Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

When most coaches come into the NFL, there is normally a lot of turnover. While Harbaugh has done an excellent job getting the most production out of the talent and possibly more than any coach in the league could, it goes without saying that credit for building this team should be spread around.

Former GM Scot McCloughan has probably the biggest contribution to this team for someone not currently working for the franchise. For those who don’t remember, he was the general manager who started in 2005 and recruited current GM Trent Baalke to be a scout. Baalke is a big key in Coach Jim Harbaugh being with the organization.

McCloughan orchestrated some great drafts, most notably the 2007 draft that landed guys like Patrick, Willis, Joe Staley, Ray McDonald, Dashon Goldson, and Tarell Brown. Add in key players such as Alex Smith, Frank Gore, and Vernon Davis among others and his time was well served.

Head Coach Mike Nolan was with the 49ers from 2005 to midway thru the 2008 season. Overall as coach he went 18-37, which led to many high picks in the draft. While he won’t be remembered in 49er lore, his contributions on building a defense is still evident. Patrick Willis is probably the player that gained the most out of having Nolan as a coach.

Head Coach Mike Singletary is better known for his competitiveness on the football field. The fiery, run first play defense mentality coach really wanted to establish a toughness persona that the current Niners are personifying. In the 2010 draft he not only when offensive line with the 11^th pick, but with their second pick in the 1^st round. Those 2 players, T Anthony Davis and G Mike Iupati have really changed the 49ers front and made it a major strength of the team. Add in Navarro Bowman from the same year and you have some of the best young players at their respective positions.

Singletary is a great motivation coach, which players love to play for. His biggest problem was he couldn’t game-plan. Singletary was taking over because expectations were high and weren’t being met. The talent was there, the main piece missing was a coach to lead this team.

That brings us to a player, one most Niner fans were ready to dismiss years ago. Alex Smith deserves a lot of credit for the team being in this position. There were many times in his career he could have walked away from this organization. He had taken pay cuts, dealt with having a horrible core around him and some subpar coaches, but through it all he stayed.

This year wasn’t much different for him, he could have been more outspoken about the switch at quarterback, he could have been a nuisance in the locker room, and he wasn’t. He once again took a high road and helped Kaepernick prepare for every game. It doesn’t happen often when a guy loses his job that he goes and helps the guy that replaces him get better. Alex Smith is a true teammate, a true 49er, and while it won’t be him leading the team on the field in Superbowl XLVII, he will have a stake in getting us there.

Sure these guys aren’t going to be getting the glory Superbowl Sunday, but they’ve had a lasting impact on this team. When we see papers Monday morning (okay so it might be the headline when you get on the internet), hopefully we’ll be seeing the headlines claiming the Quest For Six is complete, and how the current coaches and players deserve the accolades, but true Niner fans will have some respect for the men along the way.

Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE

The San Francisco 49ers organization will see a very familiar face across the field, on the opponents sideline in tonight’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings: former head coach Mike Singletary.  The former 49ers head coach will be in San Francisco for the first time since he was fired in December 2010.  Singletary has spent the last two years as the Vikings linebacker coach.

Jim Harbaugh and Singletary were teammates from 1987-1992 when both played for the Bears.  Current Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier was also teammates with Singletary on the Bears, although from 1981-1986, and he hired Singletary shortly after the 2010 season.

It will be interesting to see the reaction to Singletary from the 49ers Faithful.  Assistant coaches are never introduced so Niner fans may not get their chance to cheer/jeer Singletary.  The only way would be if the former 49ers head coach is shown on the jumbotron, which is not out of the question.  I would hope Niner fans cheer for Singletary if they get the chance.  As much grief and heartache Singletary’s led 49ers had on the fans, he was partly responsible for the 49ers resurgence last season.

First, Harbaugh inherited a team that had great chemistry in the locker-room even though many of the players started tuning Singletary out towards the end of the season.  Second, Singletary turned around players like Vernon Davis, Ahmad Brooks and Tarell Brown who are now big contributors to the 49ers success.  Still, it’s hard to shake off all of the vanilla game plans the offense ran under Singletary.  Who can forget his goal of running the football 60% of the time each game.  Luckily now, because of Harbaugh, Niner fans can look back on the Singletary days in reflection, rather than complete hatred with the team coming off a 13-3 season and an NFC title game appearance.

When Alex Smith was asked about Singletary and if he would seek him, he said, “If we see him. I’m getting ready to play a game. I’m not thinking about seeing anybody or anything like that. But, yeah, our relationship is fine.”

Singletary did an interview this week and here is some of what he said,

No. 1, I’ll always be indebted to the 49ers. They gave me an opportunity when they could have chosen many others in their organization. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to get a first-hand look at an organization that really wants to win. I’ve learned a lot in the past year and a half, and a lot goes into the progress and process of becoming the best coach ever.