DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Mike Singletary FIRED

ST. LOUIS -- The San Francisco 49ers' eighth consecutive season without a playoff appearance has cost Mike Singletary his job as the team's head coach.

The 49ers announced the firing Sunday night after the team returned to its Bay Area headquarters following a 25-17 defeat to the St. Louis Rams earlier in the day.

The defeat eliminated the 49ers from playoff contention, marking their eighth consecutive year without a postseason appearance. Defensive line coach Jim Tomsula will coach the team's game against Arizona in at Candlestick Park in Week 17. He was to be formally introduced in a news conference Monday.

Singletary, 52, went 5-10 this season and 8-8 in 2009, his first as head coach in full. He posted a 5-4 record as interim coach after the team fired Mike Nolan during the 2008 season.

Team president and CEO Jed York addressed reporters in St. Louis after the Niners' loss Sunday and was noncommittal about whether Singletary would coach the final game, saying he planned to think about it. Singletary was told of his dismissal back at the team's Santa Clara complex after the trip home.

"I want to thank Mike Singletary for the passion and effort that he brought to this organization," York said in a statement. "He is a tremendous person for whom I will always have great respect."

San Francisco began the year with high hopes of winning the West and reaching the postseason for the first time since 2002. Singletary finished with an 18-22 record in two-plus seasons.

"One of the greatest experiences of my life was having the opportunity to coach the San Francisco 49ers," Singletary said in a statement. "What made it so special were the players. They were some of the most outstanding men I have ever been around in my life. The coaches were truly professionals. I wish the 49ers nothing but the best. I am thankful to the York family for having given me the opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. I am indebted to them for that. I am also thankful for the Faithful fans, I am just sorry I couldn't give them more."

The 49ers began 0-5 and will finish with a losing record for the seventh time in eight years. They went 8-8 in Singletary's first full season, then produced an unbeaten preseason this year only to drop their first five games. It was the franchise's worst start since losing seven in a row to begin a 2-14 season in 1979 -- in the late Hall of Famer Bill Walsh's first year as coach.

No team has recovered from an 0-5 start to reach the playoffs, but the 49ers would have made it if they had defeated the Rams and won again next Sunday. If that had happened, San Francisco would have won the tiebreaker over Seattle and St. Louis to win the division and become the first team with a losing record in a non-strike season to make the playoffs.

"You know what, I'll put it this way: a personal failure. I'm the head coach of this team and obviously wanted us to do better, felt that we could do better," Singletary said after Sunday's loss. "There are some obvious questions that I hoped would be answered as the season went on, and obviously were not answered. When that happens, you end up out of the playoffs.

"I take full responsibility for every unanswered question."

The 52-year-old Singletary, who first took over as coach on an interim basis when Mike Nolan was fired in October 2008 and soon declared "I want winners!" had two years remaining on his contract. York -- son of owner John York -- seems ready for major change around the Niners despite having to pay Singletary, a Hall of Fame linebacker during his playing days for the Chicago Bears.

"Money is no object," Jed York said in St. Louis. "I mean, our object is to win the Super Bowl, year in and year out be there and compete for Super Bowls. We're going to make sure we get this right."

Initially, Singletary seemed to be the man to do it, with his way of ripping into a player one minute then finding a way to turn it into a positive.

During his debut in place of Nolan -- a 34-13 loss to the Seahawks on Oct. 26, 2008 -- Singletary pulled down his pants in the locker room at halftime to make a point, benched struggling quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan in favor of Shaun Hill, and sent now-Pro Bowl and captain tight end Vernon Davis to the showers early for what he deemed inappropriate behavior following a personal foul penalty. Afterward, Singletary called out his team with the now infamous "I want winners" speech.

"I'd rather play with 10 people and just get penalized all the way until we have to do something else rather than play with 11 when I know that right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team," Singletary said. "It is more about them than it is about the team. Cannot play with them, cannot win with them, cannot coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win."

