So one thing you will have to get used to here at the Observer is that Jesse and I will not always be ready to write up articles as soon as something happens in Niner-land. To repeat what you've probably read on this blog before, we make no money from running this site, we have day jobs, girls to see*, lives to live, and blah, blah, blah. I just ask that you try to be patient with us, and we'll get around to writing for you guys when we get the time.
So back on Wednesday, the NFL Network in Los Angeles had 49ers head coach Mike Nolan on their daily Sportscenter-esque show "Total Access," which on that particular day was hosted by Rich Eisen, former 49er/Steeler/Raven/Raider Rod Woodson, and former NFL offensive lineman Jamie Dukes. Also making an appearance was special correspondent/friend of sports agents Adam Schefter, as well as former Washington Reskins/Houston Texans GM Charley Casserly, both via satellite.
Here are some video links for you guys so I don't have to summarize everything that happened with The Suited One:
State of the Franchise: San Francisco 49ers
Nolan on Coaching Philosophies
Top 10 Plays of 2007 - San Francisco 49ers
Watched 'em all? Good. Now for some analysis.
• One thing you can't take away from Nolan is that his image is great for the 49ers franchise. Whether you like the guy or not, he's seems to be well liked around the league and draws a good amount of interest from even non-Niner fans. It might just be a gimmick at this point, but Mike's suit somehow helps broadcast the belief that the San Francisco 49ers are working hard to become a better NFL team. I'm not saying that because Nolan wears a suit on the sideline, it automatically sends the message that the 49ers are trying to improve the quality of their team (I think the Niners' shifty moves in free agency broadcast that message loud and clear), but I think the suit is a reminder of such things.
• I was surprised to see Jamie Dukes on the set as the third analyst on the program. I would have thought the Network would have pushed to have Marshall Faulk present to talk about his experiences playing with Mike Martz in St. Louis, but they had Dukes in his place. Looking back, Dukes did have a pretty good handle on the situation last season with the Niners in 2007 once Smitty went down, calling for the firing of Jim Hostler earlier than most analysts on his program "Put Up Your Dukes." Still, I get the feeling Dukes doesn't think much of Nolan in general.
• I was not surprised that analyst Deion Sanders was not on hand for the show. With Nolan as the day's guest, the program had to be a very controlled environment in terms of the content discussed . I'm not sure the Network could have kept Deion from asking Nolan about the status of his personal relationship with Alex Smith.
• I was also surprised that the producers of Total Access and Rich Eisen went straight at Nolan, with the first question having to do specifically with Smitty and the quarterback position. Maybe they were just trying to be obvious and lead Nolan into explaining the Norv Turner/Jim Hostler situation (which he did), but I didn't expect Eisen to start his first question with the words "Alex" or "Smith" in them... especially when everyone knows what happened between Smitty and Nolan last season.
• I absolutely love how Nolan indirectly threw Jim Hostler under the bus concerning the offense last season. It really can't be emphasized enough how awful Hostler was as the play-caller, especially since people's memories are now beginning to get cloudy concerning what happened game-to-game during the 2007 season. The one common variable with every game last season was the ineptitude of Jim Hostler as the 49ers offensive coordinator, and how he destroyed just about everything Norv Turner did in 2006 with San Francisco in less than four games.
• Can someone explain to me where Nolan got his stats for Alex's record as a starter with the 49ers? Where the hell did he get 7 wins and 5 losses for Smitty as a starter? I've tried to figure out just how Nolan got that stat, but I can't make sense of it. Smitty was 2-5 in 2005 and 7-9 in 2006. In 2007, he was 2-1 while healthy and 0-4 after his shoulder injury. Where did Nolan get 7-5? Anyone have any idea?
• Nolan seemed honestly hopeful and supportive about Smitty's general abilities at quarterback and his potential to lead the team as the starter in 2008. I half-expected Nolan to take a few indirect swipes at Smitty, but he was pretty pro-Alex.
• Listening to Nolan and reading interviews with Mike Martz, I have a feeling Frank Gore is going to be a very, very busy man in 2008. I firmly believe Nolan and Martz are going to work Frank Gore into a majority of the plays on offense next season. How many times can the Mike's say "Frank Gore is going to be the centerpiece of the 49ers' offense in 2008" before it gets repetitive? I just don't see Gore getting ignored like everyone thinks he could be with Martz's new offense... not if the Mike's keep talking about using Gore like they are over and over again.
