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Well, it took more than a month, and seemed ready to come down to drawing names from a hat, but the Niners managed to pick a new head coach, , Dennis Erickson.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this, but he seems like a solid choice. I'd have a lot more confidence if it didn't have a slight air of desparation, produced mostly by the very roulette-like atmosphere about the whole process. If they were going to fire Mariucci, you'd think they'd have had a successor picked out beforehand, rather than embarassing themselves, as happened. Not only losing face with the fans, but apparently with the players, to the point where even Jeff Garcia felt the need to speak publicly as to his disgust.

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