Kaspers Korner

The San Francisco 49ers at the scouting combine brought a psychologist to handle their portion of the 15 minutes they get with each prospect.  That move is one that will prove costly.

The biggest news to come out of this move was the fact that quarterback prospect Matt Stafford told the team that he is not talking about his parents divorce.  Along with questions about the incident from the media, enraged head coach Mike Singeltary.

The problem is that other psychologists are blasting the 49ers.

Dr. John F. Murray, an author and sports psychologist told SI.com, “It’s inappropriate to kind of shove a psychologist in somebody’s face at the last second for a particular test.”

The fact of the matter is that the 49ers have gone down the toilet ever since former head coach Steve Marriucci departure from the team.

In the past the 49ers coaches called the shots in the draft, which started under the legendary coach Bill Walsh.

Like many other teams the front office is running the show now.

49er fans should be enraged with the team if Stafford is available when they pick and pass on him.

The 49ers are desperate and feel the pressure.  However, if they were to go to their old system they in how the scouted and drafted players they would be fine.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith missed most of last season with a reoccurring shoulder problem.  Smith still has a shot at starter with the team as they will give him a chance to win the starting quarterback position in training camp.

There is one hitch to that and that is Smith has to take a pay cut.  General manager Scot McCloughan stated that discussions are on going with Smith’s agent to reduce his base salary in 2009.

Smith did show some signs that he could be something in the league.  In his first full year as a starter Smith threw for 2,890 yards with 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

The question is now is Smith’s arm as good as it was before the injuries, or has it got worst.  If it got worst it could mean the end of his career.

Billy Bajema TE unrestricted

Damane Duckett DT unrestricted

Ronald Fields DT unrestricted two years five million dollars.
DeShaun Foster RB unresticted

Roderick Green LB unrestricted

Bryant Johnson WR unrestricted signed with Lions three year $9 million
Jamie Martin QB unrestricted

JT O’Sullivan QB unrestricted signed with Bengals
Allen Rossum CB unrestricted resigned with team one year deal
Sean Ryan TE unrestricted

Takeo Spikes LB unrestricted resigned with team two year deal
Donald Strickland CB unrestricted

San Francisco 49ers fired head coach Mike Nolan after its seventh game of the season, which led Mike Singletary taking over the team, and leading it to a 5-4 record in its remaining games.  Looking back on the season the front office did the right thing.

The 49ers have some hope for the first time in years in Singletary.  There is one obstacle that remains for the 49ers to get back to the playoffs, and that is a stud quarterback.

Shaun Hill took over for the 49ers after JT O’Sullivan was benched after performing horribly as the starting quarterback.  After taking over Hill threw for 2,046 yards passing for 13 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

Hill is obviously the short term answer at quarterback, and will go into next season as the starter.  However, the tougher decision for the 49ers will be what to do with quarterback Alex Smith.

Smith was the first pick overall in the 2005 National Football League draft.  His career with the 49ers have been plagued with injuries, which was made worst by former head coach Mike Nolan.

What Singletary needs to do is allow Hill to have the job outright, and keep Smith on board in case he falters.  That way they can get a look at Smith. 

What they need to also do is draft a quarterback that can sit in the background for a year, or two,  and then be adequately ready when he steps on the field.

Even without the best quarterback in the world Singletary is a good coach that can motivate his players, and get the most out of them.  That usually translates into success.

San Francisco 49er interim head coach Mike Singletary has won more games in less time this season than his predecessor Mike Nolan did.  If the 49ers know better than they would keep him on as head coach.

In just six weeks Singletary has led the team to three wins.  His predecessor Nolan led the 49ers to only two wins in seven weeks.

So, what is the difference between the two?  The answer is how things are handled when things go wrong.

Nolan was laid back, and let people get away with things.  That is not the case with Singletary, and that was proven right off the bat with tightend Vernon Davis when he was sent to the showers after he received a 15 yard penalty for slapping an opponent.

The fact is that coaches that do not put up with crap get the most out of players.  The reason being that they know if they screw up even once the coach is going to be all over them like fly on poop, and Singletary is just that.

Singletary lead a team to the Superbowl before as the starting middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears for their monstrous year during the 1985 season.  He just simply has what it takes to be a head coach.

If the 49ers do not lock him up, then someone will.  If that happens then it will surely come back to bight them in the rear.

The draft has long been over for months now.  However, the comments of interim San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary has brought up the problems with the draft again.

Singletary blasted the 49ers after their last game.  “We’ve got guys in here that are cancers. The thing about cancer cells is, they multiply. We’ve got to cut them out,” stated Singletary to his team according to Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports.

The biggest indicator of problems with the draft came later in Silver’s article with this apparent exchange between Davis and Singletary, according to Silver.  

