Don’t tell me. Show me.
Once upon a time, wasn’t that the 49ers’ mantra under coach Mike Singletary?
The polar opposite is happening.
Too much chatter is infiltrating the 49ers’ show time.
Phonetics have replaced Singletary’s wish for physicality. Oh, make that physical with an “F,” as he theatrically professed during last year’s season-ticket-holder rally.
Listen up and see if we’ve got this right:
That is a lot of noise, folks. The York ownership, once upon a time, did not like noise booming out of 4949 Centennial Blvd.
It led to the departures of Steve Mariucci, Dennis Erickson, Terry Donahue, etc. As for general manager Scot McCloughan’s spring exit, it went down in hush-hush fashion while skeptics again loudly questioned the organization’s structure.
The 49ers are only 0-1. But enough chaos has ensued this entire calendar year that 49ers fans are hollering to know if their franchise remains troubled.
Monday night’s game cannot come fast enough. The 49ers need to shut up and play. Unless, of course, they crash in prime time against the New Orleans Saints, who only happen to be the reigning Super Bowl champs.
Speaking of the Saints, they sure have made a racket in the past five years. When Mike Nolan took over the 49ers in 2005 and brought along Singletary as a top lieutenant, the Saints were en route to a 3-13 season marred by Hurricane Katrina.
But then the Saints flourished behind a new coach (Sean Payton), new quarterback (Drew Brees) and new offense (if you haven’t seen it by now, go upload February’s Super Bowl video).
Singletary had better get control of his team in a hurry. Otherwise it won’t be his team. He knows this. He talks like the captain of a ship who is in fear of a mutiny.
The 49ers need a healthy dose of coaching. That does not mean more motivational speeches about his 1985 Chicago Bears. Or about how they’ll avenge a loss in the playoffs (see: 2009 defeat in Minnesota). Or a public declaration that he will become the greatest coach of all-time.
He still could blossom into a winning coach. Don’t call for his head, yet. But he needs a strong offensive coordinator, and Raye is not it. Sunday’s communication meltdown will not be the last.
According to the Yahoo! report, Raye doesn’t always find the right play or right terminology when sending plays down to quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson, who then sends in the play to Smith.
“It seems like Jimmy calls plays from memory a lot of the time and not exactly the way it’s written down,” a source told Yahoo!.
Infighting is the last thing Singletary needs. A quality quarterback is of the utmost importance. If the coach still does not think so after Sunday’s setback and after scouting the modern-day NFL, he is sorely mistaken.
We’ve heard a lot about the weapons at Smith’s disposal, such as Davis, Crabtree, Frank Gore and, wait, is Brian Westbrook still here? We’ve also heard how drafting two offensive linemen will improve things. We’ve heard the offense will succeed under the Smith-Raye continuity.
We saw six points scored by the 49ers.
We’ve heard the 49ers defense has a great front seven, when only linebacker Patrick Willis, end Justin Smith and nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin are widely recognized as top-notch. We’ve heard Singletary call on his coaches and players (and himself?) to get better.
We’ve seen a 31-6 blowout and an ensuing roar of thunder.
Say it ain’t so? Actually, to quote a phrase on a $17.99 T-shirt: “DON’T TELL ME/SHOW ME.”
Contact Cam Inman at cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/CamInman.
monday’s game
New Orleans (1-0) at 49ers (0-1), 5:30 p.m. ESPN, Ch. 44
