What grade would you give to Nolan up to this pt?

"He's a talented guy. But quarterback takes a lot of things. If you just said, height, weight, speed, arm strength, Alex would be the guy. But there is so much more than that. Tom Brady doesn't measure up to some guys." -- Nolan on 49ers quarterback Alex Smith.

The same thing could be said about Nolan:

"He's a talented guy. But Head Coach takes a lot of tings. If you just said, experience at coordinator level, inspirational speech, work ethics, Nolan would be the guy. But there is so much more than that. Bill Walsh doesn't measure up to some guys. --Bruyant on 49ers Head Coach Mike Nolan.

This guys surely talks like a great coach, but after 3 years of his performance, I am starting to wonder if he's the right guy to lead us. What grade would you give to Nolan up to this pt?

DARN, accidentally pressed "enter" before inputing other choices..I guess we can make A as for Approving the job that he has done and B for not approving.

I'm going to try and be objective here, and while making that effort I'm probably going to sound a little harsh.  

My reasoning:

1.  He has a losing record overall, and the team got worse after a year that showed some progress.   

2.  None of his draft picks other than Patrick Willis have reached their potential (I realize they still can). 

3.  He has in essence been forced to give up his GM powers, and the defensive play calling.  Clear signs to me that he was failing at both of those.

4. He still has his job (which I believe is a good thing).

Grade: D- 

Summary:  Since he still has a job you can't give him an "F" because technically he hasn't failed yet.  However I'd say he's as close as you can get to failing.  This is all coming from a big Mike Nolan fan, before Gore and Willis came along Nolan was my favorite Niner.  I like his style and attitude and think he'll be a good coach someday (it's been a baptism by fire so far), just hope he can turn it around before it's too late with the Niners.

In terms of evaluating talent, I would give him an "A", but coaches are measured by wins and Nolan simply hasn't come through where it counts most.  Generally speaking, Nolan is a good evaluator of player talent, but seems to be lacking when it comes to evaluating coaching talent.

This season he has one of the best offensive minds in football, so he may have turned a corner in his ability to bring in a solid staff, but he has to win and win NOW in order to hold his job, so it's hard to judge his overall abilities as a coach without seeing how Martz pans out (which also could drop his "A" for player evaluations if Smith turns out to be a bust).

Overall, I would put him at a C- due to an "A" for player talent and a "F" for coaching talent.  I also think he would get a D- for his coaching philosophy, which I think led to the poor OC situation last year....essentially, he let his, "we can win with a good defense and an offense that doesn't screw up too bad" philosophy cloud his judgment when picking an OC.  I think he felt that the offense wasn't a major issue and that status quo, from the previous year, would be more than enough to win the west (with great defensive play coupled with a good season from Gore).

Of course, some defenses have won championships, but those defenses tend to be great defenses, historically speaking.  The Ravens had one of, if not, the best defenses, statistically speaking, in NFL history when they won their SB and I think Nolan conflates "best in history" with above average when he looks at the big picture.

So far, as a GM, an A, minus his decision to take Alex Smith first, the drafting has generally been solid.

As a Head Coach who needs to get the best out of his players every sunday, I'll give him a C. The players just don't seem motivated, confident, and really don't seem to know what they're doing out there sometimes.

They have little or no confidence in the play that's been called.