What a game. It just shows what a good coach can do for a team

[BillsFever21]

The 49ers were just an average team for years and Alex Smith was a huge #1 bust. They had some young talent but they weren't very good. A lot of average teams have some decent young talent to work with. Just like the Bills. In comes Jim Harbaugh and they win 13 games and win an amazing game against the Saints.

This just shows what a good coach can do for a team. A good coaching staff can take an average team and turn them into a playoff team or contender. Bad coaches like Gailey and the ones we always hire continue to lead a team to mediocrity at best.

[djjimkelly]

the 49ers are littered with their own 1st and other teams former 1sts

gailey is solid

the ******* before him ruined the team

[Crisis]

I don't think San Fran is an average team... they're loaded with talent. They've been underachievers for the last few years.

[BillsFever21]

The bottom line is they were a 6 win team or so at best in the worst division in football and Smith was one of the worse starting QB's in the league. In one season he totally changed the team around and is getting the most out of Alex Smith.

Gailey is far from a solid coach. There is a reason why he wasn't wanted for over a decade and that the Bills were the only team who would even think about giving him a HC position let alone giving him the job. He even failed as a HC at the college level.

A good coach doesn't lose 8 games in a row his first season and then after a fortunate 5-2 start go in the tank and lose 8 out of their last 9 games long with another 7 game losing streak in his second season implementing his system and coaching his players.

If the rest of the NFL thought he was a solid HC he would've lasted longer then two years in Dallas and at some point over the past decade when about 50 HC's lost their jobs he wasn't considered for any of them.

Taking all of that into context and considering that the Bills are the worse team in the league over the past 12 years I would venture to guess that the rest of the NFL is a little better at judging coaching talent then Buffalo is.

I could see if he even succeeded in college but he was barely a .500 coach in college football with a combined record of 37-27. A solid NFL coach would dominate the collegiate level. His team never finished in the Top 25 once and only won two of six bowl games and lost his last four of them. If the rest of the NFL thought he was worth a damn one of them would've been calling over the past decade for him.

[Novacane]

I hate that ****er Harbaugh

[elltrain22]

Some will say, give this team time. Some will say, the Bills are just a pass rusher away, blah, blah, blah.... Step back for a sec. Lets harken back the last 13-14 years. Other teams, that are successful, build winners by smart, tacticle, and logical decisions. Teams like New England, SF, Pittsburgh, etc, draft well, trade down & acquire future picks, don't let good players just walk out of town, hire competent 1st rate coaches & staff, and realize what positions are most imperative to successfull football (QB, O-line, and D-line).

Look at the Bills the last 15 years. WTF do we have to show for it? Eric Moulds? Fred Jackson? Stevie Johnson? Aaron Schobel? Your either shaking your head b/c you know thats sorry as hell, or you're laughing your *** off b/c you know its true. Our track record this past 15 years is absolutely a calamity of mistakes. Horrible drafts, trading up & not down, reaching in the draft, not drafting "franchise" type QB's. Matter of fact, every draft, the past 15 years is the same. Lets reach like a mo-fo on our 1st round pick, make em think we'll take a QB or skill position w/ the 2nd, and then we draft a crappy DB who never pans out, then the rest of the draft ya hope for O-line & D-line, but instead we draft a 3rd down RB who gets cut in a year or two, another DB for special teams who gets cut in a year or 2, and then we wait till rds 6-7 to take O-line and D-line, and these schleps are so God awful, they don't our squad or anyone elses.

When it comes to Free Agency, I can remember one year where we made a splash getting Spikes, Malloy, and Adams, but since then our offseasons have a been a damn joke!! Trading a pro bowl LT in the prime of his career, letting 3 very good cb's walk out of town, depleting a decent LB'ing core, and then never trying to solidify it, and consistently fielding a weak defensive line.

Long story short, coaching is important, but its start from the top, and trickles down. These teams have great management, owners, GM's, and have smart people making smart decisions. Until we put smart people, that have a clue how to build a winner, this team is always going to be 5-11, 6-10, and if we're really lucky 7-9!! Buddy, Chan, and most, most, most of all Ralph have it all wrong now, then, and certainly could never convince me of anything to be hopeful for in the future.

[kingJofNYC]

Well said elltrain.

