Matt Maiocco started a podcast this year, and he has had some strong guests thus far. This week, he had a name from 49ers past, welcoming former head coach Mike Nolan for a lengthy discussion. That got into plenty of topics, but the topic of interest for many is Nolan’s thoughts on Trent Baalke and ownership.

Nolan told Maiocco that he believes the problems in Santa Clara are systemic, as opposed to something to blame specifically on Trent Baalke.

“The problem there in San Francisco, in my opinion, is systemic,” Nolan said during an appearance on CSN Bay Area’s 49ers Insider Podcast. “They love you, and then they hate you. They love the next guy, and then they don’t like him any more. “Right now, unfortunately for Trent, he’s on the down slide. But about three years ago, he was the man, and there was a lot of love for him.”

Nolan offered up plenty of cover for Baalke, saying he is a good personnel guy. Nolan would know a thing or two about Nolan because they arrived in San Francisco at the same time. Nolan was hired to be head coach and general manager in 2005. Scot McLoughan came on at the same time as Vice President of Player Personnel, a role he served in from 2005 to 2007. Baalke joined the organization in 2005 as western region scout. I don’t know specifically who hired him, but my guess is it was McCloughan.

Things got messy in 2007, and in 2008, McCloughan was named general manager. There was all sorts of talk about who had “the trigger,” and McCloughan’s promotion to GM put him in charge of personnel, almost entirely. That same year, Baalke was promoted to director of player personnel. Baalke was later promoted to VP of player personnel when McCloughan and the 49ers “parted ways” in what was later described as due to his drinking problem.

Nolan brought up an interesting development in the podcast, saying that Baalke served as interim general manager in 2008 when McClougan “was dealing with some personal issues.” As we learned in a 2014 feature, McCloughan spent 30 days in rehab around this time. Mike Nolan was fired at some point during all this, but clearly he developed a strong relationship with Trent Baalke.

“So I think Trent does a very good job. I would hate to see Trent let go for anything after the season or if they dump it all on him, because when it comes to winning football games, you need to have good players, and you can do a lot worse than Trent Baalke when it comes to picking players.”

There is plenty of old boys network in the NFL, so it is hard to know what to make of comments one person makes about a past co-worker. At the same time, he was there when Jed York was first developing into a leadership role, and when Baalke was beginning his rise through the organizational ranks. He offers a perspective few can match. Give the podcast a listen.