Bitter Barlow

some character Barlow's got. I understand he's heated at the 49ers but he needs to understand that the nfl is a business too.


Barlow lashes out at Nolan
The recently traded running back says the 49ers coach 'doesn't know what he's doing'
By Cam Inman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Former 49ers running back Kevan Barlow lashed out at coach Mike Nolan and the direction of the franchise in a series of phone calls to the Times on Tuesday, two days after being dealt to the New York Jets for a 2007 fourth-round draft pick.

"Nolan just doesn't know what he's doing. He's a first-time head coach with too much power," Barlow said via cell phone from New York. "He has too much power as a first-time head coach. He walks around with a chip on his shoulder, like he's a dictator, like he's Hitler. People are scared of him. If it ain't Nolan's way, it's the highway."

Two phone calls later, Barlow softened his stance and blamed some of his statements on the emotional whirlwind he endured the previous 48 hours.

"I was kind of harsh on him, saying he's a dictator. That's bad. Saddam Hussein is a dictator," Barlow said some three hours after his initial call. "I was speaking on emotion. ... My world's been (upended) in the past (48) hours."

While he sounded like many disgruntled players with an ax to grind, he also expressed concern over how his ex-teammates perceive Nolan and whether Nolan can resurrect the sagging franchise.

"It's unfortunate he feels that way," Nolan said by phone. "Personally, I feel Kevan is a good kid. When I came here I heard negative things about him and trouble in the locker room. When I was here, I thought he did the right things, like calling me if he was late or calling if he said the wrong thing to the media. As long as he was here, he was a model citizen."

Barlow, 27, played five seasons for the 49ers and was slated as their starting running back this season. He said Nolan informed him of the trade in the coaches' locker room at the team's Santa Clara facility, some 30 minutes before the 49ers headed to Oakland for an exhibition game.

But because of a chat they had last week in which Nolan allegedly told him not to worry about trade speculation, Barlow called Nolan "a liar" for trading him. Nolan and vice president of player personnel Scot McCloughan said Sunday that trade talks didn't turn serious until the Jets made their final offer that day.

Barlow said his teammates "can't believe" how the trade occurred so abruptly before a game and in the wake of last week's talk with Nolan.

"It was dirty. He had no respect for me or the organization," Barlow said in the initial phone call. "He doesn't know about the 49ers way, and that's too bad because even his dad (Dick) was coach of the 49ers. Bill Walsh set the standard there, and he ain't living up to it."

Nolan inherited a 2-14 team upon being hired last year as coach and the ultimate authority figure over personnel issues. The 49ers went 4-12 last season, and nine players have been traded in the past 13 months.

"I try to run a tight ship," Nolan said. "I want people to do their job and not look over their shoulders. Everything's functioning effectively in what we do. Everybody is safe and secure in this environment and uses their imagination to be the best player they can be."

Barlow contends that players are afraid of Nolan as well as their job status if they fail to produce. He also voiced concern for 49ers fans, whom he said are getting "cheated" for not getting to watch the team's best players.

"(Nolan) still is my problem because I've got friends on the team. Half my (former) teammates feel this way but can't say that. They feel the same way," Barlow said. "You can't be yourself in there. Dudes are uptight and walking on eggshells. How are you supposed to go out and make plays the way you've always done?"

Second-year running back Frank Gore is taking Barlow's spot in the lineup, and Barlow said that's only because Gore -- whom he praised -- was a third-round pick last season in the first draft under Nolan and McCloughan.

"Nobody has a good relationship with Coach Nolan, and the only person that does is probably (quarterback) Alex Smith. He does because (Nolan) picked him. His job is in Alex Smith's hands," Barlow said. "Coach Nolan could be a good head coach, but he's not going to be because he has too much power.

"He calls all the shots. He needs somebody above his head. He doesn't know what he's doing. I respect (team owner John York) and everything he's done for me. He's made me successful. I'm still in my prime. You don't trade a guy like me."

The trade became official Monday when Barlow passed his physical with the Jets, who nullified a trade last week when Cleveland Browns running back Lee Suggs failed medical tests.

Nolan, an NFL assistant for 18 seasons before joining the 49ers, defended his desire to coach and also preside over personnel matters.

"Not a decision I make comes without involving the people around me that I rely on, and John York is one of those people, along with Scot McCloughan and (executive vice president) Lal Heneghan and others," Nolan said.

Nolan later added: "I don't believe in two- or three-headed monsters. There has to be a pyramid in who makes the decisions. Ultimately I make the final decisions. But this isn't the Almighty, and I don't pretend to be that."

Barlow said of the team's hierarchy: "If the 49ers should have success, Scot McCloughan needs the title as general manager along with vice president of player personnel. He's the only guy with sense and knows how to bring in talent."

Barlow was read back all his initial quotes twice, the second time with his agent Doug Hendrickson on the line. Hendrickson repeatedly talked about how Barlow has been under tremendous emotional strain since the trade.

As for playing with the Jets, Barlow is still adjusting to the situation on virtually no sleep, but he said he's "happy to be where I'm wanted."

He's just not happy with how he arrived there.

 

like i said buddy, i UNDERSTAND HE'S HEATED, but the nfl will always be a business. he should understand that. so dont tell me to cut him slack

 

ok he was lied to. that blows. but let me ask you this: how crappy is it to be traded from a team that has made you a backup to an unproven player and put you in a position to start in ny?