“You don’t need to be sayin’ nothin’ to me right now,” Davis barked at the coach, according to witnesses. Singletary ordered Davis to take a seat on the bench, and shortly thereafter the coach approached and stressed the importance of avoiding stupid penalties.

“I said I don’t need to hear it,” Davis snapped, cutting him off.   Then Singletary told Davis to hit the shower.

That is what happens when you give a immature person a boat load of money.  They think that they can do whatever they want, and the head coach has to put up with it, because of the amount of money that is tied into the player.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.com, “Time and again we’ve heard rumblings that players who waltz into the locker room as multi-multi-millionaires often can’t be coached or mentored, because they simply refuse to listen.”

The problem is always going to be the same untill there is a rookie wage system.   Simply, why should a rookie be paid a boat load of money when he has not proven a darn thing yet.

For now, more head coaches of the likes of Mike Singletary will do. 

San Francisco 49er’s head coach Mike Nolan announced recently that quarterback JT O’Sullivan is going to be the starter for the opening of the season.  O’Sullivan winning the job could be the first smart thing that Nolan has done.

From the start of Smith’s career Nolan screwed it up.  No quarterback should ever reach the field of play in his rookie season, unless injuries force him to be on there.  However, Smith started nine games as a rookie, beacause the team was pathetic.

On top of that Smith has had constant change at the offensive coordinator position.  In his four years of playing football Smith has had four different offensive coordinators.

No matter how good the talent is constantly changing the systems will only lead to failure.

The reason being that players need time, and practice, at getting good at an offensive system.  There are things like timing, terminology, and other little things that quarterbacks have to learn to be succesfull within a system.

On top of that Smith was set up to fail from the start. 

O’Sullivan has one clear advantage over Smith, and that is he was in current offensive coordinator Mike Martz system last year with the Detroit Lions.

The only way that brining in O’Sullivan, and then relegating Smith to the bench, is if they intend to give Smith a year of learning in Martz’s new system.

That is the smartest thing that Nolan could have done.  The reason being is that Martz was the offensive coordinator for the Saint Louis Rams in the greatest show on turf era at the turn of the century.

Martz’s offense is really complex, and simply making Smith the starter would have been detrimental to him again. 

Just maybe Smith will now be able to take a step back, breathe, and just start over. 

For if he does not turn things around he could surpass former San Diego Charger’s quarterback Ryan Leaf as the biggest bust of all time.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith had his season cut short last year by a shoulder injury.  Now, entering his fourth National Football League season it is make or break for Smith.

The 49ers have a open quarterback competition, but do not be surprised if Smith wins it.  After all that is who the front office is routing for.

Smith was the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft.  So, the team has a lot invested in him.  His failure would set the team back serveral years.

The question is does Smith have the same abilities as he did before the injury?

With modern medicine creating amazing feats in football today; Smith should come back fine phyically.  The real issue is going to be mentally.

49er head coach Mike Nolan made a real questionable decision playing Smith after he got hurt.  The only thing that did is lose the trust of his players.

No one can blame Smith, or his teammates, for questioning Nolan.  The quarterback position is too important to be rolling out a quarterback with a bum throwing shoulder.

Simply put, if Nolan is going to keep his job he needs to display sound decisions in critical moments.  Lack there of will simply lose his team, and him his job.

The San Francisco 49ers are in need of a new stadium real soon.  With money being the key issue 49er fans are going to have to get over paying for it.

The 49ers, like every other team that has built a stadium recently, has asked for the stadium to be publically funded.  With that being said many people are not keen on the idea.

The main problem is the amount of interest, and other debt that the team would incur from building a new stadium on its own.  Simply, the owners have given the players too much money to build stadiums on their own.

Teams agreed to give 60 percent of every dollar made to players salaries, and benefits.  When I worked at Pizza Hut, as a shift manager, the store manager could only dedicate 25 percent of forecasted sales to labor.  So, National Football League players get more than double the percentage of labor of a normal store.

The salary cap is $118 million for an individual team to spend on players salary.  Eventhough, NFL total revenues are going up that might not be necessarily so for the 49ers.  Also, the salary cap might be more than 60 percent of a individual team. 

The plain fact of the matter is that if the city Of San Francisco, and its residents, are going to have pay for the stadium if they like it or not.

The San Francisco 49ers have been working feverishly to get a stadium proposal in place.  Even to the point that the team has added a new city to the mix as another option.

Santa Clara, and San Francisco itself have been the main targets for a new stadium for the 49ers.  With the city of San Francisco having trouble reaching a deal with a theme park; the team has added the nearby city of Brisbane to the mix.

Brisbane curt manager said this about it according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “I told that if a stadium were to be reviewed, now would be the time to do that,” City Manager Clay Holstine said.

By the looks of it eventually something is going to get done soon.