing attack with no competent pass rushers and nobody worth a wad of used toilet paper in the secondary?

          1. Ed Donatell would take care of the secondary and as for the pass rush, Fangio would have four 1st round picks to work with if you include Foster. He’s got more football knowledge in the pimple on his ass than Saleh has in his entire body….

            1. Using only one coach as a comparison to judge effectiveness is not realistic. They could not get Fango. The Niner posters used to do the same in respect when they would evaluate Niner QB. They would compare each skill aspect to the elite level in the field.

              The issue is not if Fango or any other DC could do better, but is a better DC available? Sometimes you just have to accept the best available individual.

  4. What ever happened to Sherman’s idea a few months ago to have fans name the defensive backfield–winner to get a jersey signed by all DBs?

  5. Will KS thrive or will he fold? I guess we will get the answer in the next 5 games. If he doesn’t win 2 out of 5 then it’s time to get rid of KS. Sorry to be so harsh but I’m tired of waiting for the next Bill Walsh. Either KS performs or he’s gone!

        1. Watching Sebber coaching the Niners would be almost as much fun as seeing him going twelve rounds with Anthony Joshua…

        2. First thing I would do is demand they sign Kaep.
          .
          I would be bold, and never settle for field goals.
          .
          The quote is- suffer fools gladly. If trying for snark, at least get the terms correct.

          1. Sebbie…

            Where’s your NFL HC behavior analysis? You know, the one triggered by your indignant call out of Shanahan’s disrespectful treatment of Grant? You were so offended by such shabby behavior. Personally, I think Shanahan should receive therapy for his deep-seated anger issues, but that’s just me.

            You’re an analytical type. Break-down and share the hows and whys behind NFL HC behavior–from the stoic and silent to the hair-on-fire maniacs. Show us in detail how these behaviors have impacted their careers and the success of the teams they’ve led.

          2. As always Seb, you are several steps behind the pack. Look up the phrase and learn about wh it actually means before you go off half cocked!

            1. East, I have never used the phrase- suffer fools lightly.
              .
              However, I have used the phrase – I do not suffer fools gladly – many times.

              1. “First thing I would do is demand they sign Kaep”

                The only thing you should demand is a lobotomy!

              2. Prime
                “A storm is coming” BUT Niners QB tryouts didn’t include The Petulant One. When asked, Shanny said he’d discussed it last year, decided against it, and this year isn’t different. Check Cam Inman’s piece………on the PD.
                Maybe a storm is coming to the London Jaguars at Wembley. Or maybe it’s just another one of coo-coo’s hallucinations.
                ?

            2. BT hope you are enjoying the land of the Angles. Stateside, same old same old and the village idiot is still driving the crazy train.

              1. The London sports media is abuzz with London Jaguars folly due to the impending sale of Wembley. Sports writes here have as much difficulty with context and finance as do their American counterparts.
                Popped over to Paris yesterday on the tube (Chunnel) just for the day. A couple of meals and a ride on the Seine.
                These Socialists seem like nice peeps to me.

  6. This is really good. These next 14 weeks will tell a lot about Shanahan, and the team as well.

    You had this team as a 7 win team after training camp, and you’re sticking with it?

    1. We will certainly learn just what the organization is. Whether they have turned a page or they are merely mirages.

  7. You guys are something else. Bill Walsh wouldn’t win with this team. Grant has had an agenda against KS from jump and now is stacking his deck. He has no real sources or access so he creates sensationalism. He does it because you idiots buy right into it. Comparing this situation to the Patriots, who had a dominant defense and running game, shows how limited his football knowledge is. Like that’s the best idea you could bring up? And these dummies like ‘Yea, great article, I give it a A’ are some lame fanboys. The blind leading the blind and yall don’t even know it. Unreal

      1. “It’s one of those things where we talk about the intelligence of the quarterback and growth and maturity at that position, and I think it’s just one of those things, where with time and experience, he’s going to learn to make better decisions in those types of situations,” Garcia said on the 49ers Insider Podcast.

    1. Grant will always have agenda against the49ers. Daddy taught him well. He better stay where he is because no other media would hire him.

  8. Doesn’t matter how good of a cook you are if your ingredients are spoiled. Shanahan can coach his arse off and this team will still be 1-15 with Beathard at QB.

      1. Partially true but not really relevant to the point. It’s about how good of a coach he is, not scout.

          1. No one expects a gourmet meal.

            Aaron Donald and Knockmydong Suh are expecting a couple this fall…

          2. The good part is that he hasn’t finished shopping yet. Even though you might not expect a gourmet meal, many other posters on this site certainly do.

      2. In response to:
        Grant Cohn says:
        September 25, 2018 at 7:15 pm
        Shanahan picked the ingredients.

        On that subject, he and Lynch really handcuffed the progress of this rebuild with those two first rounder last year. I don’t think a big enough point can be made about that. Those weren’t by far the only botches but those two alone have and will continue to have a huge impact on our turnaround. Not just in their individual lacking performances but also considering the key positions that are still weak that could have been strengthened. That’s a double whammy!

    1. CFC,

      I agree. The only reason there were heightened expectations for this team was because they found their QB. The roster overall is better than it was, but not at the point of being able to overcome the loss of the Franchise. I don’t disagree that this is an opportunity to see how good of a HC Shanny is at this point, but I won’t measure it in wins and losses. To me it will be more about how the young talent develops and the compete level the team shows throughout the rest of the season. They are going to be the less talented team on the field for many games this season, so I want to see if the will is there to fight through it.

      1. No arguments here.

        ” I don’t disagree that this is an opportunity to see how good of a HC Shanny is at this point,”
        “so I want to see if the will is there to fight through it.”

        So that makes me wonder, what if there isn’t any fight. What if they look absolutely dreadful. How will you temper expectations going forward even after JG comes back knowing that Shanahan isn’t likely going anywhere anytime soon. If they lose every remaining game this year he’ll get a pass because of JG. If they struggle next year they’ll say that JG wasn’t fully healed. That’s a minimum of two years which even if they continued to struggle I don’t see them parting ways with Shanahan anytime before the next 4-5 seasons have elapsed.

        I’m not suggesting I’m anti-shanny (i’m not necessarily pro-shanny either—oh man I’m a fencer now too) I’m just curious if people will still be as hopeful for the future if it turns out that Shanahan is only as good as his QB.

