Singletary wants to beat Bears, not reminisce

“When I knew we were going to be coaching, the thing that I did was I called Dick Jauron, who was then at the Bears, the head coach,” Singletary said. “And, I told Dick Jauron exactly this: ’Coach, my wife and I prayed about it, we’ve decided that we’re going to be coaching. I’m not asking you for a job, but I am telling you that this year, in the very near future, I will be coaching. I don’t know where, don’t know when.’ And, that was it.”

When Jauron called back some time later to say they didn’t have a position for him, Singletary accepted a job as inside linebackers coach in Baltimore working for Brian Billick in 2003. And that’s where he stayed until coming to San Francisco to join former coach Mike Nolan’s staff in 2005.

“He just let me know that I’m not supposed to be there,” Singletary said of Jauron, now coaching the Buffalo Bills. “So that was it.”

Not that Singletary is forgotten in Chicago. Quarterback Jay Cutler has said he was a Bears fan as a little boy even back to the time when Singletary was still playing.

Bears defensive tackle Anthony Adams, a former 49er who played for Singletary, knows the coach will be ready.

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“It will be big for him,” Adams said. “He was always telling us how the Niners would always find a way to beat them. He said it always seemed like Joe Montana and them just had his number. Now for him to be a part of it is kind of different, but he accepted the challenge.”

While Singletary doesn’t want to get caught up in the hype of him facing his old team, the Bears have other things to think about as well.

They still consider themselves a playoff team.

“We have to be able to bounce back, show some toughness, band together as a team and try to get a win on the road,” defensive back Nathan Vasher said.

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