‘Fiery’ Risky Approach For Black Coaches, CEOs
Follow
Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary’s skills with the X’s and O’s — the nuts and bolts of coaching football teams — were suspect enough. But even if he was deemed adequate in that regard, his persona made his suitability as coach of the 49ers questionable. Society has not reached the point yet where the “fiery black man” approach is acceptable for CEO-type positions, especially when it doesn’t deliver positive results, as evidenced by San Francisco’s 0-5 start this season and its current record of 5-10.
Unfortunately, the same attributes that led Singletary to a Hall of Fame career as a Chicago Bears linebacker practically doomed him as the 49ers’ head coach and helped lead to his firing on Sunday. We can never forget pictures of Singletary as the wild-eyed tackling machine, anchoring the Bears’ defense with ferocious intensity and passion. One reason the memories remain fresh is that he kept much of that same demeanor in leading the 49ers. And it couldn’t be more out of place in the NFL, which embraces its image as a button-down, Fortune 500 conglomerate.
For an instant injection of emotion and excitement, Singletary was a fine choice when the 49ers gave him the full-time job in December 2008, after he went 5-4 as the interim coach. Nicknamed “Samurai Mike,” he became a pop culture phenomenon in his very first game at the helm. While he was interim coach, Singletary sent star tight end Vernon Davis to the showers with more than 10 minutes remaining in the game, and issued a classic rant — “I want winners!” — in his postgame news conference. It was later reported that Singletary mooned his players at halftime as a motivational ploy, though a team spokesman stressed that the coach never dropped his drawers
