For NFL Fans: Has Singletary lost it????

IotaNet · #1 09-28-2010, 02:06 PM

I've been trying to figure out how I feel about this one.

As a die-hard Bears fan, I totally hope that Mike Singletary does well as the 49ers coach. While I understand his approach (tough as nails, old-school), I see the team's performance and his antics and wonder if he is out of touch -- or maybe even a bit bonkers.

What do you guys think? Is Singletary doing the right, culture-changing thing in San Fran or is he a behind the times relic who doesn't "get" life in the modern NFL?

DWBass · #2 09-28-2010, 02:09 PM

My honest opinion..........I don't think he's right in the head! He looks crazy and seems he's real close to snapping at any minute!

macaroni tony · #3 09-28-2010, 02:10 PM

I love Singletary; it's hard to tell right at this moment, but it looks like he may not be well adjusted enough to be a head coach. I hope I'm wrong.

Gard · #4 09-28-2010, 02:25 PM

This weekend will tell us a lot, IMO.

If they go into Atlanta and lay an egg, then I think it's game over. However, if he somehow manages to right the ship, and either is close or somehow win....well....maybe he's the right kind of crazy....

Riverrunsred · #5 09-28-2010, 02:26 PM

I think he's a nut job .

LilRay · #6 09-28-2010, 02:28 PM

I wish he were on the Blue Star staff. That's what we need is fire. Singletary may be cuckoo, but I bet if you tried telling him that he'd kick your A$$!

God Bless, Ray

MJ5150 · #7 09-28-2010, 02:29 PM

It ain't him. He is going to be the victim of some selfish players, and a confused front office. Changing OC's eight times in eight years is disastrous.

-Mike

tycobb73 · #8 09-28-2010, 02:32 PM

If you mean has he lost my fantasy game for me and thus 1st place, then yes. I loss by less than a point this week and I blame the 49ers and Crabtree.

jive1 · #9 09-28-2010, 02:38 PM

Samurai Mike (Knocks em cold, heart of the defense big and bold) when he was playing was the smartest guy on the field. His fundamentals were as sound as any player in history. He could read plays, react and direct as well as anyone. And he could fire up his team-mates like any true leader would.

But, he needs some help as a head coach. I think he can still motivate and lead a team. He needs some help from his coordinators though. Without a solid OC, he's not going to be able to do much with that team. He's not gifted in that realm. He also needs a good DC who can give him good calls, and draw up some effective schemes. Singletary is/was a great tactician and motivator. He needs help in terms of strategy.

CapnSev · #10 09-28-2010, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

It ain't him. He is going to be the victim of some selfish players, and a confused front office. Changing OC's eight times in eight years is disastrous.

-Mike

+1

They've got some management/player issues over there. Ditka was ten times more ruthless and crazier than Singletary, and he made it work.

Gard · #11 09-28-2010, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapnSev

+1

They've got some management/player issues over there. Ditka was ten times more ruthless and crazier than Singletary, and he made it work.

There I will disagree with you a bit. Ditka had good players in NOLA and refused to use them (i.e. Delhomme before he imploded). Guy was stuck in the past and wouldn't come out of it.

Singletary needs to play the game TODAY to win it TODAY. If he doesn't figure that out, he will fail.

macaroni tony · #12 09-28-2010, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapnSev

+1

They've got some management/player issues over there. Ditka was ten times more ruthless and crazier than Singletary, and he made it work.

Yeah, but Ditka was level headed when it came to coaching and leading a team. He blew his lid, but his teams would respond by playing their butts off.

I always look at coaches from a player's perspective. Meaning if I was a player, would I want to play hard for this guy? Singletary makes players want to play hard for him, but his emotions are such that they actually move the team with them. I feel like when he is getting a little crazy and looking unstable, that's the way I'm gonna play - unstable, and a little nervous. That's kinda what Frisco looks like to me.

What Mike and others have said is true, though; there's front office issues in Frisco. Not really just a "Singletary" issue.

IotaNet · #13 09-28-2010, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gard

There I will disagree with you a bit. Ditka had good players in NOLA and refused to use them (i.e. Delhomme before he imploded). Guy was stuck in the past and wouldn't come out of it.

Singletary needs to play the game TODAY to win it TODAY. If he doesn't figure that out, he will fail.

Agreed.