  9. Oh man, this is ugly. My boy is struggling.

    Dak Prescott over his last 13 games:

    2,396 Pass Yds
    10 Pass TD
    11 INT

    Brock Osweiler over his last 13 games:

    2,326 Pass Yards
    11 Pass TD
    12 INT

  10. Walsh won with Joe Montana at QB, Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon at WR and their best RBs were Earl Cooper and Lenvil Elliot. Clark was a relative nobody and Solomon a Dolphin castoff. It was the defense that was the strength of the ’81 team. Led by Dwight Hicks and the Hot Licks featuring Ronnie Lott on lead assassin, coached by Chuck Studley, anchored by Fred Dean, Lawrence Pillars, and Dwight Board on the DL, that team was badass.

    You’re right, Walsh wouldn’t win with this team because the defense is a toothless tiger coached by a hairless man.

    1. *Dwaine Board.
      .
      Dwaine Board was a crucial pickup for the Niners. The Steelers kept their veterans, and waived Board. Walsh picked him up and he helped make the defense stout against the run. He was a stalwart on the D line for years, and won 4 rings.

    2. Other than perhaps the best draft of DB’s by any team and Fred Dean, lets not for get Hacksaw Reynolds. He set the tempo for their attitude.

  11. Eh, this under-performing defense (understatement) will do this team in… Jimmy G at least gave the team the ability to compete in shootouts; CJB not so much unless he’s drastically improved. I have no doubt the players believe in Shanahan and that he’s a great coach but until the D improves (replacing his 2nd choice DC would be a good start) and/or Jimmy comes back, expecting any kind of success the rest of the year is somewhat laughable… I’ll be impressed if they do better than 6-10. Enough about Jimmy already, lets hear some q’s about Saleh.

    1. I agree Red. Enough about Jimmy. Move on. We just saw poor tackling, missed assignments, no pass rush, and stupid penalties. That’s where the focus needs to be now, and nothing KS can do about it other than fire this guy if he can’t instill discipline.

  12. I’ll be impressed if they do better than 2-14. Seriously. They may be unlikely to beat any divisional opponents, depending on who’s quarterbacking Arizona for those two games, and only the Raiders game looks outright winnable. The rest of the schedule? Remember when everyone thought the Bears game would be a gimme?

    If the Lions had brought their Patriots game a week earlier, and the Raiders were destined to win in an upset, the Niners could very well have gone 0-16 this season.

  13. Fire Saleh at the end of the season and hire John Fox as the DC. Fox can be Kyle’s Wade Phillips. Move on from Richard Sherman too. He’s done.

  14. Good point Slamd and I would propose that the defense was the strength of the team on most of the Niner SB Championship teams, especially the ’84, ’88 and ’89 squads. Remember the scores of all those playoff and SB games. They shut everybody down basically. The ’94 defense was very good but not great, and the ’12 SB losing team was just pretty good, but definitely good enough to win. Unfortunately, they asked Colon Kraeperstink to do something three times to win the game that he just couldn’t do. Actually read the defense and pass the ball to the wide open receivers in the left end zone. Instead, he forced the ball to the one receiver he keyed on, as usual, in this case Crabtree, who was covered like a blanket play after play. Three friggin times no less. Boldin and Davis are still waving there arms! Over here Colon, over here!!! The game tape proves that out. I’ve watched it over and over and still yell at the TV. Sad.

    1. Juan, I blame the refs more for that loss. Bruce Miller was bear hugged on that KO TD.
      .
      If you listened to the huddle conversation, Crabtree was whining for Kaep to throw him the ball, insisting he was open all the time.
      .
      Even JH can share in the blame, since he called a time out just before Kaep strolled into the end zone. I wonder why they did not call for Frank Gore to carry the ball. LMJ? smh.

  15. CJ did not look like a loser, they were in every game, The team was learning to win including CJ, The key to the rest of the season is our defense, they need to tackle and play better overall in the first half of games. If that happens the 49ers will be fine with CJ and the offense

    1. > CJ did not look like a loser, they were in every game….

      The 2 or 3 point losses in last season came when Brian Hoyer was the QB. Beathard was 1-4 as a starter and the 4 losses were by an average of 18.5 points.

      1. This team will do better than most of you expect. Except for in the second half of this last game Jimmy G was not using his quick release at all. He would hold the ball too long. That was the difference last season.

  16. Grant, this is another excellent article man. I mean that. You bring up a great point and reminds us that we should hold the head coach accountable, despite our star QB being gone.

    In year 3, we should have a very competitive team full of hand picked players by our coach, that should show great progress.

    This year might be a bit of a challenge given we’re still in need of a few spots.

  17. +1 Red. They will score lots of points, even with an inexperienced CJ, but the defense looks like they’ve never played together, especially the backfield. I haven’t seen that many open receivers since the Walsh offenses of the ’80’s!! Shocking really. They are bad. They look confused and overwhelmed. The good news is they have lots of room to improve. :) Maybe start with tackling. If they don’t, they might just not win another game. What happened to Saleh? I thought he was a defensive guru?

    1. Two things I think – he’s basically a LB coach trying to coach someone else’ D and it’s hard to start dishing out discipline after being buddy buddy with his guys… Their body language/lack of emotion says a lot. I won’t be surprised to see Shanahan make a change if things on that side don’t improve quickly. Much like when Jim O’Neil was here, its hard to see it getting much worse. The only defensive guru in the last decade+ here was Fangio.

      1. As far as the D line is concerned they rush like they are playing two gap, They engage and then basically stay square up like they are defending the run in a two gap system. This is particularly true of Thomas. You can also see that LBs and Dbs are keeping their eyes on the backfield too long and not making the transition to finding receivers to cover. I think Saleh has designed a scheme that, however theoretically correct, he neither has the personnel or the position coaches to properly implement it. A more experienced DC should know this and make concessions accordingly.

  18. I’m picking out one piece but its a pet peeve when people state opinions as fact.

    “Shanahan swears by Beathard. He hand-picked him last year, demanded the 49ers trade up in the third round to get him.”

    This is an overstatement at best and a lie at worst. While Beathard was the guy that Shanahan liked (the only qb according to some sources), according to Peter King, he was willing to wait for him in the 4th. Someone else suggested they give up one of their 7th round picks to go up (5 picks) and get him as they had a slew of picks. There was no demand involved and its disingenuous to suggest there was.
    Plus if there was anyone Shanahan went to bat for in this draft draft it was Joe Williams, who turned out to be a bust.

    As to the rest of the article, yes he can show his creativity… but I do not see this as a 7 win team without Jimmy. I thought they were a 7 to 9 win team with him, its a 3 or 4 win team without him.

