Niners' York Could Make Decision on Nolan Today

The San Francisco 49ers might decide today whether to retain Mike Nolan as their coach.

Nolan met Monday with 49ers owner John York without having his job status resolved. The two are scheduled to meet again today.

The team canceled Nolan's season-ending news conference Monday. Nolan and York said little substantive to reporters when leaving the team's training facility.

The 49ers went 5-11 in a season in which they'd hoped to be playoff contenders after making progress last season under young quarterback Alex Smith and spending heavily in free agency in the offseason. They also traded for a second pick in the first round of the NFL draft last April, leaving them without a first-round choice this spring. The New England Patriots possess the first-round selection of the 49ers, the seventh overall pick.

But Smith suffered a shoulder injury early in the season and never fully recovered, returning to play but complaining of a sore forearm before having his season ended to undergo shoulder surgery. Smith and Nolan clashed privately and publicly over Nolan's handling of the young quarterback's injury, and the former top overall draft choice criticized Nolan harshly after the decision to end his season was made.

It also was a difficult season personally for Nolan. He endured the death of his father Dick, a former NFL coach.

Mike Nolan has coached the 49ers for three seasons, with a record of 16-32. The club has not had a .500 season or reached the playoffs under Nolan, a former defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens.

The 49ers have a potential replacement for Nolan already on their staff in assistant head coach and linebackers coach Mike Singletary, who also could be a top candidate for the head coaching vacancies of the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens. He is a former Ravens assistant.

There has been talk that the 49ers might try to hire Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator if the former St. Louis Rams head coach is fired as offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions.

By Mark Maske |  January 1, 2008; 8:59 AM ET  | Category:  49ers
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