What about Bob?

When the 49ers approached Mike Singletary about becoming Mike Nolan's replacement as the 49ers' head coach, Singletary had major reservations. It wasn't until the two spoke in Nolan's office shortly after the dismissal that Singletary decided to take the job.

Here's how Nolan explained it in an interview with former Redskins running back John Riggins on SIRIUS Radio:

"He came down after [49ers management] spoke with him and he came to me and we sat down and I said, ‘Well, what’s up?’ And he told me what they all said, and he said, ‘I can’t do it.’ He says, ‘You’re my friend and I can’t do that.’ And I said, ‘Well Mike,’ I said, by choice I chose a table other than my desk to sit down with Mike in my office, and I pointed to the desk and I said ‘Mike, I just want to tell you something,’ I said, ‘You see that desk, there’s no one sitting in it.’ I said, ‘I’m not the coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Right now they don’t have a coach.’ I said, ‘So for you to say you can’t do it because you’re going to take my job, you’re not taking my job.’ I said, ‘That job’s already been vacated.’

"I said, ‘Mike, you need to take that job.’ I said, ‘We came in here together. You know how important these players are to us and I think you’d do a hell of a job of keeping them together because right now that’s the most important thing, is just keeping them together.’ It’s not X’s and O’s, it’s not new ideas, everything’s kind of on autopilot as far as the schedule goes. I said, ‘They need somebody to lead them.’ "