Singletary Out as 49ers Head Coach

Submitted by m_go_blue on

Mike Singletary fired tonight on the plane ride home from the 49ers loss to the Rams on Sunday. Jim Harbaugh's name has already been mentioned by Chris Mortensen....this outta be interesting to see how this plays out if RR is let go by this time next week- could we see a bidding war between Michigan and the 49ers or another NFL team? This ought to be interesting to watch.

tenerson

December 27th, 2010 at 12:30 AM ^

I liked our chances if we were to fire RR, but then I read that the Niners will hire a GM, and assuming he has a brain (something the Yorks don't have) They will win a bidding war if they truly want Harbaugh. I would guess they will go after the oh so obvious Gruden and Cowher first. Anyone taking bets on which rumor starts first?

jerseyblue

December 27th, 2010 at 9:18 AM ^

My first thought when Singeltary got fired was why fire the guy with 1 game left? It's a meaning less game. Let him coach it. But now I think the 49ers know Michigan may go after Harbaugh after Jan 1 so maybe they want to beat UM to the punch and snag Harbaugh this week. Which I'm perfectly fine with.

DrewandBlue

December 27th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^

I'm thinking if JH is coming here...He already knows it.  It's not like DB hasn't offered him the job if he intended on parting ways with RR.  No question about it...If DB has decided to let go of RR (which he does know by now), JH has already been in discussion and probably has an offer already on the table with a gag order to accompany it.

aaamichfan

December 27th, 2010 at 12:37 AM ^

As much as I'd like to see JH become Michigan's head coach if RR is fired, it would be hilarious to see the collective mouthbreather head explosion if he took the 49ers job.

Big Boutros

December 27th, 2010 at 12:44 AM ^

Troy Smith and Alex Smith both ran spreads in college

Harbaugh wants the job

but the 49ers don't offer him

January 2nd, 2011

Rich Rodriguez is introduced as the new 49ers head coach

INCEPTION

BigBlue02

December 27th, 2010 at 1:04 AM ^

Harbaugh is going to take the job, trade up to the top spot, draft Luck, then run trick plays with all three in the game. It will be like the Harlem Globetrotters of football. Then Harbaugh is going to pull down Pete Carroll's pants and throw a bucket of confetti on the crowd. Suck it RichRod, you couldn't even work Tate and Denard into the game at the same time.

justingoblue

December 27th, 2010 at 1:04 PM ^

On a halfway serious note, I've wanted to see that all year. I just want to see the look on the other defense's face when they both line up together.

I'm thinking Tate would need to be the one running it or catching it though, it'd be Denard they would have to choose to defend.

CaptainBlue

December 27th, 2010 at 12:59 AM ^

Jim Harbaugh is the most sought after man in the world. My boss at McDonald's just announced that he's throwing his McHat into the ring to try and get him a Harbaugh to manage his McWorkforce.

Mitch Cumstein

December 27th, 2010 at 5:56 AM ^

So if Michigan does go with a CC and Harbaugh is a candidate, he will be looking at either a Michigan job that fired their previous coach after 3 seasons or a 49ers job that fired their coach after 2.5 seasons.  Now thats job security.

Tater

December 27th, 2010 at 6:53 AM ^

When you have an ego as big as Harbaugh's, you don't worry about job security.  I say that in a good way.  If you are a QB or a HC, you have to be confident bordering on cocky.  If you aren't, nobody will follow you.  Even with a "humble" player like Denard, you can bet that when he is leading his team, he is supremely confident. 

Harbaugh long ago crossed the line to "cocky," but he has had two main job descriptions where it is a positive.  He won't be thinking about the possibility of being fired no matter where he goes.  Besides, if you sign a contract for $3-5 million a year, you are still in pretty good shape after a year or two, even if the job doesn't work out as planned.

I hope he takes the 49ers job.  It would make things a lot more practical and sensible around the Michigan coaching situation, and it would be a move that wouldn't "leverage" Stanford into a position where leaving to coach at another school would be an "upward" move.

One of the main reasons that the CC story has taken such a life of its own is the emotional factor that the possibility of an ex-Michigan QB who has succeeded outside of Michigan "coming home."  It has clouded a lot of judgement and given some fence-sitters a reason to clamor for RR to be fired. 

If JH were no longer available, the negative portion of the fanbase wouldn't have anyone to rally around as their "slam-dunk choice."  Also, when DB is making his decision (if he hasn't already done so), he would not have the "Michigan Man comes home" emotional factor, which is never good to have when making a business decision.  Consequently, if DB did decide to make a move, it would come off as well-thought-out instead of a good ol' boy backroom deal. 

If it is, as many think, a choice between RR and JH for DB, JH removing himself would be a great way for DB to do what Bo would do and give RR enough time to finish what he has started.

NateVolk

December 27th, 2010 at 8:19 AM ^

Mehhh. Give the fans who want Harbaugh more credit for their intelligence. The folks who have done their homework and read up on what he has done out there found this: Harbaugh is obviously a way better coach, better suited for running a program in a major conference, which the Big East simply isn't.

The hero quarterback thing is our good luck because otherwise he'd never be a viable candidate here. He'd pass us over like he did Miami when they put out a feeler. We're the only program he'd forego a pro opportunity for. 

I hate to say it, but the spectre of letting Rich finish what he started is what probably has Brandon so unwilling to extend him.  Outside of admittedly a promising offense that has looked great against nowhere teams, this thing has gone backwards.

