SANTA CLARA -- Mike Nolan's reign as 49ers head coach came to an abrupt end according to several reports Monday mere hours after he assured a room full of reporters that we wasn't worried about his job. As of 7:30 p.m. PST, the 49ers still had not confirmed that Nolan had been let go.
As has been the case for the last three weeks, Nolan was peppered with questions about his job security at his regular 12:15 p.m. press conference at team headquarters. Asked why, after three losing seasons and a current four-game slide, he should keep his job, Nolan responded, "Why should I? Because it's my job right now and they basically gave me the job to do. I am the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers."
At some point in the afternoon, however, that changed.
Rumors of Nolan's firing began with an ESPN report that said he likely would be fired following Sunday's game against Seattle and would be replaced with assistant head coach Mike Singletary. Mid-season coaching changes have been done during the bye week in recent years and the 49ers have their bye Nov. 2. That report was quickly followed by another from Fox Sport's Jay Glazer that said Nolan had been fired Monday afternoon.
Perhaps because of his insistence on wearing a suit on the sideline, Nolan has a better reputation nationally than he does among 49ers fans. He has a .327 winning percentage after nearly three and a half seasons as head coach, and he had total control over both coaching a personnel for three of them.
In 2005, Nolan inherited one of the most talent-starved teams in the league, one that had gone 2-14 the year before under Dennis Erickson. The first major decision he made was hiring Scot McCloughan as his personnel director. The second was drafting Alex Smith with the No. 1 overall pick in April of that year.
Nolan won five games as a rookie head coach and seven games the following season when both Smith and Frank Gore appeared to be the foundation of a young and improving team.
The 49ers' fortunes began to unravel the following season with the departure of offensive coordinator Norv Turner. Nolan promoted quarterbacks coach Jim Hostler to the position, but the 49ers' stodgy offense struggled badly, finishing last in every major statistical category. Worse, Smith suffered a badly separated shoulder in the fourth game of the season, an injury that led to a long rift between the quarterback and Nolan.
This season, Nolan replaced Hostler with Mike Martz and his aggressive but high-risk offense. The 49ers' offense has improved to 23rd overall in the league under Martz and is averaging nearly 300 yards per game, a number they rarely approached in 2007.
But the defense, Nolan's strong suit and the perceived strength of the team, has been a disappointment, and is currently ranked 23rd in the league. Nolan and Martz also chose quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan, to lead the offense this year. O'Sullivan has floundered during the 49ers' current four-game slide; nine of his league-worst 10 interceptions have come during that stretch.
Following Sunday's loss to the Giants, Nolan said he would consider a coaching change. Before he was fired Monday, however, Nolan announced that O'Sullivan would continue to be the 49ers' starter.
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