Elite to Laughingstock: Tracing the San Francisco 49ers’ Fall from Grace

The San Francisco 49ers enter 2016 looking for a new head coach and trying to move beyond a last-place finish in the NFC West. It has been a hard fall for what was one of the NFL’s elite teams not long ago. Exactly how did the Niners reach this point? Niner Noise takes a look.

The cloudy and rainy skies that have dominated the Bay Area since the start of 2016 are a perfect metaphor for what has happened to the San Francisco 49ers over the previous year.

Like the weather, the 49ers are gloomy, depressing, cold and dreary. While Northern California needs the rain, the 49er Faithful don’t need any more woeful seasons from their franchise.

It wasn’t long ago when the Niners were among the NFL’s elite teams. Yes, the years between 2003 and 2010 were about as rough as it gets for a once-proud franchise. But all that changed in 2011 with the hiring of head coach Jim Harbaugh, who ushered in a new era in San Francisco.

That era marked three-consecutive NFC Championship appearances and one Super Bowl loss — years in which Harbaugh and the 49ers remained at the top echelon of NFL franchises.

But Harbaugh is gone and so is his successor, former head coach Jim Tomsula. And the 49ers have nothing but a 5-11 record over the course of a boring year to look at.

How did this all come to be? Exactly why did the 49ers go from an elite franchise to one of the league’s laughingstocks in such a short period of time.

Let’s try to answer that.

The Rise to the Top

In order to understand San Francisco’s decent into apathy, one has to look at the ascension. The 49ers were bad, really bad, between 2003 and 2010 and underwent a slew of head-coaching and coordinator carousels amidst a bad and underperforming roster.

But that roster slowly started to improve. Much of this was due to San Francisco netting a lot of high draft picks year after year.

Think about some of the players the 49ers landed during those down years and how they wound up impacting the franchise. Running back Frank Gore, tight end Vernon Davis, linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman, tackles Joe Staley and Anthony Davis as well as guard Mike Iupati were just some of the cast members selected during those dark seasons.

And each would have tremendous impact over the 49ers rise to prominence.

Dylan DeSimone, formerly of Bleacher Report and now with CSN Authentic, put together an excellent piece chronicling San Francisco’s ascent through 2013.

One of his conclusions was from the 2005 NFL draft. Had the 49ers selected quarterback Aaron Rodgers first overall instead of fellow QB Alex Smith, San Francisco may have gotten a few more wins but would have missed out on some of the higher picks.

DeSimone writes:

"First and foremost, if Mike Nolan does not take Alex Smith at No. 1 overall in 2005, there is a high probability the 49ers do not wind up with this pristine roster. The potential selection of Aaron Rodgers would have forever altered history in San Francisco.This was the decision that set forth a domino effect, ultimately resulting in one of the most talent-laden rosters in the league.If Rodgers landed in San Francisco and was even two-thirds the player he is now, the 49ers would’ve won more games and had later draft picks. And in all likelihood, high first-rounders like Michael Crabtree, Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis might not be in the Bay Area."

The 49ers then parted ways with head coaches Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary and hired Harbaugh to take over what was a talented, if underachieving, roster. Combine that with an excellent 2011 draft from general manager Trent Baalke, and the 49ers were off to their three-year playoff run.

Cracks Begin to Show

This much is known: Harbaugh got the most out of his players between 2011 and 2013. That part isn’t up for debate.

But rifts between Harbaugh and the front office began to show and were fully revealed during the 2014 season — a year in which a still-talented San Francisco team went 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the first time during Harbaugh’s tenure.

Before the season began, news of a rift between Harbaugh and Baalke began to permeate through the media. According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (h/t Matt Verderame of SB Nation), Harbaugh and Baalke were barely speaking. Harbaugh also had a tense relationship with then-team president Paraag Marathe.

All of this culminated into rumors that Harbaugh would either be traded or even released, as discussed further by Jason Cole of Bleacher Report:

There was conflict between Harbaugh and the players themselves. Although there was a variety of responses depending on which 49er was speaking.

Perhaps the most blunt comments came from offensive guard Alex Boone who, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, stated Harbaugh “wore out his welcome:”

"He does a great job of giving you that spark, that initial boom. But after a while, you just want to kick his ass. … He just keeps pushing you, and you’re like, ‘Dude, we got over the mountain.  Stop.  Let go.’ He kind of wore out his welcome.I think he just pushed guys too far. He wanted too much, demanded too much, expected too much. You know, ‘We gotta go out and do this. We gotta go out and do this. We gotta go out and do this.’ And you’d be like, ‘This guy might be clinically insane. He’s crazy.’ … I think that if you’re stuck in your ways enough, eventually people are just going to say, ‘Listen, we just can’t work with this.’"

