[NASCAR Gnome]

Note: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat is a newspaper of a city to the North of San Francisco.

By Lowell Cohn, Press Democrat Columnist

Mike Nolan seems like a stand-up guy, but that's an outright lie. He's been treating his quarterback badly and he's treated other people badly, and he consistently blames others for his own screw-ups. If anyone with a conscience runs the 49ers, Nolan is doomed in San Francisco.

What he's done to Alex Smith is shameful. For weeks, Nolan insisted Smith's shoulder was OK. I sat in the postgame news conference after Seattle shut out the Niners, and listened as Nolan, with an ironic grin, insisted Smith's shoulder was sound. He said this even though Smith barely could throw a pass. Nolan's implication was the quarterback was the big problem, certainly not the coach.

Everything changed on Wednesday. Boy, did it change. Smith, who has kept his mouth shut, who bit the bullet for the team, admitted his shoulder has been killing him for a long time and now his forearm hurts, too. We're talking about Smith's throwing arm, one of the most expensive throwing arms in the known world.

And why would Smith go public about his injury? Because his coach hasn't supported him. It's worse than that. His coach has sacrificed him, thrown him in front of the team bus. Smith couldn't take it anymore, so he let everyone know Nolan was lying.

Surely, Nolan had to know his quarterback was injured. The Seahawks' Julian Peterson could tell Smith was in agony just by playing against him. If Nolan didn't know the truth about Smith, he's a buffoon. If he did know, he's a bum. Either way, he's no good. He willingly jeopardized his quarterback's future and allowed fans and writers to ridicule Smith, to call him a bust like Rick Mirer. That's a lot for a young player to take. A good coach, the right kind of man, would have yanked Smith off the field for Smith's good and for the good of the team.

Smith is not the only player Nolan has blamed to mask his own shortcomings. He blames all of them all the time. After the Seattle game, he did the usual blaming. Here are three examples:

"We did not capitalize on any opportunities we had."

"When opportunity strikes, we can't make a play. It just doesn't go."

"It consistently looks the same -- missed opportunities."

He was saying it's the players' fault the team has lost seven in a row and gets worse every week. Of course, there's truth to that. But Nolan also is at fault, although he never says that. He separates himself from his own players, let's everyone think he's OK but they're not.

He did more blaming. At his Tuesday news conference, he pointed the finger at his offensive coordinator, Jim Hostler. I have no intention of defending Hostler, who is over his head in the NFL. I'm not talking about Hostler. I'm talking about Nolan and how a head coach should behave.

Nolan was talking about tight end Vernon Davis, who caught exactly one pass against the Seahawks -- Alex Smith threw two passes to him all game. After the game, Davis was confused. He's a threat, a great athlete, and why, he wondered, was he used almost exclusively as a blocker?

"This game we regressed in that respect," Nolan said. He meant Hostler regressed, managed the game poorly. Nolan was sacrificing Hostler the way he sacrifices everyone. Nolan was excusing himself from the team's ineptitude.

"The only thing I really control is whether I have my Fu Manchu (mustache) or not," Nolan said.

Nolan meant Hostler is in charge of the offense and Nolan has no input even when things are terrible and the team is getting shut out. That is a very bad thing for a head coach to admit.

We need to stop right here for a football lesson. I come back to Bill Walsh. Even though he's gone, he serves as a football guide for me. He once talked about a famous coach I won't name. He called this coach a "chairman-of-the-board coach." He said chairman-of-the-board coaches meet with the media and look serious and businesslike on the sideline but they are figureheads who leave the actual running of the team, the football part, to their assistant coaches.

"I don't like chairman-of-the-board coaches," Walsh told me. "They're at the mercy of their coordinators. If the offensive or defensive coordinator is no good, the chairman-of-the-board coach is dead."

When it comes to offense, Nolan is a chairman-of-the-board coach. He is useless, at the mercy of Hostler, a mere beginner. The Niners cannot succeed with a chairman-of-the-board coach. They need someone who knows more about offense than how to trim his mustache. And they can't tolerate a coach who treats an injured quarterback so shabbily. John York should terminate Nolan immediately after this unfortunate season.

[Seahawker 562]

doesnt matter if alex smith is healed up or not. It takes skill

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Seahawker 562

doesnt matter if alex smith is healed up or not. It takes skill

I believe he has the skill Seahawker. At least he did before he was hurt.

[ThePundit]

They would probably be better off changing coaches. Every team has injuries. But this team has totally regressed. They are the worst team in football. Even the Dolphins would wipe up the field with them.

[Seahawker 562]

I think most of the blame goes to alex. hes not good enough to start, maybe 3rd string at best

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by ThePundit

They would probably be better off changing coaches. Every team has injuries. But this team has totally regressed.

I agree. Shows you how much of their success last year was due to Norv Turner's offense.

[Bette]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

I agree. Shows you how much of their success last year was due to Norv Turner's offense.

I am missing something here. Thought it was generally agreed that the mess in San Diego was largely due to Turner. So how come he was such a genius in San Fran.? I havent followed this team so cant really say.

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by Bette

I am missing something here. Thought it was generally agreed that the mess in San Diego was largely due to Turner. So how come he was such a genius in San Fran.? I havent followed this team so cant really say.

Turner the offensive coordinator = genius, while Turner the head coach = incompetent ninny. It's really as simple as that.