USA Football

DICK NOLAN BROUGHT a struggling 49er franchise respectability and took them to the edge of greatness. Mike Nolan is trying to return the team to the glory years that came after his father left the team.

The Nolans are not the only father and son to serve as head coaches in the NFL. Bum and Wade Phillips have also accomplished that feat, and so have Don and Dave Shula along with Jim Mora and Jim Mora Jr. But the Nolans are the only father and son to serve as head coach of the same franchise.
 
The 49ers had played in two postseason games (1949 and 1957) when Dick Nolan took over as head coach on Jan. 19, 1968 - exactly 37 years to the day before Mike Nolan would be named to the position.
 
“The chemistry began to change when Dick Nolan showed up,” former 49ers quarterback John Brodie said. “He was as tough as any man I’ve ever known when it comes to effort expended. If you could measure success by time invested in getting a job done, Dick would be at the top of the list. He drove himself relentlessly.”
 
After two uninspiring seasons, Nolan charted a fresh history in 1970. The 49ers went 10-3-1 to win the first of their three consecutive NFC West titles, clinching the division with an emphatic 38-7 victory over the Raiders in Oakland in the final game of the regular season.
 
Nolan had shaped a strong defense featuring future Hall of Famer Dave Wilcox and two players, linebacker Skip Vanderbundt and defensive end Cedrick Hardman, drafted on Nolan’s watch. Plus, the offensive line superbly protected Brodie in ‘70 - he was sacked only eight times and often connected with swift second-year wide receiver Gene Washington, who averaged 20.8 yards on 53 catches.
 
“Dick was a defensive strategist,” Wilcox said. “He changed the attitude of the 49ers from what had been going on there for a while. It was a lot more detailed than what we had done prior to him coming to the team.”
 
The 49ers traveled to frigid Minnesota and snagged the franchise’s first NFL playoff victory. Then, in an NFC Championship Game that would become the start of a frustrating trend, the 49ers fell 17-10 to the Dallas Cowboys.
 
That was the final game at old Kezar Stadium, but the 49ers found a similar roadblock when they moved to Candlestick Park in ‘71. Brodie had a more erratic season, with 24 interceptions, but Nolan guided the 49ers to a 9-5 record and another division title.
 
The 49ers beat Washington in the first round of the playoffs, then met Dallas again in the NFC title game. This time, playing on the road in Texas Stadium, they generated little offense and lost 14-3, again falling just short of the Super Bowl.
 
Nolan’s 1972 team slipped into the playoffs at 8-5-1 and faced the all-too-familiar Cowboys in a first-round playoff game at Candlestick. San Francisco led 28-13 early in the fourth quarter, but Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach came off the bench and sparked a spirited comeback.
 
Staubach threw one touchdown pass with 1:30 left to pull the Cowboys within 28-23. Then, after Preston Riley infamously fumbled away the onside kick, the Cowboys recovered the ball and Staubach threw another touchdown pass to give Dallas a 30-28 win.
 
It was a painful way for Nolan to lose, especially going against his longtime friend and mentor, Cowboys coach Tom Landry.
 
“Dick Nolan against Tom Landry was like Tom Landry against Vince Lombardi,” Nolan told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2001. “Landry couldn’t get past Lombardi, and I didn’t get past Landry.
 
“But I’m still proud of what we did. At the end of that game in 1971, I told the team we’d be back again, and we were. We really worked well as a group. But we just didn’t have enough experience to get over the hill.”
 
Nolan and the 49ers soon slipped from contention. His teams posted 5-9, 6-8 and 5-9 records in his next three seasons, prompting his firing after the 1975 season. Nolan was 56-56-5, including the playoffs, as San Francisco’s head coach.
 
Near the end of his tenure with the 49ers, fans who had once cheered him as their savior instead cheered for his departure.
 
“That was the toughest time, but that’s the life of a coach,” Mike Nolan said. “My dad never took it personally, and he didn’t take it personally when it happened again in New Orleans.”
 
The younger Nolan was often at his father’s side, helping out in any way possible. From carrying water bottles to breaking down film of opponents, Mike slowly got immersed in professional football. A future in coaching was a given.
 
Nolan may have had a respected name, but he earned his rewards. He served as a college assistant from 1981 through 1986 and then moved on to the NFL and became one of the best defensive coaches in the game. He established an aggressive and thorough game plan in coaching the Broncos, Giants, Redskins and Jets, and then came into his own as the defensive coordinator of the Ravens from 2001-04. The team had been ferocious on defense before Nolan got there and he kept them at the top of their game for a sustained period.
 
The Niners hired him in 2005, hoping to get back to the greatness that defined the franchise during the 1980s and ‘90s, but the team has struggled to play respectably, particularly on offense. Nolan has gotten his share of the criticism because the NFL is simply about winning, and the rest is excuse-making.
 
However, Nolan has remained an interesting figure because he has managed to retain his job despite a 16-32 record over his first three seasons. When Nolan was hired, he shrewdly gained control of nearly all the personnel decisions within the organization. However, when his team went 5-11 in 2007, he was forced to surrender that power to Scot McCloughan, the team’s vice president of player personnel, in order to hold on to his job.
 
Despite the tough start to his head coaching career, Nolan has more than his share of supporters around the NFL. Former Bronco head coach Dan Reeves is among his biggest supporters, and he has gotten significant respect from Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells, Brian Billick and the late Bill Walsh.
 
Current struggles aside, Nolan is a football lifer who will almost certainly get new opportunities even if it doesn’t work out in San Francisco. Pro football is in his blood and he has the kind of track record and communication ability that will have earned him another chance.

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