    1. I beg to differ. CJB was a KS pick.
      .
      I remember that draft. KS was tired of the Niners selecting defensive players, so he advocated for selecting at least one offensive player in day 2. I think, but cannot be sure, that KS mentioned that in his PC.
      .
      The problem with that pick was, CJB was ranked as a 5th rounder, so the Niners could have saved a pick and still have gotten CJB with a 4th or 5th round pick. Saving picks would have been a better strategy, because locking up players under rookie contracts will help control the salary cap. Considering that Colbert and Julian Taylor were 7th rounders, those late round picks do have value.

      1. The Joe Williams pick was another unforced error. They did not need to move up to select JW. He was off many other team’s draft boards for quitting on his team.
        .
        To compound the error, the Niners traded away a third round pick which was used by the Saints to select Alvin Kamara. Kamara gained 728 yards rushing, for a 6.1 average, and had 81 catches for 826 yards last season.

        1. Joe Williams was a mistake… no doubt.

          As to the saints trade, the draft is not an exact science and that Saints pick led to the Pettis and Colbert selections. The trade favors the Saints so far, but who knows if it will in the future.

      2. I beg to differ. CJB was a KS pick.
        – I did not dispute that, he was reported to be the only qb that Kyle liked in this draft.

        The part I disagreed with was the
        “he demanded the 49ers trade up in the third round to get him.”

        The evidence doesn’t back this up, Per Peter King “there wasn’t a player they had to have.” and in an interview he stated he thought Kyle was willing to wait to select Beatherd but Lynch wanted to get Shanahan his guy.
        I’ll look for the interview.

        Trying to tie him to CJ is also misleading as everyone knew his plan was to go after Cousins.

    2. Beathard was the only QB Shanahan wanted in that entire draft, and the only offensive player Shanahan wanted more than Joe Williams. Shanahan was not going to take the chance that another team would take Beathard before the 49ers could in Round 4. Shanahan compared him to Kirk Cousins.

        1. How would 49ers fans feel right now if Garoppolo looked like Beathard and Beathard looked like Garoppolo?

      1. Beathard was the only QB Shanahan wanted in that entire draft, and the only offensive player Shanahan wanted more than Joe Williams.

        Yes, it’s been reported that he was the only qb Shanahan liked in the draft however that doesn’t mean Shanahan demanded they trade up for him. That’s not what Peter King reported (who was in the war room) It wasn’t stated by Kyle or Lynch that Shanahan demanded a trade up. If I’m wrong, please provide the source that states Kyle demanded a trade up and I’ll apologize.

        Furthermore, even if he was the only qb he liked in that draft class it lacks clarity. Does that mean he thought he could be a great qb? Or does it mean he didn’t like any of the qb’s that much, and that Beatherd was the only one that would be a good backup to Cousins in year two and possibly an OK starter down the road?

        1. It’s not worth the time getting sucked into the rabbit hole of Grant’s quibbling. Kyle was targeting Cousins for this season and just wanted a developmental QB in later rounds for last draft. Lynch had said sometime in 2017 summer that he and Kyle agreed that the D needed the most attention. Observers who know Kyle predicted that Kyle would put the interest of the team over his pet offensive pick, e.g., Casserly
          https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/23/how-kyle-shanahans-first-nfl-gm-knew-he-was-head-coach-material/

  19. Obviously, the show must go on but the 49ers have gigantic holes on the defense which can not be masked by great coaching. Beathard could come in and throw for 300 yards and 3 TDs in every game and it still may not be enough with this defense. Comparing Beathard to Nick Foles winning a superbowl is asinine. The Eagles defense was fantastic last year. The 49ers without Garoppolo and McKinnon are at best a 4-8 win team – and probably on the lower end of that number – no matter how great of a job Shanahan does this year. You can see the nucleus forming for a really good team in the next few years. Buckner, Foster, Warner are a good start on defense. Add better secondary players and a pass rusher and you have a chance to be good in 2 years.

    1. “no matter how great of a job Shanahan does this year”

      As the Head Coach, the play of the defense falls under Shanahan too.

      He could have used Fitzpatrick or Keemun instead of Foles/Brady and it really would have been the same message.

      Teams have found ways to be successful with the backup QB.

      1. -Teams have found ways to be successful with the backup QB.

        Have they been successful with losing their franchise QB and #1 RB who the offense was suppose to run through? You are just trying to find every little angle you can to knock Shanahan who has a team in rebuild mode with holes still everywhere and somehow he is suppose to coach through this with what expectation? Are you suggesting the 49ers still are capable of making the playoffs, finish 500? What is it you expect them to do or finish at record wise?

          1. Are you trying to be funny? Sometimes separating professionalism with a personal agenda is important for people to respect your work. BTW, Breida is questionable this week. Now if Breida can carry the 49ers to “success” then he will change the notion that you don’t need a franchise QB, your top RB and a team in rebuild mode

              1. No you didn’t stutter but you did babble. You don’t like Kyle Shanahan, you’ve made that clear but somehow he is suppose to perform a miracle in year 2 of the rebuild without his top RB and QB? How many teams in NFL history overcame 2 significant injuries at those positions and finished above 500?

              2. You agreed to the idea that coaches have been successful in the past with their back up QB’s. Indicating that Kyle Shanahan should as well, right?

              3. First off winning 7 games means nothing in the NFL. It doesn’t mean that its a success if you have your franchise QB and RB or not. Its a failure either way. Keeping the players confident will only come if they win games, a lot of them and that’s not going to happen with this team that was flawed before McKinnon and Jimmy G went down. The season is over. The only thing this year is about now is developing. Developing guys like McClinchey, DJ Read, Dante Pettis, Fred Warner, Tavarius Moore, Solomon Thomas. It is basically a glorified training camp from October to December. That’s what the coach should be critiqued on, not how many games they will win because the entire football world knows that once Mckinnon and Jimmy G went down, the season is over. They cant compete with that talent. Talent wins in this game, not coaching

              4. No, it’s not a glorified training camp. The bar is not that low. Shanahan still has to coach to win. That’s what good coaches do. Belichick didn’t give up on the 2001 season when Bledsoe got hurt.

