SANTA CLARA — The 49ers are a horrendous football team on the field, but it’s the incompetence of ownership and management that has pushed this faithful fan base to a state of torture.
The 49ers essentially punted on second down in the 2016 season. It’s over and we’re not even halfway through the year.
Beat reporters joked on Wednesday that it already feels like Week 17 in Santa Clara. And unless you want to talk about the team’s 32nd ranked run defense or their league leading 37 punts, the focus should be on the future.
Now, more than ever, is Jed York’s moment to prove he’s a capable leader and visionary owner. There’s a way for him to earn back trust from 49ers fans and credibility from people around the NFL, proving he’s furious with the direction of the franchise and willing to publicly admit he’s made a grave mistake.
All it will take is one meeting with GM Trent Baalke and news conference. But timing is everything here.
If York gets rid of Baalke before the end of the regular season, there’s four separate ways the franchise could benefit from the decision instantaneously.
A) It gives you proper time to put together a real search committee, instead of just handing the job over to assistant GM Tom Gamble. The best thing for the 49ers could be an entirely new set of eyes. You don’t want to be flying by the seat of your pants in January trying to find a new talent evaluator. Get the ball rolling now.
B) It shows the 49ers are done being a franchise who waits for the inevitable. It shows that York is willing to tackle a problem head-on, instead of continuing to let it fester. Why should he wait for some unwritten NFL rules about when to get rid of front office executives?
C) It serves as a vote of confidence to Chip Kelly, showing the head coach he’s clearly not responsible for an inevitable 4-12 record. Although Kelly seems really comfortable here in the Bay Area and there have been no reports of friction between he and Baalke, the allure of competing for championships at LSU might be too much to resist. Kelly has got to understand another 5-11 season will be on deck in 2017 unless the team makes drastic changes in the way they evaluate personnel.
D) Again, it would stir elation from a fan base who feels betrayed by York. There would be new hope, a turning of the page. There might even be a parade in the parking lot at Levi’s Stadium. It’s rare when nearly an entire fan base agrees it’s time for a GM to exit. And again, fans shouldn’t be a deciding part of any decision, but there’s a reason efficient NFL owners are able to keep their fan bases happy. At the end of the day, York needs and should want this affluent community invested in his football team.
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The damage has been done and there’s nothing left to fix. The 2016 San Francisco 49ers are Baalke’s creation. And this is nothing against him personally. This is about his inability to pick quality football players on both offense and defense. He can enjoy some time away from the NFL grind on the golf course.
Making this firing in October or November should not be viewed as hitting the red panic button. Nobody’s seat is hotter in the NFL than Baalke’s, who remember, was also fortunate enough to benefit from Scot McCloughan’s outstanding draft classes. Baalke was able to reap those rewards from 2011-2013, which has prolonged us all the way to 2016.
A small fraction of this move is for York to try and save face with his fan base — and his cousin Lisa, who rightly drew negative attention to his ownership on Twitter.
But this decision should be one of the easiest York has ever had to make. The 49ers are clearly one of the NFL’s least talented teams. It’s unacceptable and time to already start thinking about how to improve in 2017.
