Niners Nation Q&A

Frank Gore finally got back to the practice field yesterday for the first time in over two weeks. It was limited participation, but certainly an improvement over the last couple weeks. He’s 22 yards shy of 1,000 (he’d be the first 49er ever to get 1,000 yards in three straight seasons). Also, he’s got the U rivalry with Clinton Portis so he’s gonna do everything he can to play.

As for Singletary, we all love him. He doesn’t have a ton of experience as a coach, but he has shown the leadership skills necessary for any good coach. He actually was motivational speaker after his pro career and I think that’s carried over to his coaching career. All the players support him and want him back next year. Singletary tossed Vernon Davis out of his first game as head coach and Davis is now one of his biggest proponents. The players know where they stand with him, which is an important aspect of the position.

It’s being reported that he is likely to be offered a multi-year deal as soon as the season is over. Needless to say, I’m quite pleased with this development.

I definitely think the Yorks have caused some issues with the team, but there are two things to keep in mind. First off, the salary cap hell that destroyed the team at the turn of the century was due in large part to the salary cap shenanigans of Eddie D and Carmen Policy. So one could argue the Yorks were starting behind the 8-ball when they took control.

At the same time, the York have had some screwups during their tenure (see Donahue, Terry and Erickson, Dennis). Since then, ownership seems to be wising up. While Mike Nolan didn’t turn the team around, he cleaned out the riff-raff and got the franchise’s salary cap affairs in order.

I think the team is at a point where they can definitely take the key step forward to a playoff and possibly a championship squad (eventually). Aside from stepping back from the football operations, the face of ownership has been changed to that of Jed York. Jed is Eddie D’s godson and seems to have a bit of his panache. We’ll see how it works out, but I think they’ve turned into an ownership group that is an advantage for the team. They’re clearly willing to spend big on free agents (Justin Smith, Nate Clements) so I think things are going in the right direction.