Faithful, how would you rank these 4 head coaches?
December 5, 2025
Faithful, how would you rank these 4 head coaches?
34 comments
Oh goodness, the Nolan-Singletary era from 05-10 were some of the most painful years for us, man 😭😭😭
Singleterry
Nolan
Chip
The snitch
Do I have to?
Four pounds of shit in a one pound bag.
The one who took his pants off at halftime is #1
The guy that farted in the press conference is dead last
Singletary gets a lot of heat but he actually started laying the foundation for Jed and I believe helped form the franchise to what it is today.
Honestly?
#1. Singletary #2 Tomsula #3. Nolan #4. Kelly
Edit: not basing this off W-L of course. Kelly was terrible, Nolan was a douchebag and threw players under the bus. At least Tomsula was well liked by the players and an in-house guy, and Singletary is a legendary HOFer who whipped some problem guys into shape and instilled a mentality.
Bad, Bad, pornstache, and bad
They are all number 4.
Oh shit I forgot all about chip kelly.
Dennis Erickson was worse than all of them.
That guy went 1-7 on the road in 2003 with a roster that had Garcia, Hearst and Owens. He lost the locker room early in the year.
That team still was very talented and had Mooch’s staff in Knapp and Mora
Just unfathomable. That started the dark years.
Last. They are all last.
Anyone who has said fire Shanahan, take a good look at this picture
I’m Rollin with Nolan
Tomsula as HC is still the funniest thing to me
Tomsula was definitely #1.
1. Singletary
2. Nolan
3. Tomsula
4. Kelly
Funny story: I used to be a sports production intern at KPIX my senior year of college when Singletary took over. Because I came into the office on Saturday’s and Sunday’s, I got to go to a ton of games and my first ever sports event on behalf of the company was during his infamous rant.
Let me tell you, he went off the rails for close to ten minutes, and it seemed like an eternity. All the reporters were just in shock from his incoherent rambling. After it ended, my boss turned to me and goes, “Just so you know, that’s not a normal thing you should expect at every game.”
Nolan was a slimy guy and made bad personnel decisions. Singletary was all rah-rah and was otherwise perpetually confused and unprepared. Tomsula had a bad roster and seemed over his head. Chip Kelly is hard to grade because he had one of the worst rosters in football and otherwise didn’t have much presence, that I remember. I’d probably give them all a D. I’d probably go Kelly, Nolan, Singletary, Tomsula, in that order.
Tomsula was the dive bar version of Mike McDaniel
Don’t forget about Dennis Erickson. Those were the dark days. People that want to fire Shanahan are idiotic. He is a top 5 coach in the NFL and would get a job for another franchise in 5 seconds. He would also cherry pick a franchise with an elite QB and win a Super Bowl.
Nolan is the worst. He single handedly destroyed Alex Smith’s career trajectory.
I’d easily take mile S as defensive coordinator and chip as a quarterback coach.
To put it into perspective, Tomsula was so bad that at the time I was actually excited about the Chip Kelly hiring.
The true test of a successful tenure is, Did you leave the place in better shape than you found it? Nolan number one by a mile. The niners were a tire fire when he took over. When Nolan left, we had a respectable roster with some talent on it. I think you guys forgot how bad it got before Nolan got here. Dennis Erikson anyone?
The other three are all tied with Erikson for last. Bad memories. Thanks.
You should get 985 Niner demerit points for posting this picture. I won’t be able to sleep tonight.
Jim tom should’ve never been a hc in the nfl
1 Singletary
2 Kelly
3 Nolan
4 Tomsula
Tomsula was so out of his depth as a HC it’s not funny. Nolan wasn’t much better, but at least he wasn’t an unintelligible buffoon at the podium.
Kelly had such a garbage roster, it’s hard to judge him fairly. I still wouldn’t want him coaching my team though. And Singletary, like others have said, did succeed in winning hearts and minds in the locker room. His work with Vernon Davis was pretty impressive.
