Niners Nation
When the San Francisco 49ers went from Richard Hightower as a special teams coordinator to Brian Schneider, it was like the saying, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Outside of Robbie Gould’s excellence, the coverage units were shaky at best, the return game was non-existent, and the special teams units were a net negative.
During the first month of Brant Boyer, it felt like he picked up where his predecessors left off. There was a special teams penalty on the first punt of the season. The kicker missed his first field goal attempt. His next kick was blocked.
We’ll never know how much of a say Boyer had in releasing Jake Moody, but up until Eddy Pineiro’s injury a couple of weeks ago, the 49ers had one of the highest-rated field goal units in the NFL. Pineiro was the most valuable kicker in the sport through ten games, going 22-for-22. Advanced metrics only rated Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey higher. In a way, he saved the 49ers’ season — to some degree, at least.
Boyer had issues beyond the kicking game. In Week 2, the New Orleans Saints had a 34-yard kickoff return and a 19-yard punt return. In Week 3, the Arizona Cardinals had kickoff returns of 33 and 36 yards. The dam broke in Week 4, when the Jacksonville Jaguars had a 54-yard kickoff return and an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Something had to change. Whatever Boyer’s message was, it worked. According to Kyle Shanahan, one thing Boyer isn’t afraid to do is call players out:
“He doesn’t sugarcoat around anything. When guys aren’t performing up to the standard, he’ll call them out and let them know. I think guys know what to expect and usually when it’s like that, guys just as a group, tend to get better each week and that’s what’s happened.”
Since those early-season woes that led to the special teams debacle in Jacksonville, the 49ers have only allowed one punt return of more than 15 yards and one kickoff return of over 35 yards.
Boyer, a former fullback, has gotten through to his coverage units. In Shanahan’s mind, Boyer earned the player’s respect:
“I just think he’s so consistent. You know, he’s a former player who did all that dirty work for so many years as a fullback and special teams player. So, I think automatically when you’re like that, you earn a lot of respect just going into room with players, but that never lasts unless you know what you’re talking about and you work extremely hard and you’re consistent. I think he does all those things. So, he has got a great pedigree. He has been doing it for a while and he’s pretty simple in his approach in terms of, he studies the tape, he coaches these guys hard.”
Sometimes, it’s as simple as not beating yourself. The 49ers have had five games since the Jaguars, during which they’ve missed no more than...