              5. The reality is and no one within those walls will say or admit it that their season is over. They will not win more than 5 games and come close to competing with the teams left on their schedule. The only possible wins now are maybe, maybe AZ, Oakland, Giants and Seattle once.
                So trying to win is irrelevant. Of course he is trying to win, what else is a professional coaches outlook suppose to be? But he knows that this year is a wash and the best thing for the team moving forward, is continue to evaluate the roster and develop your players

              6. The truth hursts doesn’t it Grant. Too bad you will have to follow and conjure up more BS on a team that truly is in development mode. Good luck with that

              7. Can’t wait to see how many moronic articles you can write about a team that probably will be all about developing their young talent. Oh sure you can write about how Shanahan cant do this or that but that’s already growing old. Wake up pal,the season is over for this team and you have to cover that. Your job just got fun

          2. But think about how much better they would be at rushing if McKinnon hadn’t gotten hurt??? Or if the field at Levi’s was decent, or the stands less hot, or if wishes were horses….

        1. “Successful? What does that mean? Wildcard? Playoffs? Winning record?”

          Won’t speak for Grant on this. As for me, I didn’t have them as a playoff team before the season, so eliminate both of those. I had them at 8-10 wins.

          Success for me would be 7-9 wins now.

              1. Ah Chris, everyone who doesn’t agree with you is an idiot or whatever. It’s ok. And by the way, it’s nonsense. One word.

        1. Yes, and I’ve been kicked out a few times too.

          When I first read this piece I was going to make a comment similar to what H-Town did, but I reread it again and got the point he was making.

          1. Grant made a comment in an earlier blog (post Jimmy injury) that the WRs stink. I’ve been saying that for weeks while you’ve been blaming the “lack of offense production” more on Jimmy. Do you agree with Grant now?

            Also, I would like someone to tell me what has happened to Trent Taylor. A small shifty guy like him should be able to continue to get separation. Does he have an injury? The back maybe?

            1. “that the WRs stink”

              The WR group was actually upgraded this year from what they had a season ago when they won 6 games.

            2. Cubus,

              The don’t have the best WR group in the league, but they have a good one that is also balanced as far as different skills. Jimmy got blame for 2 of the picks in the Viking game and some poor accuracy and holding the ball too long against the Lions. Those were legit complaints, but it wasn’t a case of blaming JG for everything that went wrong.

            3. Cubus,

              IMO, there were two factors that caused Jimmy G to hold on to the ball for too long in the second game:
              1. Absence of Goodwin (and Aldrick Robinson) which took away the vertical threat allowing for more effective man-to-man coverage.
              2. Lack of trust between Jimmy G and Garcon/Pettis due to lack of familiarity. Jimmy was not willing to throw to a spot before either got enough separation. Neither slot receives (Taylor or James) could shed coverage it seems.

              1. Mood:
                It seems to me that last year the offense really wasn’t tested against man-to-man coverage in the secondary. Our WRs don’t seem to be up to the task of creating separation in such coverage (but they can still be schemed open). Many say that JG has been coralled and I don’t disagree to an extent. However, imo, it’s just as much on the WRs if not more. Is it a lack of trust on JG’s part or inability of the WRs or both? The only exception, imo, is Kittle. Also, Pettis has been a mild surprise, but he’s still a rookie and needs some time.

                Any thoughts on why Trent Taylor hasn’t even been a “footnote” for this offense so far this year? He was the go-to-guy on 3rd down last year.

      2. Sure their are examples of teams having success with a backup QB, but there are far more examples of teams going in the tank after losing their QB. It’s the exception not the norm and ones that do have success usually have a vet QB and a good defense to make it happen. The Niners have neither.

        1. That’s why it would be a credit to Shanahan if he can keep this team from going in the tank. This is an opportunity for him.

          1. I think the team avoids full immersion in the tank. The remainder of the season will be made more difficult but I believe most players will step up, and Shanahan’s ability to adapt and lead will help make that happen. Probably looking at 6-8 wins.

            1. That would be a tremendous accomplishment for a young head coach. This is a great opportunity for Shanahan.

              1. Grant will always have agenda against the49ers. Daddy taught him well. He better stay where he is because no other media would hire him.

          2. Sure but if they win 4 or 5 games and are competitive, that isn’t a failure imo. The expectation shouldn’t be that they now win a game or two less than originally predicted. It’s not realistic given the heightened expectations were based on the QB they acquired. All I want to see is improvement from the young players and a compete level that remains high regardless of the record.

        2. Not will they go into the tank, they are going to tank. You cannot win in this league with the talent they have especially after losing their franchise QB and before that their best offensive threat. It just seems that Grant is using this to set up Kyle Shanahan as a failure for a future piece. So obvious

      3. This is just stupid. You and your shower-mate Jack you whatever can pretend Shanahan didn’t inherit an absolute trainwreck but the sane people on this blog know the team is still years away from being able to withstand the loss of the franchise QB and the star RB they targeted specifically for Shanahans offense and still be able to compete at a high level. Suggesting the 49ers should be able to have the same success as last years Eagles or the ’01 Patriots is monumentally idiotic.

        1. “Suggesting the 49ers should be able to have the same success as last years Eagles or the ’01 Patriots is monumentally idiotic.”

          Nobody said that they would. In fact Grant made it a point in the article to say that they wouldn’t have the same success, ie win the Super Bowl. I’m pretty sure that even being a playoff team isn’t what was meant.

        2. With the current team, I think a great coaching job would lead to 5 or 6 wins.
          Last year’s team team had 1 win prior to Jimmy G playing and this team is only slightly better than last years team pre Jimmy G.
          I think they have done only an OK job in terms of player evaluation and some of players we give them so much credit for drafting, are only getting so much playing time because of the quality of the other players on the roster. Yes, the roster has improved, but how much so is still very much in question.

  20. Well this is going to by an eye opener for the fan base. This year is the year that the number of “Bricks” laid by the brain trust is revealed…from my seat in the stands…. not many.

  21. Critiquing this last draft, the Niners failed to draft a pass rusher in the early rounds. The defense was not good enough to gamble on another ACL pick, but they did it anyways.
    .
    The Niners should not have jumped ahead to select Pettis. They should have been patient, and waited so they could have saved their 74th overall pick. Pettis was ranked behind several other WRs, so they could have picked him at 59.
    .
    With the 74th pick, the Niners could have selected Geron Christian, who Washington selected, and is backing up Trent Williams on the O line. They could have drafted Derick Nnadi DT, who had 3 tackles against the Niners, who was selected at 75. They also could have selected Sam Hubbard DE, who already has a sack. Additional players selected after 74 include Malik Jefferson OLB, Rasheem Green DE, Orlando Brown OT, Deadrin Senat DL and Arden Key DE.
    .
    The failure to draft a pass rusher may come back to haunt the Niners. Also, instead of Pettis, the Niners could have drafted Josh Jackson CB, who already has 10 tackles this season, who was selected right after Pettis.
    .
    Sure hindsight is 20/20, but there were many different paths to take, and being patient may have been the best strategy. We will see how this season unfolds, but after JG going down, it may be a grind.

