Ira Miller

IN ORDER to solve a problem, it first is necessary to identify the problem.

More than a week has passed since the 49ers fired Steve Mariucci as their coach, and the only thing that has become clear is that they don't know what their problem is.

So how in the world do they expect to solve it?

San Francisco has more problems on offense than it has on defense, many more, yet this week the 49ers gave offensive coordinator Greg Knapp a new contract.

That contract is more than just a little vote of confidence. It's a sign that management, including owner's rep John York and general manager Terry Donahue, consider Knapp an integral part of the team's future; why else would they give him a deal even before hiring a head coach?

(Although the 49ers say their next coach will have the freedom to hire his staff, it is difficult to take that statement at face value. In a period of austerity, you don't give someone a contract if you have no plans for him.)

All of this is a clear sign the 49ers' management doesn't recognize Knapp's role in the team's diminished offensive performance.

During the 2002 season, the 49ers ranked eighth in the NFL on offense, tied for 13th in scoring, 23rd in red zone efficiency. They have been worse than eighth on offense only twice in the past 20 years. They scored more than 20 points in four quarters only twice in the final nine games of the season.

Six years ago, the 49ers summarily fired Marc Trestman as offensive coordinator after they ranked second and sixth on offense in two years under his direction. Now, we are told that eighth is good enough to earn a new contract. Trestman was fired even though the 49ers failed to score 20 points only seven times in 32 games over two years with him in charge of the offense.

What's going on here?

Knapp, not Mariucci, was the primary play caller in the past year. Blame Mariucci for the poor overall strategy, for the lack of direction, for pulling the team off the field with 32 seconds left in the first half of a playoff game it was losing by 22 points. But the Xs and Os were Knapp's realm.

Most people with only superficial knowledge of the 49ers operate under the mistaken belief that the issue with the team is more defense than offense. But that is not the case. The defense played well earlier in the season before it was beset by injuries. Recent drafts have concentrated on defense, and, with players such as Julian Peterson, Ahmed Plummer, Andre Carter and Jamie Winborn, the 49ers have the cornerstones of a young defense that shows promise.

On offense, however, quarterback Jeff Garcia's play regressed this year and the offense gave an overall poor performance. Granted, the offensive personnel hasn't been upgraded in recent years, but there was still no reason for such a falloff, since the offense was relatively healthy all season.

There was no downfield aspect to the 49ers' offense. The passing game lived down to what its critics always contended the 49ers were: dink-and-dunk. Garcia's average yards per attempt was the lowest in history for the 49ers' starting quarterback.

In the red zone, the 49ers too often used spread formations that left the quarterback open to pressure, and he wound up running for survival. Garcia, a 64 percent passer outside the 20, was only a 50 percent passer in the red zone this season.

Now, the 49ers can always hope that Knapp's play-calling was hamstrung by Mariucci and that things will improve in the future, but there is no evidence of that.

By giving Knapp a new deal, it would seem the 49ers are going to hire a defensive specialist as their new head coach, although they say Brad Childress, the Philadelphia offensive coordinator, is on their short list. Frankly, if an offensive specialist were willing to accept the job with a coordinator already in place, I wouldn't want that offensive specialist. If I'm making the hire, I want a coach who wants to take charge and put his own plans in place, not accept what's already there.

So, unfortunately for the 49ers, even with Mariucci gone, it also is apparent that their problems extend beyond coaching.

While firing Mariucci was prudent because this was not going to become a championship team under his direction, management should have had something in mind other than a search through the yellow pages for other teams' coordinators -- not all of whom are even interested in the job.

Yet management apparently had no plan. They knew what they did not want. They did not know what they wanted. For as much heat as the Tampa Bay Bucs took last year when they fired Tony Dungy, they had a plan in mind, to replace him with Bill Parcells. The plan didn't work out, but it's hard to say the Bucs have been harmed.

The 49ers also went into the 2002 season without addressing shortcomings they knew they had at the second wide receiver spot and punter, among other things. (They did address the placekicking problem in the draft, but then did not follow through until late in the season.) The offensive line has been ignored for years and years. They wasted money, again, on J.J. Stokes, but didn't spend it to fix known problems.

Does any of this sound like there is reason for confidence or optimism about the future of this team? Didn't think so.

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