1974 San Francisco 49ers season

The 1974 San Francisco 49ers season was the franchise's 25th season in the National Football League, their 29th overall, and their sixth under head coach Dick Nolan.

1974 San Francisco 49ers season
Owner	Josephine Morabito-Fox Jane Morabito
General manager	Louis Spadia
Head coach	Dick Nolan
Home stadium	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	2nd NFC West
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	C Forrest Blue CB Jimmy Johnson P Tom Wittum
← 1973 49ers seasons 1975 →

Despite initially starting 2–0, the 49ers would proceed to lose their next seven games, dropping them to a 2–7 record. They would proceed to win four of their last five games, but finished with a 6–8 record, which was four wins shy of the playoffs.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1974 NFL draft

1974 San Francisco 49ers draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	9	Wilbur Jackson	Running back	Alabama
1	10	Bill Sandifer	Defensive tackle	UCLA
2	35	Keith Fahnhorst *	Tackle	Minnesota
2	49	Delvin Williams *	Running back	Kansas
4	83	Clint Haslerig	Wide receiver	Michigan
4	90	Sammy Johnson	Running back	North Carolina
6	138	Mike Raines	Defensive tackle	Alabama
7	166	Kermit Johnson	Running back	UCLA	signed with Southern California Sun (WFL)
8	191	Jim Schnietz	Guard	Missouri
9	216	Manfred Moore	Running back	USC
10	244	Glen Gaspard	Linebacker	Texas
11	269	Greg Battle	Defensive back	Colorado State
12	294	Tom Hull	Linebacker	Penn State
13	322	Tom Owen	Quarterback	Wichita State
14	347	Walt Williamson	Defensive end	Michigan
15	372	Leonard Gray	Tight end	Long Beach State	did not play college football
16	400	Jack Conners	Defensive back	Oregon
17	425	Levi Stanley	Guard	Hawaii
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1974 San Francisco 49ers staff

Front office Team Owner(s) – Josephine Morabito & Jane Morabito General manager / Team President – Louis Spadia Head coaches Head coach = Dick Nolan Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator = Dick Stanfel Quarterbacks / Wide Receivers – Don Heinrich Running Backs – Doug Scovil Offensive Line / Blocking – Lew Erber

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator / Defensive Line – Paul Wiggin Linebackers – Ed Beard Defensive Backfield / Secondary – Rich Brooks & Chet Franklin Special teams coaches Special Teams – Rich Brooks

Roster

1974 San Francisco 49ers roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Tom Owen 16 Norm Snead 11 Steve Spurrier Running backs (RB) 40 Wilbur Jackson 48 Sammy Johnson 45 Manfred Moore 35 Larry Schreiber 24 Delvin Williams Wide receivers (WR) 46 Danny Abramowicz 88 Terry Beasley 18 Gene Washington 85 Robert West Tight ends (TE) 82 Ted Kwalick 84 Tom Mitchell

Offensive linemen (OL) 79 Cas Banaszek T 77 Jean Barrett G/C 65 Randy Beisler G 75 Forrest Blue C 71 Keith Fahnhorst T 66 Bob Penchion G 69 Woody Peoples G 76 Len Rohde T 67 John Watson G Defensive linemen (DL) 72 Bill Belk DT 86 Cedrick Hardman DE 53 Tommy Hart DE 74 Stan Hindman DT 56 Bob Hoskins DT 78 Rolf Krueger DT/DE 60 Bill Sandifer DT

Linebackers (LB) 50 Caesar Belser OLB 59 Willie Harper OLB 54 Tom Hull MLB 58 Bill McKoy OLB 57 Frank Nunley MLB 52 Skip Vanderbundt OLB 64 Dave Wilcox OLB Defensive backs (DB) 43 Windlan Hall SS/FS 47 Hugo Hollas SS 20 Mike Holmes FS 37 Jimmy Johnson CB 49 Ralph McGill CB/FS 33 John Saunders CB/S 44 Bruce Taylor CB Special teams (ST) 30 Bruce Gossett K 13 Tom Wittum P

Reserve 80 Mike Bettiga WR (IR) 63 Ed Hardy G (IR) 32 Mel Phillips S (IR) Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 3	at San Diego Chargers	L 6–20	0–1	San Diego Stadium	18,870
2	August 12	at Cleveland Browns	L 20–21	0–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	24,008
3	August 18	Denver Broncos	L 3–10	0–3	Candlestick Park	29,908
4	August 24	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–26	0–4	Arrowhead Stadium	46,548
5	September 2	Oakland Raiders	L 19–20	0–5	Candlestick Park	52,538
6	September 8	Los Angeles Rams	L 7–17	0–6	Candlestick Park	46,125

^[1]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 15	at New Orleans Saints	W 17–13	1–0	Tulane Stadium	65,071	Recap
2	September 22	at Atlanta Falcons	W 16–10	2–0	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	47,686	Recap
3	September 29	Cincinnati Bengals	L 3–21	2–1	Candlestick Park	49,895	Recap
4	October 6	St. Louis Cardinals	L 9–34	2–2	Candlestick Park	48,675	Recap
5	October 14	at Detroit Lions	L 13–17	2–3	Tiger Stadium	45,199	Recap
6	October 20	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–37	2–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	67,319	Recap
7	October 27	Oakland Raiders	L 24–35	2–5	Candlestick Park	58,284	Recap
8	November 4	Los Angeles Rams	L 13–15	2–6	Candlestick Park	57,502	Recap
9	November 10	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14–20	2–7	Texas Stadium	50,018	Recap
10	November 17	at Chicago Bears	W 34–0	3–7	Soldier Field	42,686	Recap
11	November 24	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–0	4–7	Candlestick Park	45,435	Recap
12	December 1	at Cleveland Browns	L 0–7	4–8	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	24,559	Recap
13	December 8	Green Bay Packers	W 7–6	5–8	Candlestick Park	47,475	Recap
14	December 15	New Orleans Saints	W 35–21	6–8	Candlestick Park	40,418	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams	10	4	0	.714	5–1	7–3	263	181	W1
San Francisco 49ers	6	8	0	.429	4–2	6–5	226	236	W2
New Orleans Saints	5	9	0	.357	3–3	5–6	166	263	L1
Atlanta Falcons	3	11	0	.214	0–6	3–8	111	271	W1