NFL 2014 - 2015 Season Thread

Crack news staff at the Detroit Free Press:

joeboo_sl said:

49ers fired George Seifert after going 12-4 in his last season, and only 2 years removed from winning the Super Bowl. That franchise has some issues.

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They also fired Mooch after one of the biggest playoff comebacks of all-time. We have a history of firing coaches who have high winning percentages.

I do enjoy seeing how quickly public opinion can sway. Just a year or two ago most non-49er fanshatedHarbaugh, calling him a crybaby and a spaz. Now? "OMG! The 49ers are such idiots! How could they fire one of the greatest coaches ever!?!". Almost the exact same scenario played out with Alex Smith. The guy was the laughing stock of the NFL for years, has one solid season, and suddenly the 49ers are assholes who fucked him over.

Kirun_sl said:

They also fired Mooch after one of the biggest playoff comebacks of all-time. We have a history of firing coaches who have high winning percentages.

I do enjoy seeing how quickly public opinion can sway. Just a year or two ago most non-49er fanshatedHarbaugh, calling him a crybaby and a spaz. Now? "OMG! The 49ers are such idiots! How could they fire one of the greatest coaches ever!?!". Almost the exact same scenario played out with Alex Smith. The guy was the laughing stock of the NFL for years, has one solid season, and suddenly the 49ers are assholes who fucked him over.

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Harbaugh had three amazing seasons. 49ers fans didn't realize how good of a coach they had. It will be evident when they return to being a perennial cellar dweller.

Supposedly Harbaugh to UM is a done deal. Michigan told their boosters as much. Does he last longer than 4 years there?

Also I wonder if him and the Niners "mutually departing" was somewhat predicated on him not taking another NFL job (even though the Niners said he could if he wanted).

Kirun_sl said:

It's more than just "personal shit", honestly. Harbaugh is extremely grating and difficult to get along with. His sideline antics are testament to what a fucking loon he must be. There's also the fact that his coaching tenures don't last very long (and it's becoming obvious why. Nobody can stand working with him). Your winning percentage doesn't absolve you from creating a toxic work environment, sorry. Also, there are rumors that Baalke approached Harbaugh at the end of last season to fire Roman and Harbaugh refused. York and Baalke apparently met with Harbaugh again shortly before the draft and told him that Roman had to go or extension talks were off. Again, Harbaugh refused. The one area Baalke doesn't have "say" over Harbaugh is Harbaugh's staff. Apparently, he would've been offered a 7.5m dollar extension had he agreed to change OCs.

That said, there's plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. Way more than should be allowed by an 8-8 team. We were stricken pretty hard with the injury bug this year (I think 17 players were put on IR?), but the defense was still playing at a very high level. Sadly, the offense just never took off. The schemes were completely predictable and once defenses adjusted at half-time to close off the inside running plays, they just stacked the line with 8 and dared Kaep to throw. The offensive line did him no favors since they were one of the hardest hit by injuries, Boone's holdout, receivers not getting separation, etc., but Kaep was also struggling with knowing when to get rid of it and not take a sack. He also seemed to be afraid of using his legs to salvage broken plays, sitting in the pocket trying to find an open receiver. Often times even when he had clear running lanes. It's anybody's guess as to why he did this, but it seemed like somebody was in his head telling him not to run under any circumstance.

So, assuming we retain Fangio at DC, I think there are a number of coaches who can come in here and see success. I don't have Super Bowl aspirations or anything next year, but I see no reason why we couldn't be right in the mix for the playoffs.

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You're so gullibly spewing out what management wants 49ers fans to think. His coaching tenures don't last long because he's hard to get along with? His coaching tenures haven't lasted long because he's succeeded everywhere he's gone and he had a goal to be an NFL coach. Stanford did everything they could to try to keep him there, but he felt he had accomplished about all he could there.

8-8 in the toughest division in football with injuries up the ass is a solid season, especially considering that management was undermining him from the get go. We heard from some sources before the season even started that he would be gone regardless of how they did. That's not a healthy way to go into an NFL season, with the front office leaking rumors to undermine the HC.

All the stuff about him losing the locker room seems like a load of bunk. You could tell after the game yesterday that all the players worth anything would want to see him stay. Dude is a winner and a warrior, and any pro football player worth a damn should be happy to play for a guy like that. Anybody that isn't is probably a diva not worth having around.

I've been a Niners fan for 30 years. It's going to be difficult to care much next year with the FO so obviously full of themselves and likely sending things back into the dark ages. I don't care how talented a team is, good HC's are the most important piece of a football team after the QB. They had a good coach and an average QB, now they'll have ? What good coach is going to want to go there now? The expectations will be high, they know the front office has a bunch of jackasses that just ran a great coach out, and they know the talent level of the team is probably turning down.

