Mike Nolan knows the rules. This season, he wins early or he goes home. Probably.
Meaning that, if the San Francisco 49ers coach wants to keep his job, it might not be enough for him to win eight or nine games this season. He might need to win four of the first eight.
Oh, did you notice? In those first eight games, the 49ers play both of last season's Super Bowl teams, the Giants and Patriots. Plus, there are two games against division champion Seattle.
But those are the rules. Mike Nolan knows the rules. Patience will be in short supply after he narrowly retained his position following last season's disappointing 5-11 record.
"If there's anything I've learned," Nolan said Wednesday in his office, "it's that whether you're 14-2 and you're Marty Schottenheimer, or if you're 5-11 and Mike Nolan, you can lose your job. It doesn't really matter. And if you're afraid of that in this profession, you're in the wrong profession. I've always known that."
With the 49ers opening their preseason training camp today, it seemed a good time to sit down with Nolan. The idea was to get a general sense of whether he is approaching this season in an uber-eager mode to prove how last year was an aberration caused by injuries and unforeseeable bad luck . . . or if he is looking at this as a chance to correct some major mistakes that were made in 2007 by Nolan and others.
The answer: both.
"Yes," Nolan said, "I'm eager to get into this season. But at the same time, I'm not so eager that I disrespect why we lost last season, and the things it's going to take to get us on track again."
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