• Charley Casserly says the 49ers will take Pittsburgh OT Jeff Otah or Boston OT Godser Cherilus with their first pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. This seems pretty spot on. There is a part of me that thinks the 49ers will be part of some draft day shenanigans to move up in the first round of the draft to get a pass rushing linebacker to replace Tully Banta-Cain, but that's another article for another day. Picking for the offensive line next month is a safe, sound notion.
• Patrick Willis is great. He's a lot like Ray Lewis. Nolan agrees. Great. Never saw that coming.
• During the "Top 10 Plays of 2008" for the Niners, Nolan took a weird "swipe" at WR Arnaz Battle, saying he "didn't know [Arnaz] had that kind of speed." I'm trying not to read into it too much, but I think it's safe to say Nolan is like everyone else in terms of their opinion on Battle- generally underwhelmed, but occasionally surprised by his level of play.
• There was no discussion of former 49er WR Darrell Jackson or new 49er WR Bryant Johnson, which I believe was a specific decision by the producers of the NFL Network. Jackson was also absent from the "Top 10 Plays of 2007" for San Francisco. I guess his release just wasn't something anyone felt comfortable bringing up, which is to be expected I guess. By the way, I still plan on writing about the sudden release of D-Drop, hopefully to be posted this Sunday.
In the end, I feel like this media appearance by Nolan helped out his cause in general as well as the image of the 49ers as an NFL franchise. Too many analysts and football fans alike stopped keeping up with the game-to-game developments of the 49ers in 2008, and this appearance by Nolan helped clear the air a bit concerning exactly what went wrong last season that led to a 5-11 record.
Now if I can just figure out how Nolan got 7-5 for Smitty's record as a starter...
UPDATE: I believe Nolan was trying to say that Smitty is 7-5 in his last 12 starts BEFORE his injury this season against Seattle. Nolan sadly didn't phrase it right, and as a result he sounded a tiny bit uninformed. Oh well.
*If a situation comes up in the future where I have to chose between seeing a lady-friend or writing up an article for you guys... I'm sorry, but the Observer can wait. ;)
7 comments:
In his last twelve HEALTHY starts he is 7-5. 2-1 last year before he went down, 5-4 in his last starts of 06.
Total of 7-5. Not too hard to figure out what he was talking about.
In regards to the comment above...
First of all, Nolan never said the words "last twelve HEALTHY starts" when speaking of Smitty's record. He simply stated, "Alex Smith's record is 7-5 as our starter," which is completely misleading to the average viewer. It makes Nolan kinda look like a doofus.
Second, I already pointed out BEFORE your comment was posted how Nolan came to that number. Had you read the entire article, you would have found out I figured it out a while back.
But hey, we don't get a lot of comments every day, so I thank you for your contribution... even though it wasn't so positive. Thanks sir.
I definitely agree with what you said: Nolan's suit, if it were a planned PR move, would be brilliant. It's recognizable, classy, and projects an image of American hard work and self-improvement.
I do agree with one thing Matt Barrows said, and I've been thinking for awhile. Nolan reminds me a lot, in many ways, of G.W. Bush. He's stubborn, prone to rhetoric, and with a liking for a hard-nosed, no-nonsense approach. The only thing is, I like that in an NFL coach, but not in the President of the US. And yea--"Alex is 7-5" sounds like the biggest Bushism there is.
P.S. Sorry, didn't mean to bring in my political views here
Agreed, Bruce. Nolan definitely comes across like George-Dub when speaking in public. I think he's well aware of it too.
The only difference is that I believe Nolan actually believes passionately in making this team better.
Meanwhile, our President strikes me as a guy who just reads from a card and couldn't give a shit.
That is all... no more politics! :D
How did you post that before my comment, when the time on my comment is 2:55 and yours is at 8:04?
Your reply to me came up before your edit. When I posted that comment there was no edit.
And you along with a half dozen others were still confused about it on the zone when I posted the same thing.
And what was so negative about the comment anyway? Didn't mean to hurt your feelings there. Well maybe a little.
You know, I could just delete your comments, but that'd be too easy.
The original post time was when the post was first published. I edited it later that night.
But thanks for playing.
Quit getting your manties all up in a bunch. It was a nice article. Better than anything I've read over on the Real Football website or whatever it's called. I knew right off the bat what Nolan was talking about so I figured everyone else did too. Apparantly a lot of people were confused so you don't need to feel bad. I may had been confused too since I already knew that stat and had used it myself in other debates before.
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