The more you look at the "he has to get a fourth year" argument, the more you can't help but envision some guy way behind on an unpayable marker at the Bellagio doubling down at the blackjack table more or less  hoping.

fab5

December 27th, 2010 at 10:26 AM ^

I'm sick of reading the big east is not a major conference... I agree that they have had a couple of down years but answer this for me nate.. why do all the so called big conference schools go after these so called sorry big east coaches?  Rrod, petrino, d'antonio, kelly, all from big east rutgers and uconn coaches are always coaches that are considered for coaching jobs.. You need to stop with the big east being so terrible the big east was pretty damn good a few years ago when coach rod was at wvu... I would put money on some of his mountaineer teams beating the crap out of michigan if they played back in those days... If the ducks and app state destroyed michigan i'm pretty damn sure the mountaineers would've put it on michigan.. 

bluenyc

December 27th, 2010 at 10:36 AM ^

The folks who have done their homework and read up on what he has done out there found this: Harbaugh is obviously a way better coach, better suited for running a program in a major conference, which the Big East simply isn't.

Pretty strong statement.

I hate to say it, but the spectre of letting Rich finish what he started is what probably has Brandon so unwilling to extend him.  Outside of admittedly a promising offense that has looked great against nowhere teams, this thing has gone backwards.

According to this, then I guess you favor RR getting fired no matter if we get JH or not.  RR just needs to go because it is not working out.  Am I right to make that assumption? 

BigBlue02

December 27th, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^

Hey nate, why don't you sit a couple rounds out champ, you sound like an idiot.
Let's look at Stanford's big wins from this year and Michigan's, shall we:

UM- wins over 8-4 uconn and 7-5 notre dame

Stanford- wins over 8-5 usc, 7-5 notre dame, and 7-5 Arizona
If you were wondering, those are the only victories for either team over teams with winning percentages over .500. That's right, if we beat msu and Stanford loses, we will both have the same number of quality victories on the year. I get that those people wanting harbaugh will cling to anything to get him here, but let's get a little perspective. Harbaugh's win percentage at Stanford isn't even as high as the football team's all time win percentage....meaning harbaugh, while a good coach, really hasn't done shit there. Hasn't won a bowl or a conference championship. I like harbaugh as much as the next guy, but when you rip RichRod for not winning games against quality teams while harbaugh beat up on a bunch of shitty pac 10 teams, your argument isn't very good. And when you bring up usc and the 40 point underdog game, just remember he lost to 2-9 notre dame at the end of the year, so does he not get credit for that loss? No, i guess he can do whatever he wants, he's amazing.

MGoBlue96

December 27th, 2010 at 1:43 PM ^

Not sure what exactly the statement of Harbaugh being a way better coach than RR is based on. I know some fans like to believe that RR's coaching resume only includes what he has done at UM, but that isn't the case. RR basically did the exact same thing at WVU that Harbaugh has done at Stanford, by taking a down program and turning them into a BCS caliber team. I don't care what conference it was in, three straight double digit winning seasons is just as good, if not better than one double digit winning season so far for Harbaugh at Stanford. The Pac-10 is not exactly that strong of conference this year either. I am not making a defininate statement either way on who is the better coach, but if you look at the totality of the coache's resumes I don't see how you can make the case that Harbaugh is a way better coach, at least at this point.

Secondly how do you know Harbaugh would forego an NFL oppurtunity to come here? That very well may not be the case at all. Nobody has any idea what is going on in Harbaugh's head, except for the man himself.

As far as this thing going backwards I completely disagree. Improving by 2 games each doesn't seem like going backwards to me. Granted special teams and defense may have regressed somewhat, but the team overall is better than what it was in 2008 . This year's team would wipe the floor with the 2008 team IMO. We could get into whether the 2008 team should have been as bad as they were, but I strongly disagree with the notion that the overall  team has gone backwards. Maybe they haven't improved as fast as we would like, but backwards seems incorrect to me.

 

myrtlebeachmai…

December 27th, 2010 at 8:43 AM ^

the decision to A) Stay on his beloved West Coast, follow in the steps of hero Bill Walsh, and make 5+ million a year

or B) come to AA for half that

Although I agree with above that his performance/ego likely precludes such worries anyway, I can guarantee "job security" is not a concern of his.

PurpleStuff

December 27th, 2010 at 2:53 PM ^

You could add to part B the fun of telling your pregnant wife she has to move across the country and spend the winter in Ann Arbor.  I can't see that conversation going badly.

If the Niners offer him a legit deal (remember that Carroll got over $7 million from the Seahawks) there is no way he turns that down so that he can come to Michigan for less than 50% of the money (and I don't see a school with a long history of underpaying head coaches offering more than $3 million for anybody).  Not sure how interested in Harbaugh they are, but if they go after him the choice is stay at Stanford one more year (probably depends on relationship with Luck and his decision about the draft) or take the dough.  Michigan, even if the coaching vacancy some are intent on believing exists were to actually open up, would not be in the equation at all.

winterblue75

December 27th, 2010 at 9:09 AM ^

It isn't going to come down to JH taking the 49ers job over Michigan, at least publically. The Michigan situation is going to play itself out before the 49ers situation.

myrtlebeachmai…

December 27th, 2010 at 9:17 AM ^

1)  If by "play itself out" you mean DB does his Jan 2 evaluation and concurs that some D changes are necessary...  then JH/RR was never in that equation, and

2)  Stanford will now REALLY lean on JH for the extension/his decision b/c they will understand that SF is a real threat.  They will want to jump into the remaining coach pool and sure up recruiting by having the earliest possible announcement.