49ers' new coach gets his message across
By Daniel Brown
Mercury News
Article Launched: 10/22/2008 08:02:12 PM PDT
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New head coach Mike Singletary talks about his passion for the game. He is... ( KAREN T. BORCHERS )«1»
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Oct 22:
Favre denies giving Lions advice about PackersHolmgren's plans do not include working for 49ers49ers' G.M. is no match for BarbieriAfter the final horn of practice Wednesday, newly minted coach Mike Singletary gathered the team in the middle of the field.
Everybody crowded in â€" players, assistants, trainers. Heck, even the referees stuck around to listen to Singletary's historic first keynote address.
There was no need to sit so close. Singletary's voice echoed for acres.
"I want my tickets!" he bellowed at one point.
He was explaining, in his fire-and-brimstone style, that he wants the 49ers players to someday still be dealing with ticket requests from family and friends in January â€" to make the playoffs, in other words.
The speech went on for several minutes. Nobody else made a peep.
Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks marks Singletary's first test as a head coach, but so far, he's acing the oral exam.
"A double scoop of intensity," tackle Jonas Jennings said.
"He could talk about tying your shoes and get you excited," linebacker Jeff Ulbrich said.
"Everything he says comes from the heart," running back Frank Gore said.
Singletary is such a skilled and persuasive orator, that Takeo Spikes said no one would be able to resist. The linebacker said if you put people who dislike football into a room with Singletary, "within five minutes, they'd have their helmets on and they'd be ready to play."
Singletary was officially selected to become the coach Monday night, just a few hours after the team fired
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Mike Nolan.
He has spent much of the time since doing what he does best: communicating.
Singletary, 50, summoned the coaching staff for a meeting Tuesday night to talk about "the vision of where we are right now and where we need to go," he said. The coach did the same thing with the players Wednesday morning.
As he made the rounds, he was sure to seek out offensive coordinator Mike Martz. Because Singletary's background is strictly on the defensive side of the ball, there is a question of how much input he will have with the offensive guru.
"I'll put it this way: Mike Martz is very proud of his offense," Singletary said. "I went in to talk to him yesterday. He said, 'Well, what do you want to talk about? Why do you want to talk about that?' But we had fun going through that and I'm enjoying him."
There is also the matter of potential awkwardness. Singletary got the nod over Martz, even though the latter had been the only 49ers assistant with head-coaching experience. And not just any experience â€" Martz coached the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl.
Singletary said they talked about that a little bit and that everything seems smooth. He said he thinks it will be a terrific partnership.
"I think he's a great coach and I feel fortunate to have him," Singletary said. "I'm going to stay the heck out of the way and let Mike do his job."
He reiterated his plans to keep things mostly the way they were under Nolan. For example, during Nolan's three-plus-years tenure, the 49ers fluctuated between a 4-3 and a 3-4 defense. Singletary saw no need to commit, either.
"We'll see at game time," he said with a chuckle. "We're kind of schizophrenic. We don't know what we are."
Singletary also plans to keep high draft picks Kentwan Balmer (first round) and Chilo Rachal (second round) out of the starting lineup, just as Nolan did. General Manager Scot McCloughan indicated a day earlier, on KNBR radio, that the team might start giving those younger players more playing time.
Not yet, Singletary said.
"When you start talking about getting the younger guys on the field, you're not doing very well and the season's over," he said. "I don't think we're at that point right now. We just need to play better."
Read Daniel Brown's Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers. Contact him at [email protected]
- MadRussky 2008-10-23 15:49:48 (208 views)