What’s funny is I remember saying this last year amidst the trade rumors around our head coach, the talk that the GM and HC hadn’t spoken in months, and the innuendo around the Jim Harbaugh insanity whirlwind hyperbole generation machine. Brought to you by Deion Sanders, Jay Glazer, Jayson Stark, Trent Dilfer, Steve Young, ESPN, Comcast, Fox Sports, and the millions of other media types that weighed in on the state of the franchise as they struggled through an injury-ridden and thoroughly disheartening season.
8-8 at the start of the Harbaugh regime would have been seen as a nice improvement over the previous staff. Fortunately (for the fans) and unfortunately (for St. Jim) Harbaugh took them to 13-3. An amazingly quick turnaround, especially due to the fact that it was a strike-shortened preseason. The offense was what it was, and the defense was what it was. The numbers all remained fairly similar.
Except for one thing. Wins and losses. A team that couldn’t win close games or win with any consistency suddenly became an NFL juggernaut. From laughingstock to Super Bowl favorites in short order. After coming oh so close in 2012, the 2013 season was another let-down on the doorstep of the Super Bowl. While the team was still considered a contender, the shit show gained full momentum. Not even going to rehash all that except to say we’ll never know who did what to whom, but it sure seemed like all sides were hell-bent on parting ways. Throw in a forgettable season, and there you go. It played out how it did. Harbaugh and most of the coaches left, and players retired, re-upped elsewhere, or left via trade.
So where are we now? Well, this is the crux of the biscuit. I’m of a mind that despite the changes and roster turnover, we still have a very good team. Especially defensively. Something that was already a strength. Mangina has plenty of NFL experience and has some HCing (varying levels of success) under his belt. LB coach Jason Tarver has DC experience with the Raiders, D line coach Scott Brown has 35 years in football, and had DCed for Colo St. DB coach Tim Lewis, a great DB back in the day, has DC experience for the NY Giants among other stops in his 21 year coaching career.
So much for the theory that this team didn’t start good coaches.
Offensively we have ex-Dalphin and Raider HC Tony Sparano, tasked with getting VD, VMcD, and Derek Carrier going after a shit season for all the TEs, RB coachTom Rathman, who has been instrumental in the continued development of the run game, and O line coach Chris Foerster, a guy with a track record of nothing but success in his different schemes that he’s used over his coaching career. A new set of WR coaches in Ronald Curry and Adam Henry (LSU’s WR coach for Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry) and the departure of Michael Crabtree give me hope for a resurgence among the WR corps.
The big question mark remains the duo of QB coach Steve Logan and OC Geep Chryst. Logan traces his coaching roots to Jimmy Johnson at Okla St, and he head coached the college powerhouse East Carolina winning a couple bowl games along the way and beating Miami 31-6 in their worst home defeat in years. He’s well-versed in the West Coast Offense, and appears at least to be installing an up-tempo rhythm-based offense. All good news to me. The Geepster? He’s the guy I don’t have any real concept of his game. He was OC in San Diego at a time when the Chargers were dogshit. I mean really. Jim Harbaugh was his starting QB. Erik Kramer was his backup. They did manage to break even at 8-8. The next year, of course was the Ryan Leaf Experience, and one last gasp of Jim Harbaugh as an NFL QB. A 1-15 debacle of epic proportions.
I guess that’s impetus right there for Chryst to get off to a hot start.
Forty Niners Forever 
I will defend RT a little. Even though I would never want to tank a season for a draft pick, it was obvious we were a lousy team last year. I didn’t mind a couple extra losses if it helped get rid of some coaches to make us stronger for the future. Even when our record with Seattle was competitive at Thanksgiving last year it was obvious to me that we were not a good team and that the biggest problem was coming from the coaching staff. We were going nowhere fast no matter what the win loss record was. I said often that if we need to fire Harbaugh to fire Roman then that is what must be done. It was so bad with the coaching staff that I was willing to take some losses to get some changes made. We took some losses and replaced some coaches and hopefully the changes were for the better. I think our 49ers made some good choices. We do know the previous staff had no idea of how to call an offense with rhythm.
Some people are so incredibly stupid they will call out the QB when it is a fact that the coach chooses the QB. They go hand in hand. If those dummies want to call out the QB they are in fact calling out the coach who chose him to be his guy. Some will never understand that.
I do agree with Harbaugh in that I think Kap is the right QB and this new staff will show us what can be had with better play calling.
I said what needed to be done last year. It is what was done and now we will see how it works out. I am excited about the upcoming season.
Winder deserves an award for trying to reason with the unreasonable on the “other” blog. Bravo Winder!
Lol
Some good stuff on Kap from Kurt Warner:
http://www.ninersnation.com/2015/7/14/8962747/kurt-warner-interview-transcript-colin-kaepernick-development
If we could retroactively lose the Wash and Giants games, I’d be down with that. It was fairly obvious we couldn’t get our shit together. I kept waiting for it to happen but it never did. It got worse. Why is that? Because the Michigan job was coming available? Could be . . .
I heard from the coaching staff at least 15 times how they wanted to limit Kappy’s running last year. That fact isn’t really up for debate.
Turns out Kappy rushed for MORE yards last year than the year before. Mainly because the pocket couldn’t hold back anyone or anything and he was forced to run for his life.
The overarching point to all this, and V is right about one thing, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between 8-8 and 11-5. Or 8-8 and 4-12. Which is why I don.t buy RTF’s theory for a second.
Hate to answer Bullit’s ludicrous assumptions here but since Skeebers can’t take opposing viewpoints (what a pussy), I have to address his shit here.