I'm willing to give the new guys a couple of more years before completely righting them off as well. Just trying to be somewhat optimistic, crazy is more like it.

SF is loaded, just goes to show you what coaching can do when you do have talent. Team was grossly mismanaged last season, everyone forgets that they were picked to win the West, **** division, but they couldn't even do that with Singletaryn behaving and coaching like a fool.

[imbondz]

Harbaugh single handedly turned that team around. Alex Smith said so in an interview. Said he's the best coach he's ever player for, makes him love football more than he ever has. One of the stats on Smith tonight said he's been in the league 7 years, and has had 7 different offensive coordinators.

[feldspar]

Harbaugh sure has done a great job there in San Fran. He didn't need this win to prove it...hell, Pete Carrol beat the Saints in his first year last year, too.

I'd say that 9 times out of 10, the 49ers lose that game. It took them FIVE turnovers for the game to go down to the wire. The Saints are a better team...just sayin'.

[Night Train]

My first thought when watching the game is how much more talent was on the field for both teams, compared to the Bills roster.

We are light years behind both. Vince Lombardi in his prime couldn't win more than 6 games with this team.

Wilson & his beancounters probably watched, not recognizing what they were viewing was actual professional football. Not the cut rate dreck they trot out yearly, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

[Historian]

This just shows what a good coach can do for a team. A good coaching staff can take an average team and turn them into a playoff team or contender. Bad coaches like Gailey and the ones we always hire continue to lead a team to mediocrity at best.

I agree, but the problem is....NOBODY WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN SPIT EVEN WANTED TO COACH HERE!

I'm sorry, but this all goes back to Wilson trying to stiff Wade Phillips out of the last year of his salary. (Which Wade was eventually awarded)

These guys are a tight fraternity. They talk. They play all the same golf benefits. Nobody wants to work for the guy.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

Then hire someone outside the fraternity. A blustering pundit, perhaps. Someone with swagger and the ability to innovate. John Harbaugh was not an NFL head coach before joining the Niners.

[TacklingDummy]

Sure is nice when your players perform.

[TacklingDummy]

Is Jim Caldwell a good coach or bad coach?

[Historian]

Is Jim Caldwell a good coach or bad coach?

He's the Indianapolis version of Kay Stevenson, or Joe Collier.

[better days]

Harbaugh single handedly turned that team around. Alex Smith said so in an interview. Said he's the best coach he's ever player for, makes him love football more than he ever has. One of the stats on Smith tonight said he's been in the league 7 years, and has had 7 different offensive coordinators.

Well, as others have said the 49ers had the players for Harbaugh to coach up. It takes BOTH GOOD players & GOOD Coaching to win in the NFL. Look at the Chargers, Marty had that team on the brink. After he was fired, they have only gotten worse.

Sadly before Nix & Gailey were hired, the Bills had neither. Nix is starting to bring in GOOD players, We will see how Gailey coaches them up next year.

[better days]

My first thought when watching the game is how much more talent was on the field for both teams, compared to the Bills roster.

We are light years behind both. Vince Lombardi in his prime couldn't win more than 6 games with this team.

Wilson & his beancounters probably watched, not recognizing what they were viewing was actual professional football. Not the cut rate dreck they trot out yearly, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.

Chans first year reminds me of the first year Chuck Knox came to Buffalo. You could see Knox knew how to Coach, but he did not have the players to do any better than 5-11.

His 2nd year, he had a 7-9 record. His 3rd year the Bills were 11-5 & won the AFC East. Knox left Buffalo when he and Ralph could not agree on a new contract & Knox moved on to Seattle.

[ServoBillieves]

Harbaugh sure has done a great job there in San Fran. He didn't need this win to prove it...hell, Pete Carrol beat the Saints in his first year last year, too.

I'd say that 9 times out of 10, the 49ers lose that game. It took them FIVE turnovers for the game to go down to the wire. The Saints are a better team...just sayin'.

Yup, because a defense causing turnovers isn't a part of the game and the Saints had a better record, also they are still in the playoffs with.

You're right... no no you're right.

[justasportsfan]

Sure is nice when your players perform.

yup, but a good coach gets the players to perform regardless of talent while a crappy coach puts his talent in positions to fail.

[JCBills]

The bottom line is they were a 6 win team or so at best in the worst division in football and Smith was one of the worse starting QB's in the league. In one season he totally changed the team around and is getting the most out of Alex Smith.

