Signs Point to Nolan Staying

After two days of talks with the DeBartolo-Yorks, Mike Nolan will still be the head coach of the 49ers, although stripped of some power. He will no longer have the final say in personnel decisions, and his role as GM will probably transfer to Scot McCloughan.

From Yahoo! Sports:

Mike Nolan will keep his job as the coach of the San Francisco 49ers but will relinquish final say over personnel decisions, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

After two days of deliberation, 49ers owners John and Denise DeBartolo York decided Tuesday to retain Nolan, who has two years left on the five-year contract he signed before the 2005 season. His 16-32 record over three seasons, including a 5-11 mark in '07, put his job in jeopardy, and he will likely make changes to his coaching staff.

Personally, I think this is a good decision on the owners' part. It is unreasonable to believe that a non-Walsh coach could turn around a beleaguered franchise in the space of 3 years, just as it is unreasonable to fire said coach for failing to do so in 3 years.

Anyways, according to Matt Maiocco, the 49ers will hold a post-season press conference tomorrow morning to release the details about Nolan's role and the plan for next season. Hopefully the conference will tie up all the loose ends and finally bring a close to the tension. After all, it doesn't take 2 days to fire somebody, right?