SF 49ers: Ranking the 5 biggest disappointing seasons in team history

No. 4: 2007 49ers (5-11)

In 2005, the Niners were beginning the early stages of a rebuild under newly hired head coach Mike Nolan, who was looking to bring back the glory days of the franchise from the early 1970s when his father, Dick Nolan, was the team’s head coach.

Those first two years under Mike Nolan weren’t pretty, as the No. 1 pick from the 2005 NFL Draft, quarterback Alex Smith, struggled amid a roster lacking talent on both sides of the ball.

Yet that was expected to change in year three of Nolan and Smith’s tenure. San Francisco spent plenty of money during the offseason, luring in high-profile free agents like cornerback Nate Clements and safety Michael Lewis to bolster the back end of the defense, and the SF 49ers also ended up with one of the best linebackers to play the game, Patrick Willis, as well as a future stalwart offensive tackle, Joe Staley, in Round 1 of the 2007 draft.

Plus, the Niners were hoping Smith would finally showcase all the reasons why he was selected first overall two years earlier.

Alas, nothing of the sort happened.

Despite starting off 2-0, San Francisco would lose eight consecutive games to start the year 2-8 before eventually finishing 5-11. Smith suffered a shoulder injury in Week 4, and that led to ongoing conflicts between him and Nolan about the quarterback’s toughness.

And it also signaled the inevitable end of the forgettable Nolan era with the SF 49ers, which officially ended midway through the following year.