I apologize to Alex Smith

[deep9er]

btw - whats your definition of "football guy"? a former GM, former HC, someone who has 20 years in another front office, former player, please provide an idea of what you mean? thanks

 

[sayheykid1]

A former GM or VP of football operations that makes the decisions on football operations. Who in the organization do you trust to guide the football side of operations?

 

[threelittleturds]

Who would you go out and hire? Who is this imaginary "football guy" available to the 49ers?

 

[deep9er]

A former GM or VP of football operations that makes the decisions on football operations. Who in the organization do you trust to guide the football side of operations?

so we have a GM but you want a former GM to call the shots? what does this do to Baalke's ability to do his job? what happens if they disagree on who to draft?

where do VP of football operations come from? what is their career path in order to become a VP of football operations? what makes a good VP a good VP?

 

[sayheykid1]

Who would you go out and hire? Who is this imaginary "football guy" available to the 49ers?

Are you insinuating that no one capable of running football operations has been available over the past 6 years?
Football executives are not imaginary and the reason the Niners haven't hired one is because they don't want one.

Do you think they should have hired one in the past and should have one now or do you think they have been going about things the right way?

 

[sayheykid1]

so we have a GM but you want a former GM to call the shots? what does this do to Baalke's ability to do his job? what happens if they disagree on who to draft?

where do VP of football operations come from? what is their career path in order to become a VP of football operations? what makes a good VP a good VP?

If Baalke is going to be that guy make him that guy without Jed and Paraag meddling with his decisions on all things football.

My problem is that the people that sit at the top of football operations all have shitty football resumes.

 

[threelittleturds]

Are you insinuating that no one capable of running football operations has been available over the past 6 years?
Football executives are not imaginary and the reason the Niners haven't hired one is because they don't want one.

Do you think they should have hired one in the past and should have one now or do you think they have been going about things the right way?

Ok, so I ask you who you'd hire. Then, in some bizarre fashion you take that as me insinuating no one was available the past 6 years. There is something very weird about you, either you're a complete fucking moron... or that troll hiding under a new ID.

I'm just going to take your avoidance at my very direct question as you saying, you have no clue who to hire because you don't know jack... and you just like to bitch about Alex Smith, Baalke, Jed, and Paraag... which is awfully familiar to that idiotic troll.

 

[sayheykid1]

Ok, so I ask you who you'd hire. Then, in some bizarre fashion you take that as me insinuating no one was available the past 6 years. There is something very weird about you, either you're a complete fucking moron... or that troll hiding under a new ID.

I'm just going to take your avoidance at my very direct question as you saying, you have no clue who to hire because you don't know jack... and you just like to bitch about Alex Smith, Baalke, Jed, and Paraag... which is awfully familiar to that idiotic troll.

First of all, I have posted under this name (well sayheykid_1) on ESPN since 1997. Second, I don't know who "that troll" is. Just because I have a problem with how this franchise has been run into the ground doesn't mean I am a troll or someone masquerading as someone else. Why are you so goddamn hostile?

What was the point of your question? It seems that you were insinuation that there was no one available to hire or that you just want to pick away at those who I might suggest. My point is that the Niners didn't think they need anyone but Jed and Paraag to run football operations.

I would have considered Holmgren to be a good choice to guide the Niners, Parcells would have made me happy, maybe someone like a Carl Peterson...Someone with some experience running football operations. Do you disagree that it would have made sense? I want one person that can be held accountable.

If you don't have any problem with the Yorks, Marathe and Baalke's past association you are the fucking idiot. Baalke gets a pass from me but he still deserves some skepticism IMO.

Please shove your paranoid troll nonsense up your ass, I have more credibility with being who I say I am than you do. It is a lame response to people that disagree with you.

 

[clyde_carbon]

Stop with the insults guys. Swearing is only allowed when it's not directed at other posters. Chill.

 

[sayheykid1]

Stop with the insults guys. Swearing is only allowed when it's not directed at other posters. Chill.

That's fair and to be honest I like the guy as a poster most of the time but he needs to chill out when he disagrees with someone and the troll paranoia thing is ridiculous.

I will avoid responding in kind.

 

[sayheykid1]

Back to Smith...I heard some more of his postgame comments this week and I loved what he had to say.
His comments after a huge win were all measured, he is aware of the rep of him and the team and realizes they have a lot to prove. Re: the Captain Comeback thing he brushed it off and I loved his "if we went deep in the playoffs" maybe we could talk about it then take. I also liked the comments about how Harbaugh talked about details and assumed that was in contrast to Sing's motivational talks and Nolan's inability to inspire or adjust.

