Sports Radio Interviews

Mike Singletary: “We have 10 games left, There is a lot of football left, I am not worried, I am not panicking, and I am not shaking in my boots.”

The 49ers made a change last week and went back to former #1 overall pick in the 2005 draft Alex Smith.  This was outside the box for 49er Head Coach Mike Singletary who wanted to start and end the season with the same quarterback and that was supposed to be Shaun Hill, but now its Alex Smith’s job…again.  Smith finished the loss against Houston going 15 of 22 for 206 yards and three touchdown passes to tight end Vernon Davis. This wasn’t the only news that came out of San Francisco.  Sunday’s game featured the debut of former Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who was the last draft pick signed this season.  Confident that Crabtree could come in and contribute to the team, Singletary and the 49ers finally reached a deal with their 10th overall draft pick five weeks into the season.  Crabtree didn’t disappoint catching five balls for 56 yards.  The 49ers are now 3-3 on the season, one game behind the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West and have the Colts this week in Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Mike Singletary joined  KNBR in San Francisco and talked about Alex Smith starting this week, Crabtree’s first performance, why he didn’t want the QB change to feel like he was kicking Hill to the curb and how he feels about the rest of the season for his team.  

Asked about the QB change from Shaun Hill to Alex Smith:

“I want to make sure it’s not one of those things where you take Shaun Hill and throw him out of door and say, “Hey we got a brand new quarterback and I feel great”. It’s not like that.  I am just very thankful for the job that Shaun did while he was in there and gave us the best chance to win.  I think right now Alex Smith is the guy that will give us the best chance to win right now.  And I am very thankful we had that situation coming into the season and I said that over and over.  I am excited for the opportunity going forward.”

Asked if he thought Hill lost his confidence after a great end to last season and a strong 3-1 start to this one:

“I don’t think he ever lost his confidence, that’s not who Shaun Hill is.  I just think that defenses really began to , I guess make him have to work at doing some of the things that maybe he hadn’t anticipated before; try and take our running game away and make Shaun Hill win the game.  That’s not who we wanted Shaun Hill to be and I think given the fact that our offensive line is still young and trying to gel…You know if Hill had the luxury of sitting behind an offensive line that’s been together, that’s gelled; you know you got some guys that are really sure of what they are doing.  I mean we are still trying to learn the offense up front and trying to make sure we got everything down.  I think it’s just a tough combination for Shaun Hill to continue to be successful.”

Asked about the status of the team and the direction of the team:

“Mike Singletary is very excited about going to Indianapolis and trying to win a football game.  Very excited about the opportunity that we have to go on the road and play one of the best football teams in the league.  We have 10 games left, there is a lot of football left, I am not worried, I am not panicking, I am not shaking in my boot or anything like that simply because of the guys I am surrounding by.  I said it before, I have a tremendous coaching staff, got a tremendous team here.  Our guys just have to continue and grow; we work through these growing pains and come out of it swinging.  That’s who we are, that’s who we are going to be.  I am very excited about the opportunity at hand.”

Listen to Mike Singletary on KNBR in SF with Murph and Mac

Tags: Alex Smith, Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, KNBR, Lucas Oil Stadium, Michael Crabtree, Mike Singletary, NFC West, NFL, San Francisco, San Francisco 49ers, Shaun Hill, Texas Tech, Vernon Davis