News
Sports
ENLARGE
You’re just going to have to get used to Mike Singletary barking at you on that TV screen because he’s not going anywhere, anytime soon.
After the 49ers dropped the New York Jets, one week after downing the Buffalo Bills, there’s a distinct flavor of football being formed in the San Francisco Peninsula. It’s an unmistakable change from the random week-to-week strategy that was offensive oriented, unorganized and worse yet, a losing culture.
Now, with Singletary playing captain, Shaun Hill starring as first mate and Vernon Davis being a good sailor, there’s a lot of positives to take from a tragic 2008 season.
Like pheromones, the Yorks will unknowingly, or rather ignorantly, enjoy the plunders of these non-essential, late-season wins. They’ll look at the few wins they pick up and see justification for sacking Mike Nolan, justification for benching J.T. O’Sullivan, and justification for not going after another quarterback last offseason, and probably this upcoming one.
Singletary deserves the credit for bringing discipline. He’s a pretty stern dude who has reinvigorated a defense that was not playing up to par. Holding Buffalo to three points showed that and holding the Jets (who had just beat the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans) to 14 proved that. It’s very satisfying to see the defense play so well when they’re supposed to, all the while understanding that you can’t expect that performance every week.
It’s helped that Singletary’s put faith back into Hill, the proverbial third-string quarterback, who has thrived without pressure. Hill’s future is tied to Singletary now. It was Singletary’s decision to go with him, and insomuch as Hill is successful, Singletary will be successful.
But this is not a two-way street.
The quarterback situation will be the defining venture of the Singletary legacy. As much as I believe Hill has a winner’s attitude, and is playing well, I’ll never look at him as the man for the team. You shouldn’t either.
This kind of initial success breeds complacency and cannot be tolerated. While Singletary still enjoys these wins, he’s going to have to make a push to look beyond Hill, J.T.O. and Alex Smith as permanent solutions. I want the next Matt Ryan on my team and I’m pretty sure any 49ers fan does too.
It’s simple enough to respect the notion that Singletary is going to be the head coach. It’s downright expected that his team will walk with the same sort of pride and respect he does for the game of football. But there’s no guarantee he’s going to bat for better than the scraps he already he has.
If Singletary wants to be a winner for years to come, he needs to take a grain of salt with this lost season and collaborate with Scot McCloughan on a clear direction.
I have faith in him, but I’ll wait on the results come draft day.
Zuri Berry is a sports writer at The Union. His column appears Wednesdays. You can also read his blog online at TheUnion.com/blogs/sports. Contact him via e-mail at zberry@theunion.com or call 477-4244.
After the 49ers dropped the New York Jets, one week after downing the Buffalo Bills, there’s a distinct flavor of football being formed in the San Francisco Peninsula. It’s an unmistakable change from the random week-to-week strategy that was offensive oriented, unorganized and worse yet, a losing culture.
Now, with Singletary playing captain, Shaun Hill starring as first mate and Vernon Davis being a good sailor, there’s a lot of positives to take from a tragic 2008 season.
Like pheromones, the Yorks will unknowingly, or rather ignorantly, enjoy the plunders of these non-essential, late-season wins. They’ll look at the few wins they pick up and see justification for sacking Mike Nolan, justification for benching J.T. O’Sullivan, and justification for not going after another quarterback last offseason, and probably this upcoming one.
Singletary deserves the credit for bringing discipline. He’s a pretty stern dude who has reinvigorated a defense that was not playing up to par. Holding Buffalo to three points showed that and holding the Jets (who had just beat the previously undefeated Tennessee Titans) to 14 proved that. It’s very satisfying to see the defense play so well when they’re supposed to, all the while understanding that you can’t expect that performance every week.
It’s helped that Singletary’s put faith back into Hill, the proverbial third-string quarterback, who has thrived without pressure. Hill’s future is tied to Singletary now. It was Singletary’s decision to go with him, and insomuch as Hill is successful, Singletary will be successful.
But this is not a two-way street.
The quarterback situation will be the defining venture of the Singletary legacy. As much as I believe Hill has a winner’s attitude, and is playing well, I’ll never look at him as the man for the team. You shouldn’t either.
This kind of initial success breeds complacency and cannot be tolerated. While Singletary still enjoys these wins, he’s going to have to make a push to look beyond Hill, J.T.O. and Alex Smith as permanent solutions. I want the next Matt Ryan on my team and I’m pretty sure any 49ers fan does too.
It’s simple enough to respect the notion that Singletary is going to be the head coach. It’s downright expected that his team will walk with the same sort of pride and respect he does for the game of football. But there’s no guarantee he’s going to bat for better than the scraps he already he has.
If Singletary wants to be a winner for years to come, he needs to take a grain of salt with this lost season and collaborate with Scot McCloughan on a clear direction.
I have faith in him, but I’ll wait on the results come draft day.
Zuri Berry is a sports writer at The Union. His column appears Wednesdays. You can also read his blog online at TheUnion.com/blogs/sports. Contact him via e-mail at zberry@theunion.com or call 477-4244.
