Briggs By the Bay

ChicagoSports.com is reporting that the Bears have resigned themselves to losing Lance Briggs to free agency, and it looks like he may land by the Bay. Briggs replacing Derek Smith alongside Willis? Everyone should be excited.

"I can go play with Bam Bam?! SWEET!"

This is an update from the scuttled trade deal the Niners and Bears worked on around the trading deadline, but that was scuttled. Hopefully McNolan can pull this off since this offseason will make or break their careers.

In other news, Nolan and staff will be coaching the Senior Bowl for the third straight year, which always helps get an upper hand in the draft. Of course, the coaching invitations go to the worst teams in the league. I think it's safe to say that this is Nolan's last appearance in Mobile - he'll either get this team out of the dumps in '08 or he won't be a head coach in January 2009.

It's Official - Willis Named DROY

One of the few bright spots for the 49ers all season was the play of their present and future defensive anchor, Patrick "Bam Bam"Willis, who was officially named AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Photo courtesy of NinersNation.com

Willis received 48 out of 50 total votes (2 going to the Panthers' Jon Beason). Even though Willis came into the league as a highly touted LB, it was probably his game-saving rundown of Sean Morey against the Cardinals and his monster performance against the Bucs that sealed the deal on this award. Congrats to Bam Bam and look forward to him wreaking havoc on the field for years.

Step 1: Cameron Fired

Cam Cameron has officially been relieved of his duties as the Dolphins' head coach. Let's see if the McNoughlan Twins can make the right move and bring him in to tutor Alex/Shaun, properly utilize Gore, and get The Disease to stop flexing for the mirror and working on his hands.

Cameron is a good fit for the few offensive pieces we have and the system Norv Turner put in place. His time as OC in San Diego helped turn LT and Gates into the premier players at their respective positions. Let's hope we can get him in here to do the same for this sad-sack offense.

Hostler Out, OC Search & Rumors Begin

With Jim Hostler now out of a picture he never should have been in, rumors are swirling around who the 49ers next OC will be. What used to be the most powerful coordinator position in the NFL (see Holmgren and Shanahan), it is now a coaching purgatory where the talent is useless and your boss will not hesitate to undercut your decision-making with his R2P2, early 1920s-era offensive mindset.

The early front-runners for the job are Mike Martz (aka Newman), Brian Billick, Chan Gailey, and Cam Cameron (if Bill Parcells decides to fire him in Miami). Let's just say I'm not tickled pink by any of those choices.

Change Are Not A-Comin'

Despite my optimism that something would change with this team to give the Faithful even a glimmer of hope for next year, the Yorks continue to fiddle while Ninerdom burns. Actually I guess ashes can't burn so maybe "weakly smolder" is more appropriate. In case you haven't heard, Nolan remains head coach and Scot McCloughan is the new GM. This duo does not inspire any confidence so let's just meet back here in a year to discuss who our new coach will be for the 2009 season.

Highlights of the press conference from ESPN are below.



My favorite line from Nolan: "This will allow me to focus some more on football issues." As opposed to when you were focused on trying to solve climate change or designing your Reebok suit and dress shirts last offseason? You coach a sub-par football team. Getting back to .500 would be considered a miracle. I can't take another season of his "stiff upper lip" bullshit.