When do the 49ers fire Nolan?

When do the 49ers fire coach Mike Nolan? I ask this question because his tenure has been an obvious failure – the loss at Atlanta was the worst humiliation in a string of humiliations. So when does the guy get the ax? Or to be more generous, what can the 49ers do to delay his firing?

If there’s any hope for Nolan – it’s unclear there is – one thing has to happen fast. Owner John York needs to strip Nolan of his dual role as general manager and head coach, and make him only the head coach. I’m not sure they actually call Nolan general manager. He’s beyond general manager. He’s the 49er football czar, in charge of everything having to do with the team, and I understand why York gave Nolan all that power.

Terry Donahue, the previous general manager, was an abject failure who ruined the team and York did not want to repeat that fiasco. So he combined general manager and coach in one position and hoped for the best. Fair enough. Except he didn’t get the best. He got the worst.

Nolan knows zilch about being a general manager, has no experience or talent in that area. I don’t blame him for it. He is a coach, a lifer, and his focus is narrow. He understands nothing about putting together a team. He thinks he knows what he’s doing, but that’s part of his delusion.

York immediately needs to take general-manager duties away from Nolan and grant them to Scot McCloughan, vice president of player personnel. McCloughan is a good football man and could perform better than Nolan, but if York can find someone better than McCloughan that’s OK by me. The only one he can’t select is Nolan, who has de-selected himself by incompetence under fire.

This demotion is not so humbling for Nolan when you think about historical precedent. Sure, Bill Walsh could do all the football jobs and so could Jimmy Johnson. But they are (were) special men, and Walsh really was a football genius.

Other great coaches cannot perform both roles. Like Mike Holmgren. We knows he’s a terrific coach, but he was floundering in Seattle until management took away his general manager duties after the 2002 season – it’s what I’m suggesting the Niners do to Nolan. When Holmgren could focus exclusively on coaching he became a better coach and took the Seahawks to the Super Bowl after the 2005 season.

Mike Shanahan, a superior coach to Nolan, has both roles and is not doing a good job this season in Denver. Maybe someone needs to demote him. The point is, Nolan hasn’t even shown he can win. Asking him to be czar and coach is beyond him.

There’s something else. Nolan is a bad offensive coach, knows nothing about offense, doesn’t even know the plays. He’s certainly not what you’d expect from a head coach, and he desperately needs help in the offensive area. He did OK last year because he ceded the offense to Norv Turner who was, in effect, the head coach for offense. Without Turner or a Turnerlike person, Nolan is up the creek.

His current offensive coordinator, Jim Hostler, is a beginner, has no experience and is learning on the job. That’s a serious no-no for a team that was supposed to be a playoff contender – forget that – and for a team that wants a new stadium. With Hostler and Nolan the Niners will be lucky to sell out the rest of their home games this season. The way things are going they can forget about a stadium.

Nolan needs to bring in a big-time football guy to run the offense.

It is a sign of his inexperience that he chose Hostler in the first place. I’d like to suggest Sam Wyche who is retired and, according to what Bill Walsh once told me, is the most creative assistant coach he ever developed.

What’s the benefit of Wyche? He is smart. He is experienced. He was a 49er assistant in the glory years and he understands the West Coast Offense and he understands the Niner mindset and is a link to the 49er past. If Nolan doesn’t want Wyche, that’s his business. Let him find someone as good or better. And let him do it fast.

You see the seriousness of Nolan’s position. He needs to make big changes and these changes involve diminishing his role. So, how long does he get before York fires him? That’s easy. He gets the rest of this season and he gets next season. If he makes these changes and the team does better in 2008, well, good for him.

But if the same ineptitude prevails next year, York should fire him during the season or immediately after. Enough is enough.

What I’ve proposed is fair, and I hope Nolan takes it that way.

Someone needs to save him from himself.

You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.