Sgt Schultz

You have to wonder what would happen if we had a competition for the head coach. I think it would look like a Three Stooges short with Rhule.

I picked the Rams game yesterday, and I still think that could be ugly. But if the 49ers are hitting any kind of stride offensively, the first blowout could be this Sunday. I don't think it will be 49-7, but it could wind up being 23-3 and generally not in doubt sometime in the first half.

That is the way most NFL coaching contracts work. They are basically a personal services contract. If Tepper fires Rhule tomorrow, he has to pay him for the next 4+ years until the term of the contract runs out. By the same token, if Rhule takes another coaching job, his new salary (up to the $8.5M per year he is given here) offsets what Tepper pays him. So, if Arizona State pays him $6M a year, he gets that from ASU but only $2.5M from Tepper. Or he can negotiate a buyout with Tepper that effectively ends his contract here and he gets less that the remaining 4+ years worth, but his future salaries are free and clear. The normal offset also requires the coach actively seek another coaching job. So Rhule can't just sit on his arse in front of the tube and watch reruns of Gilligan's Island. That is, unless Tepper did something stupid and unusual in the contract (aside from the stupid and unusual of giving him full control over the roster). Considering Hurney was involved, anything is possible.

And none of them good.

How the hell does Rhule know anything about "Championship Football?" If Hoodie wants to give a lecture on championship football, I'll listen. If Jimmy Johnson wants to talk about it, sure. I'd be okay with Mike Shanahan talking about it. Parcells or Gibbs, sure. If somebody wants to dig up Lombardi's speeches, or Bill Walsh, or Knoll, or Madden, I'll give it a listen. If Nick Saban wants to deliver one (for college ball), I'll listen. All those guys have something in common that Matt Rhule does not have.

I don't think Tepper is trying to humiliate Rhule. He just hasn't figured out how to handle what has been a disaster. He would, however, like Rhule to stop humiliating him.

Right about now mediocrity looks pretty good. How do we achieve it from where we are?

Yes, The Process is working. Of course, that is the only response the crazy machine is programmed to give.

Turtling is responding, as is shrugging your shoulders, as is mumbling "here we go again." Not sure you know this, and maybe you should sit down for this pearl of wisdom, but Matt Rhule is full of dung. A pure, 100%, 24-carat BS artist.

Easy. Our kickers, Hekker and Pineiro.

Thanks. I wrote it and I don't know which one it is. Maybe both at the same time! When your kicker may be your MVP and your punter is your best passer, well, things are not where you might want them to be!

There are bright spots. Pineiro has been pretty much money in the bank. Hekker has been good, and perhaps is our best passer. Brown is asserting himself on the DL. Luvu has been in beast mode. Horn has looked like he will be a lock-down corner. The OL seems to be improving. There are others. But, we are a little like a car that ought to drive okay, has some great features, but the blasted computer that controls it all is utterly worthless and prevents anything from functioning at even a respectable level. It is just the stench of the brain trust overshadows them.

Minor correction: IS......is a moron. He has not stopped being one.

Unfortunately, with our offensive coaching staffs under Rhule, you could replace Bridgewater, Darnold, and Mayfield with Montana, Elway, and Brady and the results would not be drastically better. Some coaches can almost magically get the best from their talent. Ours tragically gets the worst. I don't even want to think about what would happen if we picked somebody high in the draft under this regime.

So, the process is working you say?

I'm not sure how they get money to come in for Carolina at 4.5. Truth is, I'm not sure what the spread would have to be to pique any interest. The thing about the 49ers is they looked anemic with JG, but he had not had any decent amount of work with the starters since he was persona non grata most of preseason. Whatever anybody thinks of him, he will catch his stride and what a golden opportunity this week. It's not that our defense might not give him something to think about, but I doubt our offense puts any pressure on the situation. I said last week I felt worse about our chances against the Niners than I did against the Cards. They do have some injuries, and they will be coming off a west coast MNF game, but even with those things factored in, I would think it would level off at somewhere in the 6-7.5 range.

At this point Tepper should try something new. Ask for fans interested in being a coach, and every week draw 15 names at random for the the game two or three weeks downstream. It may be his only avenue to generate any fan interest at this point. Keep one or two of the assistants around to make sure nobody is pulling anything against the rules (a Schiano), but otherwise, let them do what they want. It couldn't be any worse than the circus act we have now, and it might even be entertaining. I'm sure the players would hate it, but then again, they might be able to influence what is happening more than they are now. And yes, this is in jest.

The only reason it is that close is because they are not an offensive juggernaut. It could wind up being a 13-6 game or something similar. Unfortunately, that may lead to another press conference where our court jester announces the process is working.

But, their goal was to be selecting #1, presumably to win the Joe Burrow sweepstakes. They finished 2019 at 5-11, good enough to be tied for 5th worst and the #5 pick. The tanking effort, itself, was a failure. The Bengals, Foreskins, Lions, and Giants were all better natural tankers than the Dolphins were by trying. The fact that they turned the assets they got for trying to tank into valuable pieces is a different subject.

I think that could be the inevitable outcome no matter if we try or not. Purposely tanking never seems to work. The Dophins tried that and couldn't pull it off a few years ago. No matter how hard a team tries to be inept, some other team will be more inept just on its own merits. Unfortunately, I think we are that "some other team."

In a normal NFL coaching contract, yes. The amount the Panthers owe him would be offset by all or a major portion of whatever his new job pays him. Also, normally, the fired coach is required to actively seek another job. What Rhule's contract says on those matters may be different, although I would hope not.

I'm wondering the same thing. Here's the thing. Under Rhule's cast of clowns in the offensive show, we had Bridgewater complaining before and after he walked out the door (and Teddy generally doesn't say much), Darnold who may have been in a worse situation here than he was with the Jets, and now Mayfiled who may be in his worse situation as a pro (and unfortunately, it may not be close). None of these guys are going to be mention with the NFL's top tier QBs of all time, but I think their limited talents was hindered even more by our brilliant brain trusts.

I'm afraid the next thing to give will be the defense. It takes an overwhelming defense to carry the load week after week and have it translate to competitiveness, let alone wins. I have always thought Rhule would be given year 4 by Tepper before he punches his ticket, but I logged in this morning halfway expecting to see Rhule was asked to turn in his keys yesterday or early this morning. The problem with being a rah-rah BS artist leader is eventually the reality catches up to you. Most are savvy enough to sense that coming and ride off into the sunset, still armed with their magic elixir. The window to do that for Rhule probably has reached its peak, since I see his name mentioned with college jobs. Time to hitch them up and go. That leaves 2022 a wreck for the Panthers, but we knew that was a real possibility, if not a probability, before the season started.

I think this sums up the situation, Waldo. Tepper should be beyond the disbelief stage and probably past denial. Whether he is in the guilt/pain, bargaining, anger, depression, or acceptance phase is anybody's guess. I'm thinking anger or depression, but that's just me. I saw an article in the Arizona Republic (the big Phoenix newspaper) from about 3 days ago that was thinking Rhule was a leading name for the Arizona State job. Tepper may want to consider offering to pay for a new building or two on campus if they hire him.

I was thinking 8 was realistic. That was unrealistic given our brain trust. Truth is, on offense we look just as unprepared for the week's opponents as we did last year. That was part of what got me to check out on Rhule last year. I can handle losing, but I can't handle being completely inept. The defense looks better, but they are not good enough to pull a 1976 Steelers and carry a team to wins by stymieing to single-digits week after week. They are practically outscoring the offense, though. And if somebody pulls out the offensive scores against prevent defenses, the defense may be outscoring them.