OK, two reliable news agencies are reporting it now. Mike Nolan is out. The Niners fired him this afternoon after, curiously, allowing him to conduct his weekly news conference during which he got grilled by the media. No one ever said football owners have a heart.

Does Nolan deserve to get fired now?

Heck, yes.

I had written the team should keep him if he coached and won next Sunday. But this is just as good. The team obviously is going nowhere with him and he got more than a fair chance. He should have been fired at the end of last season, and the team’s 2-5 record so far only proves how weak he is as the head guy. His career record in SF is 18-37 and nobody survives with a record like that.

The 49ers, it is said, will bring in Mike Singletary as interim head coach. He’s as good as anyone else at this point, but interims usually don’t do well. And, get this, he’s a defensive coach. The Niners need an offensive-minded head coach who will bring back the West Coast Offense.

At the end of this season, John York should get rid of the entire coaching staff and bring in people who really know what they’re doing. Does GM Scot McCloughan know what he’s doing? Your guess is as good as mine.

— Lowell