New 49ers coach Mike Singletary sorry to see Mike Nolan go

RENTON — Maybe Mike Singletary was being a little dramatic, but he was struggling to find the words to express the events of the past 48 hours to reporters Wednesday morning.

Singletary, the Hall-of-Fame linebacker who played 12 NFL seasons with the Chicago Bears, was introduced as the 49ers' new coach Tuesday, a day after San Francisco fired Mike Nolan. Singletary clearly felt bad for his friend, mentor and longtime co-worker.

Singletary was inside linebackers coach for two years when Nolan was the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator. When Nolan became the 49ers' head coach in 2005, he hired Singletary to be assistant head coach and linebackers coach.

"I lost a good friend," Singletary said, repeating it a few minutes later.

If things are bad in Seattle, where the Seahawks are 1-5 and in last place in the NFC West, they are in upheaval in the City by the Bay. The 49ers (2-5) have lost four in a row since defeating the Seahawks in overtime in Week 2, and ownership approved the pulling of the plug on Nolan before the 49ers' bye week.

The 49ers were blasted by local media for the way they handled the announcement of Nolan's dismissal, and Singletary is being asked to right the ship without having a plan.

He'll get the rest of the season to show the 49ers' decision-makers why he deserves consideration for the job.

"We'll get there," Singletary said. "It's just making sure that everybody's on board. Making sure that everybody understands the task at hand. Understanding that we've got to go forward."

The task at hand is a tough one. The 49ers were 2-1 after a 31-13 thrashing of Detroit before things began to crumble. The schedule hasn't been easy, but the crushing blow was a 40-26 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 12 in which the 49ers blew a 26-17 lead to start the fourth quarter.

San Francisco has allowed more yards on defense than even the Seahawks, and quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan has been sacked 29 times, the most in the league, and has thrown the most interceptions, 10. The sacks prompted the dismissal of offensive-line coach George Warhop.

San Francisco's turnover differential is minus-8, 30th in the NFL, and the 49ers have been penalized 53 times, 24 more than the Seahawks.

"There are a number of places that you could point, there are a number of things that you could say," Singletary said. "But the thing that I'm not going to do is try and point out, 'Well, here's an excuse here, here's an excuse there.' I think the most important thing right now is to put all our fingers in the holes and try and stop the bleeding."

The 49ers players heard the speculation on Nolan's dismissal but were shocked when it happened, linebacker Patrick Willis said.

"You have to be professional about your job and just take the changes and move on," Willis said.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, a San Francisco native and former 49ers assistant coach, was surprised that the 49ers made the change. He isn't a fan of midseason firings.

"One, I think traditionally it hasn't made the team's record a lot better," Holmgren said. "On the plus side of this, for the man [Mike Singletary] ... he's getting a chance to show people who will make the ultimate decision how he does this."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com