All of this had a trickle-down effect on the field. And the results showed as the 49ers finished the regular season with a .500 record.

And then, of course, there was CEO Jed York’s Thanksgiving tweet following the team’s uninspiring, lackluster loss to the Seattle Seahawks — a game that prompted Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and quarterback Russell Wilson to eat turkey on the 49ers logo midfield.

The writing was on the wall.

Colin Kaepernick’s Demise

In 2012, quarterback Colin Kaepernick was the hero of the franchise. The budding young star, who took over for Smith midway through that season, helped push the 49ers all the way into the Super Bowl.

And he darn-near won it against the Baltimore Ravens.

Fans can hearken back to Kaepernick’s breakout games throughout 2012 and remember how the rest of the NFL viewed what was then seen as a new direction at the quarterback position at the pro level.

Just look at how Kap was viewed when he, nearly by himself, demolished the Green Bay Packers during the 49ers’ playoff run that season:

Kaepernick’s efforts in 2013 were nearly as good. But the 49ers’ run came to an end in the 2014 NFC Championship versus the Seattle Seahawks.

Yeah, that fade pass intended for wide receiver Michael Crabtree that was deflected by Sherman and intercepted thereafter signified the end of an era.

For both Kaepernick and the 49ers.

Fans didn’t know it at the time, but that was the proverbial “closing of the window” for San Francisco.

Kaepernick’s 2014 campaign wasn’t anything like his previous two. It was as if the 49ers were asking Kaepernick to do too much — focus less on his own strengths and more on the traditional aspects of an NFL quarterback.

Or, perhaps, the rest of the league was finally starting to catch up with him.

Take a look at Kap’s regular-season numbers over the course of his pro career:

[table id=21 /]

In a way, Kaepernick was an ultimate enigma. 2014, on the surface, seemed like a good season. His completion percentage was in line with what it was in 2012 and he even had a career-high in total passing yards.

But the sack and interception numbers also increased while his passer rating started to drop.

The big problem was consistency — a mark likely noted by the 49ers’ front office when they signed him to a team-friendly, loophole-filled deal in advance of the 2014 season.

Kaepernick had to know he would be under the microscope in 2015 given all the changes that took place during the offseason. And yet he was unable to push beyond any of that and found himself benched in Week 9.

Kap, who held the most important position in all of sports, had gone from a rising superstar to an afterthought in just over two years.

That’s a painful fall from grace.

The Offseason from Hell

Kaepernick can’t bear all of the blame for the 49ers problems entering 2015. In reality, he was only a fraction of what happened.

The 2015 offseason was one of the worst in San Francisco history — a year marked by wholesale coaching changes, free-agent departures, retirements and a flurry of leaks from the front office.

Yeah, not a good way to transition into a new era of the franchise.

Rumors were put to rest on December 28, 2014 when York announced the team had “mutually” parted ways with Harbaugh.

York’s statement read as follows:

"Jim and I have come to the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interest to move in different directions. We thank Jim for bringing a tremendous competitive nature and a great passion for the game to the 49ers. He and his staff restored a winning culture that has been the standard for our franchise throughout its history. Their commitment and hard work resulted in a period of success that should be looked back on proudly by our organization and our fans. We wish Jim and his family all the best."

Many view this as the turning point in this recent era of 49ers history — the moment where York and Co. could not put aside their differences with Harbaugh and parted ways with one of the most successful head coaches in franchise history.

There’s plenty of truth to that. But it was only the tip of the iceberg.

What happened next was a wave of discourse throughout the coaching staff all the way through the player roster.

San Francisco initially wanted current Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase to take over as head coach. But he had to accept Tomsula as his defensive coordinator. Gase said no, then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio left and Tomsula got the promotion to head coach.

Tomsula — a coach whose experience consisted mainly of his work with the 49ers defensive line, a stint as head coach in NFL Europe and a one-game interim HC slot in 2010 — already appeared to be in over his head, as his introductory press conference in January of 2015 suggested.

Did the 49ers land some promising coordinators to help Tomsula out? No. They promoted from within. Geep Chryst, formerly the quarterbacks coach, got the nod as offensive coordinator. And former 49ers tight ends coach Eric Mangini took over the defensive coordinator spot.

