49ers' VP Jed York indicated the firing of Mike Nolan, who has now been replaced by Mike Singletary, had been contemplated for awhile. "We had hoped to get to the bye week (after Sunday's home game against Seattle)," he said. "We didn't think it was fair to the team to let the rumors linger going into an important week for us." In an interview with The Chronicle on Monday morning, York had said Nolan's job was safe for the time being. "What changed," he said later, "was there were numerous reports (that Nolan would be fired) that were a distraction."