God, this is actually harder than I thought! Doing my best to set aside differences in roster talent and just assess them on their actual coaching skills, I’d say: Kelly > Tomsula > Singletary > Nolan.
* **Kelly:** I know a 2-14 record is a 2-14 record, but I’m not sure a lot of fans remember just how barren that year’s roster was. IIRC, our only two offseason signings of note were Thad Lewis (who broke his leg in the preseason opener) and Zane Beadles. I do remember his offense being a step-up from Geep Chryst’s unit the year before. And I’ll also give him credit for keeping the locker room together and handling the media well amidst Kap’s protest that season.
* **Tomsula:** Was definitely in over his head as a head coach, but he at least kept the locker room together. And as forgettable as that 2015 season was, his defense generally played quite well at home, despite how much talent they lost that offseason.
* **Singletary:** I always got the vibe that he was a good “rah-rah” motivational type, but hapless when it came to scheme, etc.. I’ll give him credit for giving Vernon Davis the kick in the pants he needed to turn around his career, but I also have to mention him ending Eric Heitmann’s career because of his stupid “nutcracker” drill in camp.
* **Nolan**: I started actively following and cheering for the Niners during the mid-00s, so there is a bit of strange nostalgia for Nolan’s tenure. But, in all seriousness, while I can give him credit for laying some building blocks for the defense that would pay dividends in the Harbaugh era (switching us from a 4-3 to a 3-4, for instance), I don’t really know if I can praise him for anything else. Throwing Alex Smith under the bus and questioning his toughness was pretty despicable.
Had Chip Kelly not beat the Rams when we were already like 1-14, we would have been the #1 pick in the 2017 draft and would have drafted Myles Garrett at #1. Instead, we had #2 and traded with Chicago at #3 and took Soloman Thomas.
Shanahan started his career as our HC the year we could have drafted Myles fucking Garrett if not for that one meaningless win the year prior.
I’d still take any of these 4 over Dennis Erickson. The moment they hired him, I knew the Niners I grew up watching were dead and buried.
34 comments
Oh goodness, the Nolan-Singletary era from 05-10 were some of the most painful years for us, man 😭😭😭
Singleterry
Nolan
Chip
The snitch
Do I have to?
Four pounds of shit in a one pound bag.
The one who took his pants off at halftime is #1
The guy that farted in the press conference is dead last
Singletary gets a lot of heat but he actually started laying the foundation for Jed and I believe helped form the franchise to what it is today.
Honestly?
#1. Singletary #2 Tomsula #3. Nolan #4. Kelly
Edit: not basing this off W-L of course. Kelly was terrible, Nolan was a douchebag and threw players under the bus. At least Tomsula was well liked by the players and an in-house guy, and Singletary is a legendary HOFer who whipped some problem guys into shape and instilled a mentality.
Bad, Bad, pornstache, and bad
They are all number 4.
Oh shit I forgot all about chip kelly.
Dennis Erickson was worse than all of them.
That guy went 1-7 on the road in 2003 with a roster that had Garcia, Hearst and Owens. He lost the locker room early in the year.
That team still was very talented and had Mooch’s staff in Knapp and Mora
Just unfathomable. That started the dark years.
Last. They are all last.
Anyone who has said fire Shanahan, take a good look at this picture
I’m Rollin with Nolan
Tomsula as HC is still the funniest thing to me
Tomsula was definitely #1.
1. Singletary
2. Nolan
3. Tomsula
4. Kelly
Funny story: I used to be a sports production intern at KPIX my senior year of college when Singletary took over. Because I came into the office on Saturday’s and Sunday’s, I got to go to a ton of games and my first ever sports event on behalf of the company was during his infamous rant.
Let me tell you, he went off the rails for close to ten minutes, and it seemed like an eternity. All the reporters were just in shock from his incoherent rambling. After it ended, my boss turned to me and goes, “Just so you know, that’s not a normal thing you should expect at every game.”