I also liked the Camp Alex thing and his demeaner throughout all this. I think I react strongly at times to what I see as overly positive posts about Smith because I fear that it is all a tease and that the Niners will commit to him for another year or more and delay moving on but I am good with him starting now and I am rooting for him to succeed.

 

[Flyingiguana]

looking at the free agents next year it could end up being smith and josh johnson battling for the starting spot. if smith can keep developing throughout the season that'll be huge. my worry is we force another bad draft pick like kap

 

[threelittleturds]

looking at the free agents next year it could end up being smith and josh johnson battling for the starting spot. if smith can keep developing throughout the season that'll be huge. my worry is we force another bad draft pick like kap

We might see Josh Johnson, maybe even Matt Flynn. Flynn looked OK against the Patriots last year, but that might have been the same illusion as Kolb looking OK with the Eagles. Unless of course his hype machine raises his price tag to 60 million too, then Flynn can kick rocks.

 

[jordan20_3]

Matt Flynn

We might see Josh Johnson, maybe even Matt Flynn. Flynn looked OK against the Patriots last year, but that might have been the same illusion as Kolb looking OK with the Eagles. Unless of course his hype machine raises his price tag to 60 million too, then Flynn can kick rocks.

Is Flynn a FA after this season?

 

[FourBeeDen]

If Baalke is going to be that guy make him that guy without Jed and Paraag meddling with his decisions on all things football.

My problem is that the people that sit at the top of football operations all have shitty football resumes.

Just curious... You also have mentioned Paraag being involved in personnel related decision before in another thread. Reading his job description, his main primary focus is the organization's business operations and he is also their chief contract negotiator. In another thread you alluded to him being involved in personnel decisions and on this you are implying that he has influence on Baalke's decisions... Do you have a link to substantiate these allegations?

On the second part of your post, Baalke has a very extensive Football resume. He played LB in college. Served as Defensive lin coach at North Dakota State. He was part of the scouting staff in both the New your jets and Washington Redskins. He joined the Niners after the 2005 draft and has been part of the organozation since.

 

[threelittleturds]

Is Flynn a FA after this season?

Pretty sure he is, unless he foolishly signs to remain the backup instead of testing his luck as an eventual starter.

From Rotoworld: 2011: $600,000, 2012: Free Agent
Matt Flynn (Rotoworld)
If you want to hear some of the hype about the guy, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel claimed that Flynn had a better camp than Rodgers.

 

[sayheykid1]

Just curious... You also have mentioned Paraag being involved in personnel related decision before in another thread. Reading his job description, his main primary focus is the organization's business operations and he is also their chief contract negotiator. In another thread you alluded to him being involved in personnel decisions and on this you are implying that he has influence on Baalke's decisions... Do you have a link to substantiate these allegations?

On the second part of your post, Baalke has a very extensive Football resume. He played LB in college. Served as Defensive lin coach at North Dakota State. He was part of the scouting staff in both the New your jets and Washington Redskins. He joined the Niners after the 2005 draft and has been part of the organozation since.

Here are articles from 1995 about Marathe's talent judging system and about how he was involved in the coaching hunt.
WHO IS PARAAG MARATHE? / Numbers added up to quick rise - SFGate
Offensive Line - Page 1 - News - San Francisco - SF Weekly
He was the director of Football Ops in 2005.
In 2007 Kawakami wrote:
-Paraag Marathe, who is Jed’s favored aide and who the Yorks have considered as GM recently, and who wants much, much more football power.
Paraag Marathe, Rich McKay and Jed York: This could be your super-awesome 49ers 2008 braintrust | Talking Points
In 2008 and 2009 he was the VP of Football Operations.
Football Operations VPs are who GMs report to. This guy was as influential as anyone over the past 6 years.

I am all for giving Baalke a fair shot at this point but what he accomplished with the Niners from 2005-2010 is far from impressive. The Niners were a poor team both in the draft and in free agency over that time.

 

[threelittleturds]

I really don't understand the paranoia behind Paraag meddling with football decisions, like this is some evil plot where Jed is pulling an Al Davis and is just hiring GM's to sit in an office and pretend like they are working to satisfy the fans. While he and Paraag secretly call all the shots. Paraag is just a business man handling the business side of the operation. Negotiating contracts, managing the salary cap, making sure the 49ers obey the CBA, and assisting Baalke with personnel transactions. Which I'm going to take as he draws up the paperwork for when players get traded, cut, placed on IR, etc.. he's not there meddling with who the 49ers should keep.