I heard Holmgren might have interest. That could be one of the few legit possibilities I've heard of that might give some hope to keep things interesting the next couple years. He has 49ers and Bay Area ties, and might get a kick out of the new rivalry with Seattle. And rather than having to rebuild a program from the bottom up, he'd get a solid group of players with the potential to give him 2-3 years of contention (which is probably about all he'd want). Probably won't happen, but that'd be interesting.

Pharazon_sl said:

I heard Holmgren might have interest. That could be one of the few legit possibilities I've heard of that might give some hope to keep things interesting the next couple years. He has 49ers and Bay Area ties, and might get a kick out of the new rivalry with Seattle. And rather than having to rebuild a program from the bottom up, he'd get a solid group of players with the potential to give him 2-3 years of contention (which is probably about all he'd want). Probably won't happen, but that'd be interesting.

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At least with Holmgren you know he'll run left the first two downs. :/

I think everyone who actually follows the Niners and didn't just jump onto the Harbaugh era bandwagon had to have the idea in the back of their minds that once York got his shiny new Silicon Valley stadium winning would take a backseat to the almighty dollar.

Harbaugh was a clown, and it seems like that organization didn't do much to keep players in check. Especially Aldon Smith. The guy knew how to win up until this year, maybe the team really did get sick of his shit. Even Jerry Rice was burying him halfway through the season.

Brando_sl said:

Definitely this, there is really no hope until the old bag dies and the kids sell the team. We might be able to move Cutler and return to respectability but the Halas's have never paid top dollar when it comes to management.

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Reports are that Ted Phillips is being moved to just the financial side and out of football operations and George is running the team now.

Pharazon_sl said:

All the stuff about him losing the locker room seems like a load of bunk. You could tell after the game yesterday that all the players worth anything would want to see him stay. Dude is a winner and a warrior, and any pro football player worth a damn should be happy to play for a guy like that. Anybody that isn't is probably a diva not worth having around.

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They have to talk to the media after the game. Obviously, the media is going to be asking all sorts of questions related to Harbaugh. Many of the guys there like Boldin, Gore, etc. are classy as fuck. What do you expect them to say? "Nah, fuck that! Harbaugh is a bitch!"? I mean, seriously? This is a career and bad-mouthing a former coach is not a good way to get anywhere in this league. Of course they're going to slobber all over him.

Pharazon_sl said:

I've been a Niners fan for 30 years. It's going to be difficult to care much next year with the FO so obviously full of themselves and likely sending things back into the dark ages.

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You've been a 49er fan for 30 years and are already checking out on next season?

Regardless, did 49er fans honestly think Harbaugh was going to be the coach forever? I just don't understand fans treating this guy like he was the second coming of Walsh, simply because hewasn'tErickson/Nolan/Singletary. Was he a good coach? Definitely. But even good coaches don't last forever. You can blame Walsh for this franchise running "good" coaches out of town. That's why Seifert's contract wasn't extended and ultimately led to his resignation - he was successful, but not successfulenough. He lost 3 NFC Championships, 2 of them back-to-back. Then, he couldn't get past Green Bay in the divisional rounds after finally getting past the Cowboys. That's the way the 49ers do business when they don't get the chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. That's why Montana finished his career in Kansas City. Being a fan for 30 years, you should know that this is the 49ers M.O. DeBartolo, York, it doesn't matter.

Kirun_sl said:

I do enjoy seeing how quickly public opinion can sway. Just a year or two ago most non-49er fanshatedHarbaugh, calling him a crybaby and a spaz. Now? "OMG! The 49ers are such idiots! How could they fire one of the greatest coaches ever!?!". Almost the exact same scenario played out with Alex Smith. The guy was the laughing stock of the NFL for years, has one solid season, and suddenly the 49ers are assholes who fucked him over.

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Those two things aren't mutually exclusive. The whiny tantrum thrower is a very good coach. Your front office is dumb.

Rengak_sl said:

Those two things aren't mutually exclusive. The whiny tantrum thrower is a very good coach. Your front office is dumb.

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Pretty much this.

I guess tom brady reached out on behalf of michigan football to Jim Harbaugh and encouraged him to take it

It was commonly thought Harbaugh was gone before the season even started. That's nothing to do with injuries, suspensions, playcalling, or front office moves.

The question now becomes, do the 49ers end up in third or fourth place in that division next season?