Mike Nolan needs to be quiet.

In case you missed it, he recently slammed Alex Smith, saying he preferred Shaun Hill. “I always thought [Hill] was good,” Nolan said via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.   “I would admit to making a mistake not making him a starter at the end. The last year I was there I should have [switched QBs] because he’s a baller.  . . . He checks it down. But he’s a guy the players trust will lead them to the end zone. That’s a huge factor.” (FYI, I got that paragraph from msnbc.com.)

Nolan clearly means Smith is not that kind of guy and he’s not a baller. In a way I agree with Nolan. Hill is a better quarterback than Smith and if Hill were the QB, even with wretched coach Mike Singletary who benched Hill, the Niners already would have won the NFC West.

What Nolan said stinks anyway. First off, he’s the one who drafted Smith. If Smith was no good why did Nolan stake his SF career on the guy when, say, Aaron Rodgers was across the Bay Bridge?

And there’s something else. Alex Smith is down now. His career is over in these parts. Was it necessary for Nolan, Smith’s former coach, to kick him while he’s down? This makes Nolan seem mean and small-minded. Some people already thought that about him.