San Francisco 49ers 2008 NFL Preview

 Head coach Mike Nolan finds himself on the hot seat heading into the 2008 season, and rightfully so after posting a very modest 16-32 record over three seasons. Without a marked improvement this year, he’ll probably be seeking employment during the next offseason. And there’s not much room to go anywhere but up after ranking near the bottom of the league on both sides of the ball.

Offense: Martz was brought in to turn around the offense and so far that has meant the benching of the 49ers QBOTF Alex Smith. J.T. O'Sullivan knows the offense and used that to his best advantage as the journeyman qb won the starting position outright. I don't think that is exactly a big vote of confidence for the fans though as much as a damning of Alex Smith and his ability to learn the complicated Martz offense. And if the very smart Alex Smith cant learn it it must be really complicated. Alex Smith is entering territory only seen before by the likes of Ryan Leaf. It is very hard to put all the blame on Smith though as Mike Martz is the fourth different offensive coordinator that Alex Smith has had in his four-year career. Basically we expect to see a horrible learning curve the first half of the year and some slight improvement in the second half. To pull the gun on Smith this early signifies a very bad future for this offense. We would cover the running game as well, but really what is the point, remember that Martz is the offensive coordinator here.