Nolan has 49ers’ defense on the right track

By Douglas Sulenta  |   Monday, May 07, 2007  |  Comments( 10 )

San Francisco 49ers
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The brand new defense head coach Mike Nolan is cooking up for the San Francisco 49ers has to be a nice surprise. Because for the past several seasons, there has been a stench emanating from the 49ers' locker room. And it wasn't the smell of underarms and athlete's foot that you would find in most locker rooms; rather, it was something more along the lines of burnt rubber (coming from the secondary) and formaldehyde (Derek Smith).

Since coming to the 49ers two seasons ago, Nolan has effectively retooled a defense that God would have had difficulty getting any production out of three years ago.

The once-wayward ship of a defense that was built under the not-so-watchful eyes of Terry Donahue and Dennis Erickson has now found a modicum of direction under Nolan, a defensive guru.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the Niners are finally out of the financial mess that they dug themselves into during the win-now, pay-later era of the late '90s.

With a pocket full of money and a draft savvy that San Francisco hasn't seen since the days of Bill Walsh patrolling the sidelines, the 49ers' defense has been reshaped into a unit that, on paper anyways, looks as though it might be a strength rather than an Achilles' heel.

Nolan showed last year that he had the coaching wherewithal to lead a young and inexperienced group of nomadic defenders in a direction conducive to success. In only his second year with the 49ers, he improved a defense that ranked last in the league in 2005.

And, as anybody who watched a 49ers game in 2005 can attest to, the 2006 defense was actually able to get an opposing team off of the field on third down, which they were never able to do in '05.

With a new set of defensive weapons, Nolan looks to finally have the tools that he needs to compete.

By adding Nate Clements and Michael Lewis to a secondary that has been nothing short of laughable for the past several seasons, the 49ers appear to have sewn up one of the most noticeable deficiencies on a defense full of them.

Add also Tully Banta-Cain to a linebacking corps that is going to include second-year player and potential star Manny Lawson, promising youngster Brandon Moore, and first-round draft pick Patrick Willis, and you've got a defense that is young, fast and eager to make a name for itself.

Clearly, then, Nolan has the 49ers' defense on the right track. Will it be a playoff-caliber group in 2007? Perhaps.

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