This year, Singletary fired offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye after Week 3, then lost secondary coach and special assistant Johnnie Lynn when he resigned for personal reasons earlier this month.

Singletary switched quarterbacks three different times, starting with Alex Smith, going to Troy Smith for five games even after Alex Smith's hurt non-throwing shoulder had healed, then back to Alex Smith for two games before Troy Smith started Sunday -- only to give way to Alex Smith in the fourth quarter after Troy Smith had a heated exchange with Singletary.

"I'm not worried about individual things like that. What bothers me is we come in here, this is a playoff-caliber game, and we didn't get it done," York said. "And that's the bottom line."

York said he plans to hire a general manager and will open a search to fill the job. Since former GM Scot McCloughan departed last March -- and ended up with Seattle -- in what York called a "mutual parting," San Francisco's football operations have been run by vice president of player personnel Trent Baalke. He was responsible for selecting two offensive linemen with the team's first-round draft picks in April, and both Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati are starters on the Niners' revamped offensive line.

York was asked whether a new general manager would help in a potential coaching search.

"We'll have a general manager, and as we go forward, that will be something that the general manager and I discuss together," York said after the game.

Finding a quarterback will be another priority. Alex Smith most certainly will be gone after this season once the 2005 No. 1 overall pick's contract expires.

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I'm shocked.

How sad is the NFC West?

His team went 5-10 and was (finally) eliminated from playoff contention .......

This is sad, not only because of the fact that they were still in the running for the division at 5-9 ..... but that every other team in their division sucks so bad that they couldn't pull out a division win here or there in this crappiest of the all time crappy divisions to get to .500 and a playoff spot.

Not entirely unexpected, but still heinous. The decision could have waited a week or so. I am saddened to see a genuine warrior with a giant heart get treated this way. He has forgotten more football than some of these losers. This isn't blaming the victim; it is like stringing them up, burning a clip, THEN throwing them under the bus. MS deserved some considerate treatment because he seemed to have made a no-nonsene effort there. Seems like another horrible specimen of class bypass operation on the owner's part. Good luck, Mike.

Well, with one game left,, nothing on the line,,, I'd like to know the reason this couldn't wait until the season was over... Not that it was unexpected, but geesh,,, what's the big deal requireing it be done with one game left..

I have to say, this was a guy I wanted us to pursue after RAC. I think he can still be a good coach, but I'm not sure I'd want him here yet. Let him grow some more as a coordinator somewhere.

Getting a head start on the Browns, Broncos, Texans, Vikings, Panthers and possibly the Chargers and Bengals for HC. Smart move by the 49ers as they go for Cowher or Gruden.

Good luck Mike. Hope you land somewhere soon.

Just think:

If Browns Fan had their way, he'd on our sidelines right now.

I'm not so sure the Rooney Rule is a major hurdle, but that is a good point.

Maybe they asked Singletary what he's done to deserve keeping his job as head coach for next season, and that will satisfy their minority interviewee requirement.

I think Jed York is in over his head.

j/c

The only reason their record should be better than 5-10 is because they play in an extremely weak division. If they played in our division i would have thought that 5-10 would be about right for a team with a young OL, shaky QB play, and no real stud WR, plus a defense that other then Willis a couple of other players needs blown up.

I dunno about you, but I'd love to have the talents of Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis on our team.

The 49'ers would have 2 wins if they had played our schedule ..... if they were lucky. 3 of their wins were in division wins, and the other 2 were against Denver and Oakland. Color me unimpressed.

I find it rather ironic that I sit here with today's issue of the Youngstown Vindicator in hand ...... and one of the sports headlines is "49'ers' York ponders replacing Singeltary". In the body of the article it states that York was non committal as to whether or not Singletary would coach the final game of the season. The writer quotes York (the owner) as saying: "We're going to take our time before we make any decisions like that. We don't want to make an emotional decision right now, after the game."

Must have been a quick deliberation there Mr. 49'ers President .....

I also just remembered that their interim HC is the uncle of a friend of mine.

We gotta get this guy.