Holmgren? Well, he wasn't available for hire the past 6 years until 2010. So, that is completely delusional to say he was out there for the taking the past 6 years. Besides that, the 49ers hired one of his "protege's" in McCloughan.. he was supposed to be the next up and coming Front Office guy from the school of Holmgren/Wolf after Ted Thompson. Jed took over in 2008, and who knows what went on with McCloughan if he had personal problems, or if Jed started to lose faith in him and was getting ready to replace him... or what.

Parcells? That dude is still grinding a 25 year old axe against Bill Walsh and the 49ers, do you honestly think he wants to work for the 49ers if he's crying about the 49ers cheating 25 years later... doesn't sound like someone who is sending in his resume to 4949 Centennial Blvd to me.

Peterson? He had a nice run with the Chiefs for 20 years... but 20 years and no Super Bowls doesn't sound like a winning formula to me. He drafted well, and brought in good coaches and free agents... but lacked the end result of at least one Super Bowl championship.

 

[deep9er]

If Baalke is going to be that guy make him that guy without Jed and Paraag meddling with his decisions on all things football.

My problem is that the people that sit at the top of football operations all have shitty football resumes.

everything i've read lead me to believe Baalke is that guy, i can't imagine Paraag having any say on talent evaluation? did he try to formulate some structure as a tool for the GM, probably? but can't see him making player decisions which is the key.

by being the Owner, Baalke has to report to Jed, no way you can remove the Owner from the FO? everything i've read indicated Jed DOESN'T get involved in the evaluation/decisions? he does approve big free agent signings as any Owner would.

so its really Baalke as the head of football operations, he makes the DECISIONS. this what you're asking for so not getting why you want yet another person in the mix? what decisions would he make?

 

[FourBeeDen]

Here are articles from 1995 about Marathe's talent judging system and about how he was involved in the coaching hunt.
WHO IS PARAAG MARATHE? / Numbers added up to quick rise - SFGate
Offensive Line - Page 1 - News - San Francisco - SF Weekly
He was the director of Football Ops in 2005.
In 2007 Kawakami wrote:
-Paraag Marathe, who is Jed’s favored aide and who the Yorks have considered as GM recently, and who wants much, much more football power.
Paraag Marathe, Rich McKay and Jed York: This could be your super-awesome 49ers 2008 braintrust | Talking Points
In 2008 and 2009 he was the VP of Football Operations.
Football Operations VPs are who GMs report to. This guy was as influential as anyone over the past 6 years.

I am all for giving Baalke a fair shot at this point but what he accomplished with the Niners from 2005-2010 is far from impressive. The Niners were a poor team both in the draft and in free agency over that time.

First off, I have to admit the Paraag Marathe Article is a great read... And he was involved in hiring Mike Nolan, who at that time was largely thought of by the media as a "good hire" ..

"...Most importantly (at least as far as the media are concerned), he was a football guy, with a football-guy pedigree. Nolan, like everyone on the team, has struggled this year, but he seems to have charmed the Niners' legion of critics. After his successful debut, for example, the Merc's Killion swooned: "He was a leader on the sideline, coordinating his team, planning his strategy, aware of everything.".."

But the thing that really drew my attention to the article is the way it contradicts the importance of being a "football guy" when it comes to the business side of football.

"...What's overlooked, or outright ignored, in this bickering over who can and can't be a football guy is the fact that football guys no longer drive the league. Today's NFL, 12 years into what's known aridly as the Salary Cap Era, is as much Paraag Marathe's as it is Vince Lombardi's. That's disconcerting to those who insist football stopped evolving around the time Lombardi was first hoisted on a set of shoulders, but there's no denying that what happens now in the front office, on all those kryptonite-powered laptops, all but decides what happens on the field. It's no coincidence that the best teams of the past few years -- Philadelphia and New England, last year's Super Bowl matchup, come to mind -- are also the most efficiently run businesses. Maybe the 49ers' problem isn't that they employ too many people like Marathe; maybe it's that they don't have enough..."

"...On résumé alone, for example, Atlanta General Manager Rich McKay is no more a football guy than Marathe; he was an attorney before entering the NFL, with no playing or coaching experience. Yet with time and good press McKay has earned a fraternity pin..."

Also, the article points out that the idea of "football guys" are more media driven rather than rerality riven...

"..What the 49ers are doing, as Schatz wrote in defense of Marathe in Pro Football Prospectus, "is not new." And yet the media insist on pushing a perception of the NFL as a wilderness of pure masculinity where no one need touch a computer..."


So in essence, this article basically contradicts the essentiallity ( I hope that's a word) of having a FO made yup of all football guys...