As a Chicagoan who witnessed the Ditka era first hand, let me tell you that was never the savior people made him out to be. Me, Maki, and Jive could a have coached the '85 Bears to a Super Bowl with the defense Buddy Ryan rolled out that year.

Ditka did bring back a culture of toughness and winning that had been lacking but he really wasn't that great of a coach. After a while, his style wore on folks the same way Singletary is beginning to grate now.

CapnSev · #14 09-28-2010, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gard

There I will disagree with you a bit. Ditka had good players in NOLA and refused to use them (i.e. Delhomme before he imploded). Guy was stuck in the past and wouldn't come out of it.

Singletary needs to play the game TODAY to win it TODAY. If he doesn't figure that out, he will fail.

That's true too. Shoot, Ditka still seems like he's lost in space a lot nowadays.

I think Singletary is coaching a team like you would think a team should be coached. I also think the NFL isn't like any other football organization. Think about it. When you played in high school, your coaches were tough and kind of crazy, but you wanted to play so you were coach-able. In college, coaches are tough, but players follow the coach because they want to play football. They want their scholarship and they want to be the best and get drafted into the NFL.

The NFL is the bizarro world for coaches. The players are at the top of the football food-chain, and have a nice fat contract worth a ton of money. It's pretty easy to blow off the coach in that situation. The coach gets stuck between the apathetic players, and a corporate organization.

crucislancer · #15 09-28-2010, 04:34 PM

It’s tough for me to find a reason to like Singletary these days, but on the other hand I don’t think he’s entirely to blame.

MJ5150 · #16 09-28-2010, 04:43 PM

He'll get blown out then wash up somewhere as a DC and do great.

-Mike

jive1 · #17 09-28-2010, 04:43 PM

Ditka was a character, and being a commentator seems to suit him fine.

Here's a fine example of Ditka being a character. Old school Bear fans should appreciate this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW5va8T5qCw

Jared Lash · #18 09-28-2010, 04:43 PM

I'm a lifelong Niners fan and I love Singletary and want to see him succeed.

But the plain truth of the matter is that he is learning to be a head coach on the fly and is experiencing huge growing pains.

He was never a defensive coordinator on any level (linebackers coach, "assistant head coach" to Mike Nolan for what that's worth) and he has ZERO experience as any kind of coach on the offensive end.

He is a great motivator, a good leader and he has a vision for what he wants on the field that I see as a successful blueprint if he can mold the team to fit it.

His biggest problems are that he is
(1) completely dependent on his assistant coaches to achieve success. It's not as if he can take away a headset and start calling plays and formations himself and
(2) still scrambling to learn all the nuances of being the head coach. Clock management and staff decisions spring to mind right away.

The first issue can only be resolved by having strong assistants. And as a Niner fan I absolutely think he did the right thing in firing Jimmy Raye. He was horribly predictable in his playcalling and failed to utilize his offensive weapons properly. His worst sin was that he rarely ran different plays out of the same formation. Defenses would know simply from personnel groupings that the team was going to run or pass and that should NEVER happen. Unpredictability is the only way to keep opponents from diagnosing and snuffing plays before the ball is even snapped.

I don't know what kind of coordinator Mike Johnson will be, but the answer will determine if Singletary is coaching the Niners after this season.

And time is the only thing that will allow him to get his bearings in all the other facets of being a coach. I'm a Niners fan AND a Singletary fan so I want to see him succeed. But if he doesn't (and Alex Smith continues to flounder) and the team finishes with a losing record this season, I expect a new head coach (one with a track record of success) and a 1st round pick used on a new QB.

But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. This team has enough talent to succeed, especially in a weak conference. I was so frustrated by the play (and playcalling) in last week's game that I was considering not watching this week's game, and I NEVER miss Niner games. Now I'll be watching closely because this game may very well hold Samurai Mike's future in the balance.

CapnSev · #19 09-28-2010, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jive1

Ditka was a character, and being a commentator seems to suit him fine.

Here's a fine example of Ditka being a character. Old school Bear fans should appreciate this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW5va8T5qCw

Friggin' awesome!

Da Bears.

IotaNet · #20 09-28-2010, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jive1

Ditka was a character, and being a commentator seems to suit him fine.

Here's a fine example of Ditka being a character. Old school Bear fans should appreciate this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW5va8T5qCw

And the funny thing is that the interviewer, Johny Morris, and Ditka were teammates and if I'm not mistaken, pretty good friends.