49ers make the right moves in firing Nolan and promoting Singletary

I just heard that the 49ers reportedly fired coach Mike Nolan and replaced him with defensive coordinator Mike Singletary. So let's get right to the gut reactions. This was a good move, a necessary move by the 49ers. They should have fired Nolan after the disastrous 2007 season. Instead, John and Denise DeBartolo York let Nolan talk them into bringing him back. They stripped him of much of his front-office power and let him return as what could only be seen as a lame duck coach. For weeks, Nolan had that dead-man-coaching look. He knew what was coming. Nolan was 2-5 this season and 18-37 in three-plus years with the 49ers. In the cutthroat NFL, getting 55 games qualifies as more than a fair chance. Granted, he took over one of the worst teams in the league, almost void of talent. So Nolan deserves credit for raising the level of talent on the team. But the results just haven't followed. During his tenure, Nolan made far too many strange game-day decisions. His handling of...