    1. Seb………

      He has to replace much of the roster, some 53 players………..cant be done in two drafts, simply not possible. In fact, given what baalke left, this team was probably a bit worse than what Walsh inherited in ’79. He had something of an O-line, Freddie, Willie Harper, Deberg-a decent QB who was also a pick-machine…..perhaps one or two others.

      What did KS have after Baalke destroyed the place?

      1. Catfish, looking at all the former Niner players in the league, maybe they should have retained some of them.
        .
        Eli Harold has 3 sacks. Bruce Ellington is a starter. Vance ‘stone hands’ Mac Donald may have butter fingers, but he crushed that DB on his way to a 79 yard TD. Kilgore is playing well on a 3-0 team. Aaron Lynch has a sack.
        .
        Many Niner players who were cut, have ended up on other teams. Maybe some of the present Niner FO and coaches need to improve their assessment skills.
        .
        Walsh inherited a terrible team. Joe Thomas was way worse than Baalke. Although I intensely dislike Baalke, at least his teams made it to 3 straight NFCC Games and a SB. That said, I will agree that Baalke dismantled a SB team.

  22. Grant,

    I keep hearing about how big the loss of McKinnon has been. Why aren’t they using Breida in the same way they’d planned for McKinnon?

    His hands look much better than last year.

  23. Can KS be successful after JG is gone? Depends.
    .
    With JG, the Niners were still unfocused, undisciplined, dropped balls, made way too many unforced errors and whiffed on way too many tackles.
    .
    Comparing Andy Reid to KS is almost unfair. Reid out coached KS so thoroughly, he showed mercy and did not try to run up the score. Andy Reid showed KS how to coach a game. His offense was hitting on all cylinders, and his defense allowed the Niners to march down field, but that also burned up the clock. Reid showed KS what proper preparations are all about, and he had his team focused, disciplined, energized, with crisp execution and few mistakes. Andy Reid schooled KS in proper game management, and his play calling was innovative, unpredictable and deadly effective. Essentially, the game was over before the end of the second quarter.
    .
    Hopefully, KS will take this last game as a learning experience, and I hope he tries to emulate Andy Reid.
    .
    Now, KS has to coach without his franchise QB. I sure hope he is up to the task. Maybe he should look to sign the best FA QB still available, if he wants to win.
    .
    I will hope for the best, but expect the worst. Chargers are 1-2, but they will be a formidable opponent.

    1. Sebs….

      According to you, KS has to grow up, improve in sooooooo many ways-certainly as the despicable person he is (ie, he’s meeeeeaaaaannn to Grant). Your a fan of the 9ers sometimes. so ….OK.

      Yet, you NEVER wrote a sermon about Kap and what he needs to improve on…………

      You either don’t see the hypocrisy, or you dont care. The big middle finger to everyone………..And therein lies the reason you STILL get the verbal wedgies all day long. How can you pretend to be fair and impartial when your anything but………..for all to see?

      1. Catfish, you have not been on here long, if you do not think I have written about ways Kaep can improve.
        .
        10 Things Kaep should do on Sunday. 1-17-14
        .
        1. Run the no huddle with quick snaps to negate the crowd noise.
        .
        2. (Almost) Always put a man in motion, and read the defense’s reaction.
        .
        3. Fake a handoff or pitch, and roll out the other way to befuddle the defense.
        .
        4. Invite the blitz and roll away from the blitz, or complete quick pass. ( Identify the blitzer, and target the area the blitzer vacated).
        .
        5. Take advantage of the defense’s speed by doing counters, misdirections and reverses.
        .
        6. Look off the safeties by facing one way while looking in the other direction.
        .
        7. Consider time outs to be precious, and saved for the last 2 minutes (of each half).
        .
        8. Shake hands, win or lose. Read IF, by Rudyard Kipling.
        .
        9. After the game, go to the Niner fans in the stands and give autographed hats.
        .
        10. Get the ball in Frank Gore’s hands as much as possible

  24. I recall Grant’s column just before the start of the season pointing out the similarities between Breida and mckinnon. Breida = younger, faster , stronger .

  25. The 49ers need a President/Chief Operating Officer. Lynch is more suited for a ceremonious or public relations role within the team – the face of the franchise . I question his ability to be an effective GM.

    Jed York reminds me of the Joaquin Phoenix character in The Gladiator. The problem with the Niners is that we dont have a Maximus.

    Much more to come.

    1. Commodus? Jed does have the emerging Roman bald spot…

      The Jed saga has elements of Game of Thrones too–in this case the stunted nature of ‘House York’ and the evil intentions of the grand manipulator ‘Littlefinger’.

  26. The Fales comparison is deeply faulted as already mentioned.
    Fales had excellent defense and outstanding OL, both of which protected him. The run game allowed him good down and distance opportunities when he needed to pass.
    Peterson did a great job of game planning and play calling, but a winnable structure was in place.

    1. Peterson was also in year two, and coming off a season in which he’d won 1 game more than Shanahan did in year 1.

      If their defense was better you have to look at the players they brought in before last year that helped them get better.

      Shanahan’s fingerprints are all over this roster. Using it as a reason they won’t be successful still falls on him.

      1. The Eagles had a better nucleus in place when Pederson took over. They were a year removed from back to back 10-6 seasons and had a really good Oline and Dline already in place.

        No one’s arguing that Shanahan’s responsible for what’s on the roster. Where I disagree is how good the roster should be after 2 offseasons in a total rebuild. They’ve improved the roster imo, but it’s still not good enough to win a lot of games without their #1 QB. That is the case for most teams in the league.

        1. Back to back 10 win seasons and then the roster was screwed up by Kelly being given personnel power.

          49ers have had 2 offseasons with multiple drafts and the most cap space in the league to help upgrade the roster in a big way. If they haven’t been able to that’s on them.

          The team last year was better than the 1-9 start.

          1. So your plan is since they have a ton of cap space, just throw money at everyone and let them come here and hopefully be successful in 2 years, and then be cap strapped the next 6.. GM in the making right here

            1. “So your plan is since they have a ton of cap space, just throw money at everyone and let them come here and hopefully be successful in 2 years, and then be cap strapped the next 6..”

