Tollner will help Martz mold the 49ers’ quarterback

By Chris Cluff  |   Thursday, January 31, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

San Francisco 49ers
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans!
Now that the San Francisco 49ers have their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in place, they just have one thing left to do -- figure out who is going to be the quarterback.

With coach Mike Nolan appointing Ted Tollner as QB coach on Wednesday, Tollner and OC Mike Martz now face the task of deciding whether former No. 1 draft pick Alex Smith can come back from a shoulder injury and resume the progress he had begun to make in 2006. If not Smith, maybe it will be Shaun Hill, who took over last season after Tollner was brought in to help the league's worst offense. The 49ers apparently would like to re-sign the pending free agent.

If healthy, Smith seems better suited to Martz's let-it-fly offense, which requires good accuracy on intermediate and deep throws. Tollner has never worked with Martz, although he was previously the QB coach of the 49ers when Jeff Garcia was the signal-caller in 2002 and 2003. He was made the offensive coordinator in 2004 but let go along with coach Dennis Erickson after that season. He then became Steve Mariucci's OC in Detroit, but that lasted just one year as well -- Tollner was replaced by Martz.

The two should be able to add some veteran coaching stability to an offense that lacked it this season under first-year coordinator Jim Hostler and first-year QB coach Frank Cignetti. Tollner arrived last November to offer an experienced hand to the overwhelmed Hostler for the final six games. The 49ers scored a season-high 37 points in Tollner's first game back, but they never scored more than 21 in any of the final five games. Of course, they were playing with three quarterbacks (Trent Dilfer, Hill and Chris Weinke) and one of the league's least spectacular groups of receivers.

Tollner and Martz both have run variations of the Don Coryell offensive system, so they should be able to work in harmony to get Smith (or Hill) going. But they will need some help on the receiver front. And they will need to get Smith healthy -- or Hill re-signed.

Smith is obviously the top choice to run the offense. The 49ers made him the first pick in the 2005 draft, and he showed good progress in 2006. Tollner and Martz should be able to finish the job Norv Turner started -- if Smith gets healthy and accepts the coaching.

"Alex Smith's fundamentals need to be re-tooled. He has to have thick skin because Mike Martz coaches quarterbacks hard," Greg Cosell of NFL Films told the Press Democrat's Matt Maiocco on Wednesday. "Martz is not a bad guy, he just knows exactly how he wants it done and he really challenges his quarterbacks."

That will make it a two-way street since Martz and Tollner face the first challenge of making sure they have a quarterback.
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans! (1)

About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding,...
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report