Newly acquired Jets RB Kevan Barlow’s fond farewell to 49ers Head Coach Mike Nolan, as quoted in today’s ContraCosta Times by Cam Inman.
“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.”
I have no doubts Barlow will be impressed by the calm, rational ways of first-time head coach Eric Mangini, who has already delighted tv viewers in the millions with his character, “Chubbsy”, in the Capitol One commericals alongside David Spade.