              No. The 49ers needs were obvious. Let’s take the Eagles for an example. On defense they were fairly set but they were missing a pass rusher and corner so they went and signed Chris Long and traded for Ronald Darby, signed Patrick Robinson and drafted Rasul Douglas.

              Those moves provided 2 starters in the secondary and effective depth with the pass rush and in the secondary. Don’t those issues sound familiar?

              The 49ers approach to solving those problems was to re-sign a pass rusher who has proven he’s just a body, a vet coming off an Achilles injury and a bunch of projects as backups in the secondary.

              Which route sounds better to you?

              1. The eagles we’re 2 players away from competing. The niners need a sleuth of things. What good would it have done them to Bering in all those players, Peter’s, Suh, long, and whoever else, if all they were doing was eating cap space. They weren’t going to win this year or next. Those expensive contracts would have blown up in a couple of years. You want to sign those guys when you want to go over the top, not rebuild from the ground up.

              2. The Eagles addressed their biggest needs, something the 49ers didn’t do those offseason.

                “Those expensive contracts would have blown up in a couple of years.”

                Long’s contract is under 2.5 mil.

                Darby’s is just over 1 mil.

                Robinson and Rasul Douglas (round 3, #99 5 starts last year while playing behind Darby) are under 2 mil combined.

                Those aren’t expensive.

                Compare that production to the 49ers paying Cassius Marsh 3.5 this year and possibly 4.2 mil next year.

                Richard Sherman will make almost $9 mil this year.

                And Tarvarius Moore, a 3rd round pick #95 is a project and likely won’t start for this team this season.

                Tell me again about wasted money.

                You’re defending the moves of the Shanahan and Lynch and haven’t done an ounce of research to back up your opinion and throwing out names that I never brought into the discussion.

          2. You are usually more practical than this Jack. They were never going to use a ton of cap space on FA’s given there was no core of young drafted talented in place. They went into this knowing they were building from the ground up and signing a bunch of high priced FA’s isn’t part of the plan.

            Draft picks usually take time to develop and we are 3 games into year two with these guys. The roster has been upgraded which is why there were bigger expectations for the team going into this season. The problem is they’ve lost the biggest improvement to injury and the key to their season. This isn’t a case of a perennial playoff team losing it’s QB and plugging in a vet who can play well enough to let the defense and running game win some games. It’s a young team now missing multiple starters without good options to replace them which is not surprising when turning over a roster.

            1. “They were never going to use a ton of cap space on FA’s given there was no core of young drafted talented in place.”

              It’s not just about spending big in FA.

              This team went into the offseason with very specific areas to upgrade and did almost nothing to address them, especially on the defensive side of the ball. See my comment above as to what it looks like for teams that are successful vs those who aren’t.

              1. You’re preaching to the choir on the point about not addressing their biggest needs. Definitely something I didn’t and still don’t understand. Even so I don’t think they were going to be able to do much other than use picks in the draft to address it as there weren’t many options in FA for pass rushers and OG’s.

              2. “Even so I don’t think they were going to be able to do much other than use picks in the draft to address it as there weren’t many options in FA for pass rushers and OG’s.”

                I wonder if Dumervil planned to retire all along and that’s why they didn’t hold onto him.

              3. “I wonder if Dumervil planned to retire all along and that’s why they didn’t hold onto him.”

                I’ve had the same thought. However, would it have made any difference to their salary cap had they retained him and he retired? I can’t recall if he was owed a bonus if he was on the roster at any point this offseason.

        2. Rocket:

          Do you think Shanahan has been responsible for the DL picks? Sure, he shares overall responsibility, but what I mean is, did he pound the table for DL picks or more likely defer to Lynch and team. I suspect the latter, but don’t really have any support for that suspicion. Maybe you know of some?

          1. Cubus,

            Great question. Shanahan has total control of the roster so he would have a say in all the picks, but my guess is he would be more focused on the offensive side while letting Lynch, the Scouts and his Defensive Coaches take a bigger role in the players drafted on that side of the ball.

      2. I looked at the rosters just fine. You don’t have any exclusivity on history or anything else, JackSeb; just kibitzing like you do. The conversation was about supporting cast. I credit Peterson’s coaching and Howie’s work. In fact I said on here last year that Peterson was my choice for Coach of the Year, but you’ve got to have the horses.
        Shrug. Your cred has shrunk the last couple of years with some of us; me anyway.
        It’s okay, spin it any way you want.
        The Eagles were a better team for Foles in ‘17 than they would be for anybody in SF these days. Period.

        1. “JackSeb”

          Thought you were better than that, Brotha. Just because someone disagrees with your point you need to go there? Good to know.

          1. Not so, dude. If the shoe fits….
            You seem to me to twist stats and analysis to fit random discourses as you please. That disappoints me, as I thought better of you, and reminds me of someone we know who puts preconceptions ahead of objectivity. I get anti-fan boy critiques. Not so good with cherry picking.
            I accuse you of nothing more than subjectivity, which I too have, but look at my original post. Was the Eagles roster for Fales more robust than than for CJ this year? I think so. You don’t?
            I get it that you love to argue/debate, I just haven’t bought as legitimate your arguements to the contrary, and I THINK I perceive a pattern.
            Nothing perjorative there (the ‘Seb’ speaks to lack of practical reality and to changing the subject Willy nilly, his stock in trade). Most times I think you know better than that. Never do I think you know better than Lynch and Shanny.
            Are they perfect? Hell no. But you and I are SPECTATORS, my friend, not principals. Certainly not savants. Grant and Seb will never get over themselves; remission is possible for you. Not to my point of view, but to balance.
            As you know, IMO.

            1. No cherry picking at all with my response to you. Go look at my other comments on the Eagles/49ers that go back to that response. There are definite things the Eagles did right before 2017 that the 49ers did wrong before 2018.

              To say the 49ers didn’t have a good base after last year is wrong. There was a good base. They had clear areas to improve on that they didn’t.

              1. Jack you keep forgetting that Shanny took over a 2-14 team. You keep saying KS has imprints all over this roster, so my question is what does it take to go from a 2 win roster to what you are expecting him to be?

              2. “You keep saying KS has imprints all over this roster”

                Yes. That’s why I don’t give him the “they don’t have the talent” pass.

                “what you are expecting him to be?”

                I’ve already answered you on this earlier. I’m expecting him to get 7 to 9 wins this season. They didn’t make the moves to the roster necessary to expect anything more than that.