The difference between Bochy and Harbaugh is a bit, how you say, gulf-wide? Did Bochy demand a restructuring of his contract after one year as a coach? Did he even ask for that restructuring after winning the World Series? Did he go out of his way to piss everybody off in the front office? No No and No. Did Bochy force the local media to decipher his weirdly cryptic and often aggressive pressers? No.
Harbaugh by his own admission is an abrasive personality. Think Big Tuna. Was Parcels run out of town despite being successful? Sure. 3 times. Then take a look at a guy like Bobby Cox. 17 years (or whatever) as the manager of the Braves. Through good times and bad.
Point being, Harbaugh PLAYED HIS PART IN GETTING TOSSED. You guys all think this is unprecedented, but the coaching ranks are littered with guys like Harbaugh. You all think he played the saint in all this, but he didn’t. I’m so sick of fucking talking about this, but NONE of you even consider that Harbaugh did anything wrong. As if telling your boss he’s a pussy isn’t going to engender a reaction from the Front Office and that they should just let it slide because he had a 3 good years.
If Harbaugh truly wanted to be here he wouldn’t have forced the hand of the front office at every opportunity. If Harbaugh wanted to stay at Stanford, he would have. You guys are loons.
Di\d Bullit really compare Harbaugh with Bochy? You’re kidding me, right? I’d go read it but I might shit my pants from laughing too hard.
Yup. Bullit also doesn’t know the difference between offense and defense. What a fucking idiot he is. It was another gem of circular logic and idiotic assumptions.
Fuck. Between spitty and Bullit the collective IQ of that blog drops 90 points per post. I guess I shouldn’t say that. Spitty’ the voice of reason over tbere.
I mean, of course, of the malcontents.
Bullit’s off the rails. Hmmm. Bochy has a 3-1 record in the world series. He took a vastly undermanned Padres team to a World Series an won 3 with the giants.
Harbaugh? 1-2 in NFCCG and 0-1 in Super Bowls.
When will tbat elevator reach the top floor skippy?
If Bochy called Larry Baer a pussy and back stabbed everyone in the front office he wouldn’t last you fucking turnip.
I just read Bullit’s Bochy comments. When you are a person who only understands numbers you make those assumptions. He obviously is not a Giants fan or he would know the difference between then two. Harbaugh was given top of the line talent here in SF, Bochy wasn’t. Bochy helped build the bullpen just like he did in SD. Bochy was part of the building process. Harbaugh was given a great roster. If Harbaugh hadn’t alienated the entire front office he probably would have been able to have a bounce back year. Bochy has too much class to even think of doing such a thing. A person who only understands numbers can never understand these differences.
Now Bullit is in desperation mode and is looking stuff up from years ago. This is why nobody likes him why so many stop posting with him. He is an annoying fuck. What he is doing is proving my last sentence, “A person who only understands numbers can never understand these differences.” I need to ignore him before I start developing his blog cancer.
Did anybody watch the MLB All-Star pre game ceremony? My all time favorite baseball player is Willie Mays. Seeing him announced as “who many say is the best all around player in baseball history” got my eyes watery!
I still carry one of his baseball cards in my wallet. Honest, though it’s not the good one I had when I was a kid that had every season and career stats. I first saw him play at Candlestick in the mid-’60s with the Catholic Youth Organization, another of Mom’s attempts to make me religious – HA! Left field upper reserved I think, great seats later in the game, though, when all of us kids came down to the lower deck sun.
Mine too. I did get a little misty at the 84 all star game. I really did love the stick and the 60’s Giants. What a fucking organization and we didn’t win squat, but to me they have always been the best.
Good to see we’ve driven Bullit around the bend. They had high draft picks for 7 years and had a defense that was top notch. Smith was being coaches badly and they had the fastest TE in the league plus Frank Gore. Yeah, throw in Patrick Willis and Justin smith donte whitener and on and on.
Yeah he turned gold into silver.
Bullit calls bullshit on the narrative??? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever read.
You gonna correct my spelling buwwit? Or straighten my sheets?
Good God. Funny shit.
Chuck you need to go to rehab to get over your Bullit addiction. He is a small minded guy who needles everyone. I stopped dealing with him long ago, its a waste of time and energy.
I just found a recipe for tofu that I like.
1. Throw the tofu in the trash.
2. Cook some meat!
Berger check these guys out – New Aussie Blues Rock Group – Datura4 –
http://tinyurl.com/p99ug26
Not sure if this will link for you directly, as it’s at rdio.com but, it’s free to subscribe.
Debut album is excellent IMO.
Album title is Demon Blues if you have to search for it –
Just for fun . . .
Here’s a message from George Clinton to Skeebers and company.
Free your mind and your ass will follow. Jealous that my daughter just saw Bootsy Collins a couple weeks ago. She sent me a 45 second vid and said the show was fantastic.
Thanks chuck fantastic shit. Funk forever.
Yeah. Love that old funk. First album I evern bought was Quadrophenia by the Who.
Second album was Fire by The Ohio Players.
Geneoushire bans all heathen music. Only chamber music is allowed.
lqtm
You wanted Smith back, NoFear. Don;t fucking whine up that tree. I ended up being proven right about Smith. Id been saying for years with better coaching he’d do better. Harbaugh’s chickenshit offense would deo better with a guy like Smith in there.
Emmissary? Give Skeebers shit for banning me, you hypocrite. Winder’s only spelling out for Bullit the point. Which always seems to elude buwwitt.
It’s just pathetic that some folks can’t take a differing point of view.
The team had talent when Harbaugh got here. Is that a shock to admit? To some its blasphemy.
Like some people who can’t admit the 2012 team had more talent than this current version.
The narrative must survive!!!!!