Nolan's job safe; Lions fire Martz

After five straight losing seasons, the San Francisco 49ers still believe everything is going according to coach Mike Nolan's plan.

Nolan will return to the 49ers next season despite going 16-32 in his first three years with the club. Scot McCloughan, their top personnel executive, was formally announced as general manager Wednesday, getting a contract extension and a raise.

And other than those new business cards for McCloughan, 49ers owner John York apparently made no significant changes to his beleaguered franchise's power structure after the longest streak of losing football in team history.

Nolan, who previously had the final say on all football decisions, and McCloughan will continue to make joint decisions on every issue for the 49ers (5-11), even though McCloughan now has "the trigger," as Nolan put it.

"I will remain the one voice in this organization, and the face," Nolan said. "I don't believe it will change at all. The important thing is that we will maintain the relationship. We'll still communicate on all issues. … I'm not disappointed at all. I was in favor of it. I've been in favor of it for a long time."

Nolan made one inevitable move by firing rookie offensive coordinator Jim Hostler, whose unit finished last in the NFL with 219 points. Nolan is on the lookout for a veteran NFL man to become San Francisco's sixth offensive coordinator in six seasons.

But Hostler's ouster appears to be the only significant alteration to the 49ers' direction after a season that began with playoff hopes -- and fell apart with an eight-game losing streak and an embarrassing public disagreement between the head coach and quarterback Alex Smith, the former No. 1 draft pick.

Martz out as coordinator: The Detroit Lions reportedly fired Mike Martz, ending his fractious two years as the team's offensive coordinator. Martz will be replaced by Jim Colletto, who will retain his position as offensive line coach while calling plays. Receivers coach Kippy Brown will serve as co-coordinator, the Detroit Free Press, Booth Newspapers and ESPN.com reported.

Martz confirmed his firing to the Free Press.

"We fell short of what we wanted to do offensively, and I regret that," he told the newspaper.

Ireland new Dolphins GM: The Dallas Cowboys started paying the price for success with scouting director Jeff Ireland leaving to become the general manager of the Miami Dolphins. Owner Jerry Jones had the chance to squash the move but didn't, partly because he appreciated the Dolphins allowing him to hire Jason Garrett away from them last off-season.

The twist is that Garrett, the offensive coordinator, might be the next one out of town -- unless he's beaten out the door by assistant head coach Tony Sparano, who could also end up in Miami with Ireland and another familiar face, former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells.

Chiefs fire four assistants: The Kansas City Chiefs fired offensive coordinator Mike Solari and three other assistant coaches following a 4-12 season. Solari, offensive line coach John Matsko, receivers coach Charlie Joiner and running backs coach James Saxon were let go after a season in which the Chiefs were among the worst offensive teams in the NFL.

Solari, Saxon and Joiner had been on the staff of previous coach Dick Vermeil. Tight ends coach Jon Embree and assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Dick Curl were the only offensive assistants who were retained.