Nolan staying with 49ers, but is it for the best?

By Mike Young  |   Friday, January 04, 2008  |  Comments( 8 )

San Francisco 49ers
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San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan will return for a fourth year with the team after being stripped of his general manager duties by owner John York earlier this week.

It was announced Wednesday that Scot McCloughan has been given a five-year contract and the title of G.M., a position he has been training for since being hired by Nolan three years ago as vice president of player personnel.

By all accounts, the two men have worked closely together when making decisions in the draft and free agency, leaving fans and the media to question whether anything has really changed.

Offensive coordinator Jim Hostler was shown the door, but someone had to go with the 49ers equaling a franchise low for points in a 16-game season (219) and finishing last in the league in several key categories, including yards per game (237.3), offensive touchdowns (23) and third-down conversion rate (31.4 percent), in 2007.

Despite winning only 16 games in their three-year tenure, Nolan and McCloughan have acquired a number of good or even great players (Patrick Willis being one) but still have a host of problems they haven't been able to solve.

Nolan and McCloughan will hire their fourth offensive coordinator in as many years, have finished last in yards per game two out of three years, and have not been able to develop top NFL pick Alex Smith into even a respectable quarterback.

Making things worse will be the rift between Smith and Nolan, which festered after their very public spat over the latter half of the season. Nolan failed to recognize the severity Smith's shoulder injury and even questioned his former leader's toughness, causing some in the locker room to refer to Smith as "the lion" from "The Wizard of Oz."

Will Smith be willing to accept Nolan's return? Will his teammates be willing to accept him back at the head of their ranks?

Nolan already seems to be leaning toward starting Shaun Hill at QB next season, saying he deserves to compete for the job after throwing for five touchdowns and 501 yards in his six-plus quarters of action late in the campaign.

One of the first decisions to be made by McCloughan will be whether to re-sign Hill, an unrestricted free agent who will surely be at the center of a quarterback controversy should he return.

Another bold move McCloughan could make would be to hire an offensive coordinator of his own choosing. Traditionally, head coaches hire their assistants but making this major decision could shake things up and send a strong message to Nolan about who is now in charge.
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