              3. They don’t have the talent. If they did they would be able to compete even without Jimmy G and McKinnon. Where is there talent? They have serviceable guys but outside of a few guys, they don’t have anyone who is ready to be a NFL type caliber playmaker. Not because there isn’t potential, but because they don’t have the experience.
                7 wins now is impossible. I think you need to rethink the past and what they had before taking over.

              4. They had a good base going into this offseason. On defense the front 7 showed promise but needed another pass rusher and they needed to shore up the secondary.

                On offense they needed to fix the line, and add some playmakers.

                They made the additions on offense. Breida has stepped up and basically made the loss of McKinnon negligible. The WR group is better and it looks like the line is better.

                On the defensive side the basically punted. Did nothing to fix the pass rush, gambled on a vet coming off an Achilles injury, and drafted projects to play behind him.

                I don’t disagree with you that they don’t have big time playmakers. They don’t. But even with that being said they have enough to be at least a 500 team.

  27. Got the subpar QB blues? Maybe KS should hand out personalized workmen’s shirts and bellow out the occasional who has it better than us? It worked for at least one prior coach. That and a killer defense.

    1. Yeah .. Cassie …
      None were signed …. if they’re not looking for someone
      to place on the 53 … Why not Hennighan …?

      ( At least he ..looks.. a little more sturdy .. than the ones
      they brought in )

      1. I think we’ll see something develop within the next 24 hrs or so. Hennighan certainly is an option. They need to have a 3rd QB somewhere–active roster or practice squad. The sooner that’s accomplished, the sooner a 3rd QB can become familiar (or more familiar) with Shanahan’s system.

  28. Put a fork in it. The season is over.
    Maybe you santa rosa s can put up fire alert sirens to keep busy ?

  29. This is BS. A coach will always try to win with what he has, but let’s be honest. If the back-up QB was just as good as the starting QB, then he would be starting. He isn’t, so X and Os don’t matter if the player with the ball can’t execute it. Jimmy G made his receivers better by having good arm strength and arm talent. Not every QB can do that. Kyle will make adjustments, but Bethard at QB vs Jimmy G will cause for major adjustments.

  30. The whole massive rebuild taking multiple years stuff in the NFL really should be revisited. With Free Agency, Draft picks and a ton of cap space the 49ers have no excuses.

    Take the Eagles for example. When Peterson took over in 2016 that roster was in shambles thanks to Chip Kelly. By making smart moves, they turned it around and were a division champ in year 2. That’s just 1 example, but there’s a bunch more.

    Shanahan, Lynch, and the entire 49ers front office is getting a pass that they don’t deserve.

    1. As was said above, the Eagles are the exception not the norm. They had a pretty good roster already in place as they went 10-6 two seasons in a row under Kelly. Howie Roseman made some good moves, but they weren’t turning the roster over to the same extent the Niners were. The Niners were viewed by many as a playoff contender coming into this season. That was after almost a complete overhaul of the roster. The biggest reason was Garoppolo, so expecting only a modest drop in wins isn’t realistic.

    2. Being curious…

      What does ‘getting a pass’ look like? What does ‘not getting a pass’ look like?

      Okay, say the 9ers FO doesn’t deserve a pass. So, what consequences does that bring? Increased outrage from fans? Less respect from the media? Revocation of parking privileges? Lynch and and the full coaching staff fired by COB today?

      Just trying to understand the consequences once it’s determined that the 9er GM, HC, and FO are getting a pass they don’t deserve

    3. Getting a pass from who. This was basically an expansion team after being completely gutted. No team comes back from that in a year. Especially if they don’t make it the whole year without their star qb. Maybe they don’t get a pass from. You because you gave then unrealistic expectations, not the league, and not normal people who know you don’t win with a genie in a lamp and a bunch of angry fans.

      1. The team was better last year than 1-9. That was a team that should have won 6-8 even before the QB trade.

        The loss of McKinnon has been mitigated by the emergence of Breida.

        They supposedly upgraded the oline, the WR’s, the LB’s and spent a number of picks on the secondary. With those upgrades they should be expected to be at least a 7->9 win team.

        If they fold like a cheap suit as many fans keep saying, that will say a lot.

        Problem I see with the team is they don’t take care of the details.

        1. You are what your record says you are, I believe that is the old Parcells line. They lost a number of close games but they still lost. They started winning when they brought in the Franchise QB. Now he’s gone so expecting them to keep on winning at a similar pace isn’t realistic.

          1. “You are what your record says you are”

            Right, and Shanahan has a poor record as a head coach, and a poor record as a coordinator before that.

            1. Yep and I haven’t disputed that. My point is and continues to be the fact that the roster has improved since they arrived but it’s still early in the process. Too early to draw a conclusion and start pointing fingers for not having a better roster when they have torn it down and are still in the process of building it the way they want. They had a playoff caliber team going into this year. That happened in two off seasons. It sucks that those prognostications are now unlikely but it’s due to key injuries; not a failure of the Coach and GM to build a better roster.

              1. I believe they did, and they were picked by many of the writers and talking heads to compete for a playoff spot. You also picked them to win at least 9 games from what I remember which is essentially a record that is competing for a Wild card most years.

              2. They might’ve won 7-8 games with Jimmy G but now you are expecting them to win 7-8 games with CJ Beathard, come on man!

              3. “But 7 wins is attainable now without Jimmy G?”

                Yeah I think going 6-7 the rest of the way would be a job well done.

              4. “now you are expecting them to win 7-8 games with CJ Beathard”

                No, I expect them to win 6-8 games with Beathard.

              5. A game difference without Jimmy G? Come on man!

                That squares with hammers opinion that JG is overrated.

            2. So there it is…………u don’t like KS, clearly. Fair enough. Neither does Seb-for different reasons……….

    4. > When Peterson took over in 2016 that roster was in shambles thanks to Chip Kelly.

      Shambles? A bit of GrantCohenesque hyperbole have we here? Chip was the GM just for one year, 2015. Howie was the GM from 2010 to 2014, and back in 2016. Chips’s missteps in personnel (Foles replaced by Bradford, McCoy by Murray, allowing Maclin to walk) were almost mostly on the offense. The core of the D was intact except for the need to shed Maxwell and Alonso. Those missteps could be corrected quickly by hitting on Wentz, getting Jefferey on FA, and the excellent trade for Ajayi. Add the resigning of Foles, one year rentals of Blount and Torrey Smith, the turn-around was pretty much complete.

