After 2-5 start, 49ers fire Nolan
Singletary will take over struggling team
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The San Francisco 49ers fired coach Mike Nolan on Monday night, seven games into the fourth consecutive dismal season of his attempt to rebuild the five-time Super Bowl champions.
After four consecutive losses culminating in Sunday’s 29-17 loss to the New York Giants, the 49ers replaced Nolan with assistant head coach Mike Singletary. The former Hall of Fame linebacker in Chicago will be the interim head coach, general manager Scot McCloughan said.
Instead of delaying the decision until the 49ers’ bye week following Sunday’s home game against Seattle, owner John York apparently didn’t wait to get rid of his choice to revive the 49ers, who have endured five consecutive losing seasons and haven’t made the playoffs since 2002.
Nolan is 18-37 in 3 1/2 seasons with the 49ers, who hired the veteran defensive coordinator to run every aspect of the club in January 2005. Though Nolan brought back a measure of respectability to the franchise, which had the NFL’s worst record in 2004 before his arrival, the 49ers haven’t managed a winning season in his tenure.
In fact, Nolan might be best known for his insistence on wearing a suit and tie on the sideline for the 49ers’ home games. After protracted negotiations with Reebok, which has a contract to supply clothing to all the league’s coaches, Nolan got permission to wear his specially designed suit.
Nolan claimed his snazzy outfits were a way to project an image of authority while paying tribute to the league’s former coaching greats, including his father, Dick, who coached the 49ers and New Orleans Saints.
Nolan was the third NFL coach to be dismissed during the season, joining Oakland’s Lane Kiffin and St. Louis’ Scott Linehan. The Rams have won two straight games under interim coach Jim Haslett, and the Raiders are 1-1 under Tom Cable.
The 49ers fielded the NFL’s worst offense during two of Nolan’s first three seasons, including last year. Nolan’s first two offensive coordinators – Mike McCarthy and Norv Turner – both left the club after one season for head coaching jobs, and Mike Martz became his fourth offensive coordinator this year.