Not exactly a top-tier coaching staff.

And then there were the player departures en masse.

The 49ers lost defensive ends Ray McDonald and Justin Smith — the former during the 2014 season due to off-the-field incidents, and the latter to retirement.

Perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis also retired as did his probable replacement, Chris Borland, after just one promising year in the NFL. Right tackle Anthony Davis also called it quits even though he was only 25 years old at the time.

Gore, Iupati, Crabtree and cornerbacks Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox also departed via free agency.

It would be extremely difficult for any team, regardless of coaching staff, to overcome that sort of loss in one offseason.

The impact of these losses were compounded by Baalke’s gaffes during the 2012 and 2013 NFL drafts. While the latter wasn’t quite as bad as the first, this group of players was supposed to be the core that could have made all the departures less hurtful.

But few of those players, from either year, made much of an impact. If any. And the 49ers wound up scrambling to assemble some sort of a roster in advance of 2015.

Baalke’s free-agent class that year also went bust. Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett never made it past the preseason and was released. Cornerback Shareece Wright didn’t pan out, and right tackle Erik Pears was one of the biggest liabilities along the 49ers’ permeable offensive line.

The 49ers were set up to fail in 2015.

The 2015 Season: A Year of Boredom

Optimists may have hoped the 49ers were out to prove doubters wrong in 2015. Somehow, this newly assembled cast would turn heads and “shock” the NFL world.

Week 1 of the regular season seemed to suggest this. San Francisco, and newly minted starting running back Carlos Hyde, demolished the Minnesota Vikings 20-3 in the season opener.

But the 49ers went on a four-game losing streak and ended up being outscored 140-75 before picking up their second win of the season in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens.

Kaepernick eventually gave way to backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert in Week 9 — a shakeup that was looming and, in all reality, necessary in determining exactly where the franchise needed to go the following season.

It didn’t make much of a difference though.

Take a look at the 49ers’ stats over the course of 2015:

[table id=22 /]

That’s an indication of bad football. Very bad football. And it shouldn’t come as a surprise the 49ers finished with a 5-11 record and a last-place berth within the division.

What made the season even worse is, on almost every facet, the 49ers were boring to watch. There lacked any excitement. 2015 was a year without bona fide playmakers, noteworthy accolades or amazing contributions.

Aside from the occasional benchmark from veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin or the return-to-form performances from Bowman, viewing a 49ers game was painful at best.

Just ask the crowds at Levi’s Stadium.

Tomsula’s efforts looked overwhelmingly insufficient, Chryst’s offense was abysmal and a sizable majority of the players failed to make enough plays to at least make the 49ers even competitive on the field.

Ugly in every sense of the word.

And York, who had been vocal with tweets and press conferences during and shortly after 2014, was deafeningly silent during his team’s abysmal run — a time when a CEO should be at the front of the podium stressing the need to fix things and be held accountable.

2016: A Year of Question Marks

York finally held himself accountable shortly after the 2015 regular season came to a close. The 49ers dismissed Tomsula from his duties, and York held a press conference to acknowledge, in one form or another, Tomsula’s promotion was a mistake.

One mistake amidst a plethora of errors.

The 49ers CEO stressed the need to exhaust any and all resources to land a successful head coach this offseason. According to his presser, money won’t be an issue. But given the turmoil between Harbaugh and the front office, one can only wonder if personality will remain a critical factor in the eventual decision.

And Baalke isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The 49ers GM retains his hold as the No. 2 guy behind York. But he should be on a “watch” status.

Baalke will be equipped with as many as 12 picks for this upcoming draft, per David Fucillo of Niners Nation — a sizable number in which Baalke will look to replicate his efforts from 2011.

Additionally, the 49ers should have a sizable amount of cap space in advance of free agency — $50,868,688, per Over the Cap.

This doesn’t leave Baalke a lot of room for error this offseason. There are no excuses at this point.

So here is where this 49ers franchise rests: a crossroads between rising from the ashes and wallowing in the drudgery that accompanied them for all of last year.

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What happens now is, without doubt, the biggest question 49er fans can ask of their team as the franchise looks to live up to York’s words of the Niners being a championship-or-bust franchise. Yet San Francisco is far from that point.

Very far.

But the road starts somewhere. Getting here wasn’t fun. And the rise to the top may take months or even years.

Perhaps decades.

Next: An Autopsy of the 49ers' 2015 Season

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com unless otherwise indicated.