San Francisco 49ers - NFL Season Information, Trivia and History

2011-12 NFL Season

The San Francisco 49er’s fired Head Coach Mike Singletary directly after the team’s loss to the St. Louis Rams. Afterwards, team owner Jed York promoted the VP of Player Personnel, Trent Baalke to the position of General Manager and left it up to him to find a new coach. Twelve days later, the 49ers signed former Stanford Head Coach and former NFL QB Jim Harbaugh as the 18th head coach of the team. The team also signed on Vic Fangio as the teams new Defensive Coordinator.

There is also a quarterback controversy of sorts as Coach Harbaugh spoke about unrestricted free agent QB Alex Smith, which is a violation of NFL rules. "He's a neat guy. I'm really interested in him, in just the character of Alex Smith. He's been maligned by the hometown fans there. And his family's had to read a lot of that on the internet. And he's really even been thrown under the bus by his own team more than once. And the kind of character of a guy that would want to come back, prove himself with that same football team, that's (a) rare kind of character. (It) probably falls somewhere in the endangered and extinct range. So we can win with that." Team mates also staunchly back Smith. "It's amazing how much he knows. He knows all the ins and outs of everything we've got. I'm behind him 100 percent. When your quarterback is speaking the offense as fluent as he is, it's going to be a great year,” RB Anthony Dixon said recently and WR Josh Morgan called Smith a “Player-Coach.”

In the draft, the 49er’s used their first round (7th overall selection) on Nebraska DE Aldon Smith. Smith has had a reputation as a sack master since his high school days. "I think my first sack," Smith said at the scouting combine when asked when he first realized he could really get after quarterbacks. "My coach just kind of yelled at me and let me know everything. He pulled me aside after my first game and told me I had a little special ability." The teams 2nd round selection (4th pick, 36th overall selection) went to standout Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick, a 6’5” 240 pounder who can run the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds. That athleticism allowed him to become the first QB in NCAA Division I-A history to throw for more than 2,000 yards (2,849) and rush for more than 1,000 (1,130). The WAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2010 leaves as the only player in college football history to rush for 4,000 yards, throw for 9,000 yards and only the third QB in NCAA history to pass for 20 touchdowns and rush for 20 touchdowns in a single season and the first in history to hit the 2,000 passing, 1,000 rushing for three consecutive seasons.

Outlook: The 49er’s have the talent to make it to the playoffs but lack the toughness. If the team has time to jell and get on the same page with their new head coach and new Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio can get his defense to defend the pass (they were 23rd in the league in 2010) they have a legitimate shot at the NFC West crown and beyond.

San Francisco Archives

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the most recognizable and respected franchises in all of sports. The team is almost always a legitimate contender for a Super Bowl. They’ve won 17 divisional titles, five NFC championships and five Super Bowl championships since 1970. The 49ers ran off four of their five Super Bowl rings during the ‘80s. The 49ers of the ’80s were one of the great dynasties of the National Football League. The team featured Hall of Famers like Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, and Jerry Rice. The team also featured greats like Roger Craig, Dwight Clark, Randy Cross, Michael Carter and Charles Haley. Their greatest season came in 1984 when the team went 15-1 in the regular season and then went on to win the Super Bowl over the Miami Dolphins 38-16. In more recent memory the 49ers went through a rebuilding process during the ’99 and ’00 seasons and had their first two consecutive losing seasons since the ’79-’80 seasons. After those two seasons the 49ers turned it around again and won the NFC West again and got back into the postseason.

Last year the 49ers started the season off by firing their head coach, Steve Mariucci, the man who had rebuilt the entire roster and made them into contenders and ownership brought in Dennis Erickson to be the leader of the team. They finished with a 7-9 record due largely in part to the injury bug. Back-up quarterback Tim Rattay was called into action on four different occasions so Jeff Garcia could rest his aching back. Wide receiver Terrell Owens missed two games and running back Kevan Barlow missed a game. They finished the year with a 7-9 record and missed the playoffs with essentially the same roster from the year before.

The 49ers realized they needed to shake things up to get back to the Promised Land of another Super Bowl appearance and they did just that this off-season. Management knew they couldn’t sign both of their marquee free agents Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens so they got rid of both of them. The 49ers had already inked a deal with the Ravens that would send TO to Baltimore but Owens didn’t like Baltimore so he went to the Players Association and got them to undo the trade. Owens was then traded to the Eagles for defensive end Brandon Whiting and a number of draft picks. They just released big contributors Garcia, offensive tackle Derrick Deese, and running back Garrison Hearst so they could get their big contracts off of the payroll. They also didn’t resign wide receiver Tai Streets and defensive back Jason Webster.

The 49ers did come out of the draft pretty ok. They picked up some players that they needed but didn’t grab the quarterback they needed so badly. With their only first round pick the 49ers drafted Oklahoma State standout wide receiver Rashaun Woods. Woods isn’t exactly Terrell Owens but he possesses a lot of the skills that are required to be a good wide receiver in the NFL. In the second round the 49ers picked up Alabama guard Justin Smiley and Pittsburgh cornerback Shawntae Taylor. The 49ers did take a flyer on Washington quarterback Cody Pickett and picked him up with a 7th round pick. He more than likely won’t see the field this year but might develop into a good quarterback years down the line.

The 49ers were led in passing yards and in receiving yards by Garcia and Owens Without Owens the 49ers would be able to keep their offense afloat but since they got rid of both of them it seems that the 49ers won’t be putting very many points on the board. Unless Rattay or Ken Dorsey come out of nowhere to have a Pro Bowl season or if running back Kevan Barlow can get the job done with eight guys in the box all year the 49ers won’t be the most prolific scoring team in the league.

The Niners’ defense is a very solid group that was kept in tact for the most part. The team is led by linebacker Julian Peterson and cornerback Ahmed Plummer. Both of these guys were part of the most recent rebuilding process. The team finished at a decent 15th overall in total defense and will be spending a good amount of time on the field unless the offense can keep on moving the chains.