Published: December 27th, 2010 | Tags: Mike Singletary, Charles Davis, Michael Lombardi, NFL Total Access, Warren SappCharles Davis, Michael Lombardi and Warren Sapp discuss what didn’t work for Mike Singletary in San Francisco, and who could be his successor. Two names Lombardi suggests as possible replacements: Jon Gruden and Jim Harbaugh.
Posted in: NFL Network
As expected after a 25-17 loss to the Rams which officially kicks them out of a chance at making the playoffs, the 49ers have canned head coach Mike Singletary.
The team fell to 5-10 Sunday, and the loss to the Rams knocks them from playoff contention in a wide-open NFC West.
A preseason favorite to win the division, San Francisco underachieved all the way, never living up to its expectations.
Defensive line coach Jim Tomsula will replace Singletary for the final game against Arizona.
Singletary went 18-22 in two-plus seasons as 49ers head coach, including a surprising 8-8 mark last year. But this season has been an almost wire-to-wire disaster.
Flip-flopping between starting quarterbacks, Singletary had a confrontation with his last choice during Sunday’s loss in St. Louis, jawing with Troy Smith on the sideline after he threw an interception.
Singletary is known, of course, as a Hall-of-Fame linebacker with the Chicago Bears. But he called coaching the 49ers one of the greatest experiences of his life.
“What made it so special were the players,” Singletary said in a release issued by the team. “They were some of the most outstanding men I have ever been around in my life.”
Singletary called the coaches “professionals” and said he wished the team “nothing but the best.” He thanked the owners for giving him an opportunity to coach in the NFL.
“I am indebted to them for that,” Singletary said. “I am also thankful for the faithful fans, I am just sorry I couldn’t give them more.”
Tomsula was in his fourth season as the 49ers defensive line coach after a nine-year career in NFL Europa.
A full-time head coach isn’t the only position the team will have to fill in the offseason. The 49ers have been working without a general manager since firing Scot McCloughan back in March.
If 49ers coach Mike Singletary knows who his starting quarterback will be when the 49ers face the Rams Sunday, he’s not saying.
While Troy Smith is preparing for a second consecutive start and another shot to hold the job — and it seems likely he’ll get it — Singletary steered clear of making a commitment during a radio interview Tuesday.
“As of right now, Troy is taking the reps,” Singletary told KNBR, per Eric Branch of The Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “But in terms of who the starting quarterback is going to be, we’re just going to continue look at Alex and see what the trainers and the doctors say and we’ll just kind of go from there.”
As Branch points out, Alex Smith hasn’t even been cleared to practice or thrown a football since his injury. So there’s little to gain for Singletary to say Troy Smith will start until Alex Smith is at least on the field. And if Troy Smith doesn’t play well against the Rams, it opens the door for Singletary to go back Alex Smith.
But until then, Singletary sidestepped the question.
“What we do not have here is a quarterback controversy,” he said. “What we have is a team that’s 2-6, that’s competing for the division. … Who’s going to give us the best opportunity to win? And as far as who that quarterback is going to be, we want to win, Alex wants to win, we all want to win. But the bottom line is, it’s going to come down to who’s going to give us the chance to win.”
If Alex Smith gave the 49ers their best chance to win, one would think Singletary would just come out and say it. He’s doing his best to squash a quarterback controversy, but being noncommittal seems to be fostering one.
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