Nolan was a slimy guy and made bad personnel decisions. Singletary was all rah-rah and was otherwise perpetually confused and unprepared. Tomsula had a bad roster and seemed over his head. Chip Kelly is hard to grade because he had one of the worst rosters in football and otherwise didn’t have much presence, that I remember. I’d probably give them all a D. I’d probably go Kelly, Nolan, Singletary, Tomsula, in that order.
Tomsula was the dive bar version of Mike McDaniel
Don’t forget about Dennis Erickson. Those were the dark days. People that want to fire Shanahan are idiotic. He is a top 5 coach in the NFL and would get a job for another franchise in 5 seconds. He would also cherry pick a franchise with an elite QB and win a Super Bowl.
Nolan is the worst. He single handedly destroyed Alex Smith’s career trajectory.
I’d easily take mile S as defensive coordinator and chip as a quarterback coach.
https://preview.redd.it/nbxca1pcmb5g1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=431ad9f090ed14a800b2b4cb117dfedbd82f57c6
“I didn’t make the cut?”
Nothing sexier than Mike Nolan in a suit
To put it into perspective, Tomsula was so bad that at the time I was actually excited about the Chip Kelly hiring.
The true test of a successful tenure is, Did you leave the place in better shape than you found it? Nolan number one by a mile. The niners were a tire fire when he took over. When Nolan left, we had a respectable roster with some talent on it. I think you guys forgot how bad it got before Nolan got here. Dennis Erikson anyone?
The other three are all tied with Erikson for last. Bad memories. Thanks.
You should get 985 Niner demerit points for posting this picture. I won’t be able to sleep tonight.
Jim tom should’ve never been a hc in the nfl
1 Singletary
2 Kelly
3 Nolan
4 Tomsula
Tomsula was so out of his depth as a HC it’s not funny. Nolan wasn’t much better, but at least he wasn’t an unintelligible buffoon at the podium.
Kelly had such a garbage roster, it’s hard to judge him fairly. I still wouldn’t want him coaching my team though. And Singletary, like others have said, did succeed in winning hearts and minds in the locker room. His work with Vernon Davis was pretty impressive.
God, this is actually harder than I thought! Doing my best to set aside differences in roster talent and just assess them on their actual coaching skills, I’d say: Kelly > Tomsula > Singletary > Nolan.
* **Kelly:** I know a 2-14 record is a 2-14 record, but I’m not sure a lot of fans remember just how barren that year’s roster was. IIRC, our only two offseason signings of note were Thad Lewis (who broke his leg in the preseason opener) and Zane Beadles. I do remember his offense being a step-up from Geep Chryst’s unit the year before. And I’ll also give him credit for keeping the locker room together and handling the media well amidst Kap’s protest that season.
* **Tomsula:** Was definitely in over his head as a head coach, but he at least kept the locker room together. And as forgettable as that 2015 season was, his defense generally played quite well at home, despite how much talent they lost that offseason.
* **Singletary:** I always got the vibe that he was a good “rah-rah” motivational type, but hapless when it came to scheme, etc.. I’ll give him credit for giving Vernon Davis the kick in the pants he needed to turn around his career, but I also have to mention him ending Eric Heitmann’s career because of his stupid “nutcracker” drill in camp.
* **Nolan**: I started actively following and cheering for the Niners during the mid-00s, so there is a bit of strange nostalgia for Nolan’s tenure. But, in all seriousness, while I can give him credit for laying some building blocks for the defense that would pay dividends in the Harbaugh era (switching us from a 4-3 to a 3-4, for instance), I don’t really know if I can praise him for anything else. Throwing Alex Smith under the bus and questioning his toughness was pretty despicable.
Had Chip Kelly not beat the Rams when we were already like 1-14, we would have been the #1 pick in the 2017 draft and would have drafted Myles Garrett at #1. Instead, we had #2 and traded with Chicago at #3 and took Soloman Thomas.
Shanahan started his career as our HC the year we could have drafted Myles fucking Garrett if not for that one meaningless win the year prior.
I’d still take any of these 4 over Dennis Erickson. The moment they hired him, I knew the Niners I grew up watching were dead and buried.