In his first week as the interim coach for the San Francisco 49ers, Mike Singletary decided he needed a strong way to show his disapproval of his team’s performance. Many coaches in this situation would threaten the team with fines or running, but that wasn’t enough for Singletary. At halftime of the 49ers-Seahawks game, the ex-Bears linebacker dropped his pants in the 49er locker room and pointed at his behind to indicate his disapproval of how the team was playing.

While Singletary’s heart was in the right place, his pants were not.

At 2-6, the 49ers are tied with the St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks for last place in the NFC West — a division notorious for being the worst in football.

Obviously, his team needed motivation. What they didn’t need, however, was an excellent view of their coach’s undergarments.

While it made news, the pants incident was not the only public motivation tool for Singletary. After too many turnovers, Singletary benched struggling quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan in the middle of the game. He also benched starting tight end Vernon Davis after a personal foul penalty.

Singletary clearly wanted to show that the losing habits of the 49ers could not and would not be tolerated. The team walking out on Sundays would be expected to win games.

Singletary’s first game as coach highlights the biggest stressor of the coaching profession. A coach’s livelihood depends on factors he cannot control. No matter how good his teaching talent is, a coach will ultimately be judged on the success or failure of his players on the field instead of anything he can directly control. I cannot imagine the stress this must put on a coach.

This problem has led other coaches to try motivational tools just as strange as those of Singletary. In the 2003 season, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio put an ax and a tree stump in the locker room to reinforce the team’s “keep chopping wood” mantra. This ploy backfired however, as Pro Bowl punter Chris Hanson slashed his leg with the ax and had to sit out the rest of the season.

Despite these two incidents, unique motivational tools can be positive.

Just before the 1996 Super bowl, Packers coach Mike Holmgren led his team to a table with a large pile of cash on it. The cash, exactly $73,000, was the bonus a player would make for winning the Super Bowl. Just a few hours later, Holmgren saw the effect of his motivation as his Packers carried the day in Super Bowl XXXI.

At the college level, USC coach Pete Carroll regularly takes advantage of his LA setting, hiring stunt men and special effects experts to play pranks on his team in an effort to keep them loose. And, as we can tell by USC’s success under Pete Carroll, it works.

Ultimately, the Singletary pants issue shouldn’t even be an issue. Singletary dropped his trousers in the supposed safety of his locker room at halftime.

To perform at their best, coaches and players need that space to be free from the media so that if they take a risk in their motivating, like Singletary did, it won’t be broadcast around the country. And while the team didn’t need to see their coach without pants, the incident should not have been made public.

Reach columnist Zach Ruby at sports@dailyuw.com.