      Eagles pretty much has been Howie’s team with some interruption from Chip — far from “shambles”. Another important point, Lurie has worked with Howie for over 18 years and known Pederson for 2 decades. This is a team that can work closely. OTOH, Niners’ roster was strangled and mangled by Baalke over 5 years and left at expansion-level talent (save for Buckner). Niners have needed upgrades at starter at almost every position except 3 or 4. The two cases are not comparable, IMO.

      That said, the Niners FO has to be held accountable for steady, measurable progress on the field by the end of this season. It would be an interesting discussion as to what would constitute reasonable progress after factoring out the unavailability of Jimmy and Jerrick.

    5. Yeah, not addressing the edge position for mine was a clear sign they never really intended for this year to be a strong push for the playoffs. As we discussed yesterday, they really could and should have done more to improve the vet depth in the secondary also.

      I think they could have put this team in a position to push for the playoffs if they went after it more aaggressively.

      However, in general I actually think they are better off using this year as more of a setup year, and going strongly in the offseason next year. What I find frustrating is even with that approach they should have done a bit more with the D imo.

  31. Okay so be it, personally I didn’t think JG was playing good ball this year. Shouldn’t be too hard to fill JG’s shoes based only on this years performance. After all, three interceptions in the first game, six sacks in the second game, couldn’t do s–t in the first half of the third game, missed on some easy passes, yea not sure how much of a drop off…..

  32. Kinda funny. We look at the last 18 months through a 500,000X electron microscope and find every flaw ( and a few we might imagine) and treat them like irrefutable evidence of the apocalyptic end of the 9ers. Everyone and everything is at fault–crappy owner, crappy GM and pro personnel staff, crappy coaching, crappy players, Solomon’s weight, overreaching for a stiff McGlinchey, letting great talent like Eli Harold go, horribly botched drafts, etc., etc. Okay okay, ownership does have some issues…

    Anyway, eighteen months at 24/7 500,000X. OTAs and training camp at 500,000X. The last three games at 500,000X. Instant analysis, instant conclusions, instant dismissal. It goes on and on.

    Why is it most of us think so fondly of the 9er glory years–so sweet decades later? The wonderful and flawless Bill Walsh. God-like Montana and his perfect teammates. What if we had 500,000X applied on a 24/7 basis back then to dissect and judge the team? We would have found flaws (some imaginary), and would have amplified them and found them appalling. Imagine reading a 9er blog in the very early 80s. Would the 9ers have been so perfect at 500,000X day-to-day in the early 80s?

    Speaking only for me, I’m very interested in how the team responds to the loss of JG while trying to continue the rebuild. Some great things could be set in motion, or the bottom of the bag could rupture by December and the Yorks are hastily looking for a new GM and HC. Or something in between. We don’t know and we won’t know for some time. How will we remember 2018 30 years from now? Perspective.

    1. Imagine reading a 9er blog in the very early 80s.

      And imagine if Bill Walsh were reading that same blog (you know, like one over-loquacious poster claims current FO and staff does) and taking the suggestions therein for putting together game plans. I bet Grant, Seb and Jack would have set him straight. That is, if they didn’t run him out of town after the 79 or 80 seasons. If not then, then definitely after 1-2 start of the 81 season.

    2. Cassie,

      That microscope existed back then but it was being shared by guys like Lowell Cohn, Ira Miller and Glenn Dickey in print instead.

      1. I read the Chronicle, Examiner, and San Jose Mercury sports pages back then–daily. Caught local TV sports coverage on the evening news too. More like a 40X microscope. For instance, they didn’t have day after day of training camp video of offensive linemen on roller skates, and defensive linemen being pancaked. And having that video be dissected snap by snap by snap.

    3. Interesting points Cassie. Bill Walsh is held in a God like stature by most Niner fans and he’s brought up repeatedly on here as a reference to the days when everything was great and the team was majestic. In truth however there was turmoil, disappointment and bad losses scattered in among the good times. Time just eases the pain and we remember the good stuff, but if the internet existed back then, there would have been a lot of fans on blogs calling for Walsh to be fired and for Young to be cut or traded. It’s what fans do.

      1. Yes. And I agree. That’s what fans do. I recall the occasional leakage of discord and finger pointing. All was not always bliss in Redwood City.

  33. Shanahan has already been effective using his “coaching chops” with his blocking schemes that has allowed Matt Breida to become a top RB.
    McG, Richburg and Person along with Tomlinson have been able to create open lanes for Breida and Morris.

    Also, let’s take into account that when McKinnon went down, some here were speaking doom and gloom.
    So, just the fact that Breida is among the leaders in rushing is a big plus on Shanahan’ coaching chops.

    Lynch and Shanahan have now established the team with their draft picks and FA signings with a few players carried over from the Baalke regime.
    So to Grant’s point, yes, this is an opportunity for Shanahan to (continue to) shine.
    My point is that Shanahan has already shown his coaching chops – which should be brought to light as well.

          1. Belichick made the playoffs pre-Brady. His tenure in Cleveland was messed up by the team moving.

            1. Yeah , finally in his 4th season there (then tanked again the season after). That gives Shanahan 3 years to match. Why don’t you just sit back, quietly, and let him do that, eh?

              Belichick’s tenure was messed up by a single winning season of the 5 he was there.

              1. Belichick had proven he could be successful as a coordinator with winning seasons in all but a strike shortened year and a Super Bowl ring.

                Shanahan has 3 winning seasons in 10 years.

                No reason to sit back quietly until he shows something different.

      1. Shanahan’ 1-10 record should also show that he took over a 2-14, 2016 team that was decimated by Baalke’ incompetent GM decisions.

        Getting Garoppolo was big but it also shows that the Org is willing to spend money to improve. Especially given the fact that Baalke decimated the team during his last 3 years.

        Does Shanahan have much to prove? Yes, so does the majority of coaches in the league. But he and Lynch recognized that the reconstruction was going to take more than two seasons, hence the 6 year contract.

        What record would the team need to finish with for you to give Shanahan your approval?

      2. What’s the point? Every decent to good head coach in the NFL and college, needs a good QB to be successful for multiple years. Or have a defense like the 2002 bucs. People, what are y’all arguing over? Are you trying to prove Kyle is a bad head coach without Jimmy? Well of course he is right now. Because a mediocre qb can’t get this rebuild together as quickly. All GM’s and head coaches are tied to their QB, except Ozzie newsome. But your not proving a point by saying he’s 1-10 without Jimmy, your proving a point that all good head coaches need a good qb. Especially with a bad roster..

        1. This was actually a reply to grants he’s 1-10 without Jimmy. Don’t know why it came down here

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