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SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a beautiful sound emanating from the San Francisco 49ers’ locker room as a new season approaches. It’s the sound of silence, of Steve Mariucci and Terrell Owens getting along. 

Nobody knows how long this tune will play in San Francisco, where the 49ers’ coach and their All-Pro receiver have spent the past two seasons in a rocky, adversarial relationship that’s been one of the few blemishes on one of the NFL’s more remarkable revivals. 

Owens’ outbursts against the team on issues ranging from celebrations to passes to basketball — and Mariucci’s inability to defuse a situation faced by coaches in every sport from time to time — were a distraction for the young, deep, powerful team built by Mariucci, Bill Walsh and general manager Terry Donahue. 

But a new season has brought a well-publicized detente. Both Mariucci and Owens are focused on pushing the 49ers past the St. Louis Rams in the NFC West — and perhaps to their sixth Super Bowl. 

“We had to put those things aside if we want to win a championship,” said Owens, who caught 93 passes for 1,412 yards and an NFL-best 16 touchdowns last seasons. “It was a big deal, but I think it’s over now.” 

After two seasons in the bottomless pit of salary-cap purgatory, the 49ers leaped back to the league’s upper echelon last season, going 12-4 with a rebuilt roster. Of San Francisco’s 22 starters last season, 20 returned this summer. The 49ers signed safety Tony Parrish and Pro Bowl guard Ron Stone to replace the two who were dropped. 

“We thought that when we kept our own players in the offseason, and when T.O. and Steve were able to bridge that gap, we thought we had a chance to be a pretty solid team,” Donahue said. “That’s always been our plan — to build well, and then retain what we built.” 

They’ve come a long way from last January’s season-ending playoff loss at Green Bay. After that game, Pro Bowl center Jeremy Newberry reportedly was involved in a confrontation with Owens that had the receiver on the phone to his agent, demanding to get out of San Francisco. 

Emotions have cooled considerably since then — and the 49ers finally have realized they’ve got much more to gain by sticking together. A murderous five-game preseason schedule, including a trip to Japan and a stretch of three games in 10 days, also seems to have improved the team concept. 

“I like the chemistry on this team,” Mariucci said. “I like the talent level we have. We’re a more confident team than we were at this point last year. We’ve really expected a lot from a young team.” 

With silly personality conflicts finally in the background, the 49ers can get down to the serious business of catching up with the Rams both on the field and in the standings. 

A year of experience and togetherness should help the entire roster, which was a patchwork collection in each of the past three seasons. Some of the question marks from 2001 — Garrison Hearst, Dana Stubblefield, Zack Bronson — are expected to be key factors in San Francisco’s success. 

Hearst and Kevan Barlow should make for a powerful ground tandem for a team that’s usually among the NFL’s rushing leaders. Owens and Jeff Garcia didn’t get much time to work on their games during the preseason, but both expect to be ready for the opener on Thursday night at the New York Giants. 

“We think we know what we have in this offense,” said Garcia, coming off his second straight Pro Bowl season. “We’re comfortable being together out there, because we’ve been together mostly for three years now.” 

On defense, San Francisco’s rapidly improving unit hopes to build on its remarkable late-season run in 2001, when it posted three shutouts in the final six games. 

The additions are Parrish, a capable replacement for Lance Schulters, and two rookies who will be backups. The 49ers drafted CB Mike Rumph in the first round, adding another set of fleet feet to compete with the Rams’ potent attack, and linebacker Saleem Rasheed has impressed coaches. 

The 49ers largely stayed pat in the offseason, a luxury not recently enjoyed on a roster that was churned up in the last five years. San Francisco hopes experience, not addition, is the secret to improvement from a 12-4 campaign that had its fans dreaming of a return to postseason glory. 

“This team has to be better than last year’s team to have any sort of a similar record,” Mariucci said. “We have a tougher schedule. We have to be better in order to be a contender.”