Gailey is far from a solid coach. There is a reason why he wasn't wanted for over a decade and that the Bills were the only team who would even think about giving him a HC position let alone giving him the job. He even failed as a HC at the college level.

A good coach doesn't lose 8 games in a row his first season and then after a fortunate 5-2 start go in the tank and lose 8 out of their last 9 games long with another 7 game losing streak in his second season implementing his system and coaching his players.

If the rest of the NFL thought he was a solid HC he would've lasted longer then two years in Dallas and at some point over the past decade when about 50 HC's lost their jobs he wasn't considered for any of them.

Taking all of that into context and considering that the Bills are the worse team in the league over the past 12 years I would venture to guess that the rest of the NFL is a little better at judging coaching talent then Buffalo is.

I could see if he even succeeded in college but he was barely a .500 coach in college football with a combined record of 37-27. A solid NFL coach would dominate the collegiate level. His team never finished in the Top 25 once and only won two of six bowl games and lost his last four of them. If the rest of the NFL thought he was worth a damn one of them would've been calling over the past decade for him.

Weaksauce. He took Dallas to the playoffs with an again roster, if anything that shows he's good.

And college and pro ball are different. Saban can't do jack in the league but dominates at the college level.

[feldspar]

Yup, because a defense causing turnovers isn't a part of the game and the Saints had a better record, also they are still in the playoffs with.

You're right... no no you're right.

Yeah, but you can't rely on turnovers. The Bills defense demonstrated that this year...half of our wins were basically because of turnovers. Not that the 49ers have a bad D, but, like I said, 9 out of 10 times the Saints win that game. All I said was the Saints are the better team. I AM right.

[BillsFever21]

Weaksauce. He took Dallas to the playoffs with an again roster, if anything that shows he's good.

And college and pro ball are different. Saban can't do jack in the league but dominates at the college level.
Big deal if he took the Cowboys to a couple playoff games. They also didn't win either of them. That doesn't make him a good HC. If he was then Dallas wouldn't have dumped him and SOMEBODY definitely would've picked him up. That was also 13 years ago. The NFL has changed a lot since then.

I don't really see the point in all this. Many coaches have coached their team to a playoff game but it doesn't mean they were a good coach. Dick Jauron led the Bears to a 13-3 record and was the Coach of the Year. Many thought he was a good hire just because of that one good season. How did that turn out? That's what I thought.

Todd Haley just coached the Chiefs to 11 wins and a divisional title last year and he couldn't even make it through the end of this season without being fired.

Caldwell was in the playoffs for the past two seasons and his team was in the Super Bowl. Does that mean he is a good HC?

Raheem Morris took a young Bucs team that wasn't any good for years and lead them to the playoffs last year and then this year they were awful. Does that make him a good coach too?

The list goes on and on of coaches who had been to the playoffs before but they weren't good enough coaches to sustain the success and continue improving the team.

It's coaches that can take an average team and make them a playoff team, a playoff team and make them a contender or a contending team and turn them into a winner or a dynasty. Them are what good coaches can do for a team.

A good coach has continued success and not just a playoff game or good year here and there. A good coach you can tell within two years of them installing their systems and coaching their players if they are any good if their team is improving. He took over a 6 or 7 win team every year and has lead them to 10 wins in two seasons.

Nothing that we have seen out of Gailey would lead you to believe he is getting the most out of the players. He has 10 wins in two seasons and had an 8 game losing streak and a 7 game losing streak in each season. Good coaches aren't gone from the league that long and have consecutive seasons of losses that string over half the season.

He isn't a rookie coach who is learning the ropes. Are we any better under Gailey then we were under Jauron or any of the other lame coaches we've had recently? I didn't think so.

A good coach like Harbaugh took an underachieving team and took them to a 13-3 record and now a shot at the Super Bowl all in his first season. That's what a good coach can do. They can get the most out of their players. Smith was left for dead as a sure bust and he has gotten the most out of him as possible. Davis had also been a big disappointment and now is playing like one of the best TE's in the league.

It's not just a Jim Harbaugh love thread because they won. It's an example of what a good coach can bring to a team. They can get the most out of their players and put them in a better position to succeed. There are many examples of it around the league.