I remember a few years ago, I arranged a phone interview for Radnich to talk to Jim Brown. Brown can be stiff and withdrawn if you don't know him, (among other things) but Gary was able to connect immediately and the interview brought out twenty minutes or so of information, laughs, and was talked about in many Bay Area media circles, (Bruce Jenkins of the Chronicle highlighted it in his three-dot lounge.)
Which brings to mind an idea: Radnich should do the weekly interview of 49ers coach, Mike Singletary.
I've never met Singletary, but behind the tough persona, I believe, is a guy that is far more complex and compelling and under the right circumstances, would be far more revealing with someone who had the moxie to ask the right questions.
I'm not a big Brian Murphy fan and I have said that one of my biggest gripes, (among many) is his weekly q and a with Singletary. It's obvious that Singletary isn't comfortable with Murphy and rarely, if at all, says anything worthwhile.
I acknowledge that the gist of the interview is mostly a back and forth effort regarding the last game and the one upcoming. It's mostly x's and o's with a bit of fan-board material and football minutiae. There's been a few laughs but that's very rare; sure, Singletary doesn't exude 'warmth and may be a real jerk, I really don't know, but I'm betting he'd be a bit less statue if he had a good interviewer to engage with.
Radich knows his sports and I'm sure he'd be able to ask the more mundane, meat-and-potato questions while also mixing in his own sense of humor. I'm not necessarily saying that Singletary is suddenly going to become Jimmy Johnson, but clearly, Radnich' technique in that area just might get him to open up.
Let's put it this way. It can't hurt. Singletary says nothing to Murphy and Murphy doesn't have the ability, its pretty obvious, to get anything out of the coach. Maybe Singletary is a total stiff--I don't think so. I think he could and would say a lot more, but he's not really comfortable with Murphy, that's obvious.
