The 49ers say they aren’t panicking about their communication problems over the weekend, but they recognize they have significant issues that need to be addressed.
Mike Singletary is calling post-game team meetings. He’s doing one-on-one interviews to explain that things will be corrected, but that the coaching staff needs to be better.
Still, he doesn’t know exactly how he’ll fix the team’s tendency to take too long to get playcalls in to quarterback Alex Smith.
“[Offensive Coordinator] Jimmy [Raye] understands he has to do a better job getting it in,” Singletary said. “We’re going to work on it this week. Jimmy is going to remain the play-caller. That’s what he’s here for. Whether he’s in the booth or on the field, we’re going to figure it out.”
This is basic stuff and Singletary is no longer a rookie coach. Yahoo’s Jason Cole said these playcalling problems have been festering for a year. Raye is taking most of the heat.
“[Raye] knows the plays and he knows the right thing to call, but he’s fumbling through his papers and it’s like, ‘Hey, we need to get a play called,'” a source told Cole.
The communication issues in San Francisco seem to go beyond the playcalling. Singletary called the late night team meeting in part to tell the players he ripped after the game that they are all on the same side.
“I wanted to make sure that guys understood exactly what I meant of the things that I said after the game and to make sure that one of the most important things is that we stay together, as coaches and players,” Singletary said.
It’s only Week Two, but this is a critical challenge for Singletary as a head coach. Cole writes that the playcalling problems and the lack of a clear solution to them could “undermine the already tepid trust the players have in the coaching staff.”
The 49ers embraced the high expectations they had this year. Mike Singletary wants this team to be more professional than it has been in the last decade. To do that, he has to solve the kind of problems that team meetings and speeches can’t fix.
He has to show to his players that he’s got things under control.
