FanHouse Jim Hostler

The 49ers have had been pretty busy this offseason. They got rid of offensive coordinator Jim Hostler and replaced him with Mike Martz, used the first two picks of the draft to upgrade the defensive and offensive lines, have a legit quarterback competition, and signed Bryant Johnson and DeShaun Foster to bolster the wide receiver and running back corps, respectively.

Except that not everybody is convinced Foster will be much help to Frank Gore. Pro Football Weekly quotes an anonymous NFL scout/coach/front-office type who isn't all that impressed with Foster:

"DeShaun Foster led the league in fumbles (lost, by a running back) last year. He was never a superfast guy, and when he gained weight, his play really fell off. He needs to keep his weight off to have a chance (in San Francisco)."

Yeah, but other than that, he was awesome. Football Outsiders have been down on Foster for a couple years now ("We think he's very overrated. He happens to have really good games whenever he's on television or playing Atlanta. But a lot of the times he's running into the line for a yard or two every time and then maybe breaking one for 15 and that's the one that shows up on SportsCenter."), so the concerns are hardly new.

Presumably, the 49ers know this, but for $1.8 million over two years, you can't blame them for taking a shot. Worst case: he bombs, San Francisco releases him, and we all get on with out lives. On the other hand, if he's serviceable, and is able to give Gore the occasional breather, it's probably worth a lot more than $1.8 million.

Yesterday, MDS mentioned that 49ers head coach Mike Nolan is in no rush to pick a quarterback, but he did admit to being impressed with 2005 first-round pick Alex Smith, telling the San Francisco Chronicle that he's seen Smith "do things that I haven't seen him do before, in practice or in games."

Like getting rid of the ball before getting pancaked by a 220-pound blitzing safety. Novel idea. But here's the thing: as much as fans and the media like to give Smith the business, apparently, the offense's level of sucktitude had more to do with former offensive coordinator Jim Hostler.

The Press Democrat's Matt Maiocco learned earlier this week that San Francisco has now installed "hot reads" as a part of the overall offensive philosophy. Anybody with even a rudimentary understanding of Madden knows that a hot read is a route adjustment by a would-be pass catcher because the defense is showing blitz. The idea, simply, is for the quarterback to get the ball out of his hands, stat.

Thank God for Mike Martz, I guess. But Maiocco wonders why the team didn't implement it until now. Good question.

The 49ers looked, kinda sorta, like they were heading in the right direction last season. Sure, most of their wins were close and quite a few of their losses were blowouts, but the fact remains: They managed a 7-9 record. That's progress from where they were before coach Mike Nolan arrived.

And now they're a mess. The offense can't do anything, and yesterday's loss was the fifth in a row. Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that this could be the end for Nolan.

So the 2007 49ers probably won't become the worst 49ers team of all time. But they have a shot at Most Disappointing.

If that happens, will Mike Nolan keep his job?

The clock has to be ticking on the Mike Nolan Era.

I find it awfully hard to believe that John and Denise York are going to fire Nolan when he still has two years left on his contract, which he will after this season. But I also don't see Nolan being able to keep his job without a fairly big shakeup of his coaching staff. Nolan might not be on the hot seat yet, but offensive coordinator Jim Hostler sure is.

The 49ers replaced Norv Turner on Wednesday, promoting quarterbacks coach Jim Hostler to the offensive coordinator position.

Mike Nolan seemed to go out of his way to emphasize that the selection had a lot to do with keeping the offense running smoothly, saying that "it was my intent to keep the system intact. Jim was instrumental in the implementation of our offense last season."

Hostler has no offensive coordinating experience outside of a Division II stint with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a school with one of the most confusing names I've ever heard. Hostler has worked with some fairly solid NFL players in his eight year career though, mentoring Chad Pennington and Vinny Testaverde while with the Jets.

Hostler isn't on the level of Norv Turner, but he was the most logical choice for Mike Nolan to make. The 49ers are a pretty young team on the offensive side of the ball, and the last thing they need is a system overhaul since they're fairly close to being a playoff team.

More: 49ers Name Hostler as Coordinator - 49ers.com
Jim Hostler, Your NEW Offensive Coordinator - Niners Nation