New 49ers head coach gives team needed jolt
By Greg Beacham
Associated Press
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Mike Nolan's first full minicamp with the San Francisco 49ers began under bright sun and ended in a driving rain — and the rookie head coach loved every minute, every snap, every challenge.
Even while the wet ball slipped out of his players' hands during the two-minute drill that capped yesterday's final workout, Nolan's enthusiasm drove the workout. Wearing only shorts, a light sweater and a cap, he ran alongside his players and shouted instructions as rookie quarterback Alex Smith tried to lead a scoring drive against the defense.
Nolan
"That's what gets me energized more than anything else, is watching the guys out there making the players better," Nolan said. "My energy comes from watching our guys get into it, and I believe that's what I consistently saw throughout all the drills."
Since joining the club in January, Nolan has spent most of his first few months in San Francisco evaluating talent, glad-handing sponsors, hiring his staff — anything but doing his favorite part of the job. With the draft and other distractions behind him, the coach finally got to start coaching again.
"You can tell he loves this part of the game, working with players," quarterback Tim Rattay said. "He's a coach who likes to be out there in the middle of the action, and we need that."
Nolan was a defensive coordinator with Baltimore, Washington, the New York Giants and the New York Jets over the past 12 seasons, building a series of successful defenses but never earning a head job. According to most observers, he had a commanding presence and an outstanding reputation, but never the right timing to move forward.
But that wait led to a prime opportunity. Nolan convinced 49ers owner John York that he was the man to rebuild the franchise, and York essentially gave him total control of the club's football operations and personnel. Though he still hasn't coached a game, Nolan nearly has as much power as Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells or Andy Reid.
Though Nolan welcomes the extra responsibilities of overseeing a personnel department headed by Scot McCloughan, he loves the game even more. His assistants say he loves strategy meetings, when the staff plots the installation of a 3-4 defense.
"Coaching is teaching, and what gets me going out there is when I'm watching the (assistants) really teaching and coaching the guys up," Nolan said. "As simplistic as this term is, it's parenting also. As you watch the guys and the way they coach, there is some tough love involved, and that's the way it ought to be.
"You don't teach them all the same way, because some guys respond differently. ... I like our guys to be energetic. I like them to be aggressive coaches, and as they go along, they'll find out who takes a little more aggressiveness or who needs less."
Maybe Nolan's aptitude for those nuances is genetic: His father, Dick, coached the 49ers from 1968-75, winning three division titles.
Though most of his personnel work already has been done, Mike Nolan must make several big decisions in the next four months.
The 49ers' quarterback competition could go down to the final week of the preseason, with an injury-free Rattay determined to keep Smith in an understudy role for a season.
Nolan also must decide whether he's really prepared to go into next season with perhaps the NFL's least accomplished receiving corps.
But for all the 49ers' lingering deficiencies in personnel after the 2-14 debacle last season under Dennis Erickson, many could be improved simply through better coaching for the players already in garnet and gold.
"There's actually a method to the madness now," receiver Brandon Lloyd said. "There's guidelines and goals to follow. We're way ahead of where we were at this time last season, or at the end of last season. We're way better."
