No fear of the unknown as 49ers coach embraces the most significant challenge of his career
Given the San Francisco's struggles on special teams last season, coordinator Brian Schneider would have been forgiven for being frustrated by having to adjust to new kickoff rules. But Schneider, who oversaw a special teams unit that ranked 25th by DVOA last season, is instead relishing the challenge that will come with drastic changes to […]
Given the San Francisco's struggles on special teams last season, coordinator Brian Schneider would have been forgiven for being frustrated by having to adjust to new kickoff rules.
But Schneider, who oversaw a special teams unit that ranked 25th by DVOA last season, is instead relishing the challenge that will come with drastic changes to kickoffs for the 2024 season.
NFL kickoffs will now be markedly similar to those seen in the XFL in 2020 and 2023.
Kickers will kick from the 35-yard line as was already the case, with their 10 teammates starting at the opposing 40. One or two return men can be in the 'landing zone' from the goal line to the 20-yard line. The rest of the return team will line up in the 'setup zone' between the 30 and 35. Only the kicker and returners can move until the ball hits the ground or is touched.
The changes will, theoretically, lead to an increase in field-flipping returns and kick return touchdowns, but they have given special teams coordinators across the league a headache as they attempt to figure out how to maximize their scoring potential on returns and minimize that of their opponents when kicking off.
No fear in the unknown
With the season still over three months away, the new kickoffs represent a complete unknown for everyone in the NFL. However, even with the 49ers' special teams issues in recent years, there is no fear in that unknown for Schneider, who instead feels a great sense of excitement.
Schneider said: “In the offseason when you get the news it’s a lot of anxiety because what you’re looking at is, the only thing you really have to look at is the XFL and it’s different too, than that.
"So, you really try to do as much as you can until the players got here. Because before it was all in my brain and one thing would go to another and then all of a sudden, I think it’s about here now for me, in terms of once we get the fundamentals together, once we ask the players to communicate with us, talk to us, what do you see? And once we kind of broke it down that way to get to, I think some fundamentals that will stick in terms of how to get there, and now we have to see where it goes. Because it’s different. That’s for sure.”
"Everyone’s still figuring it out. Like the way I feel about it now, again, that’s the best way I can explain it in my mind. It was here in my mind with all the things that could go on and you wanted to try to get some base fundamentals that you think you could just from geometry basically. And so, you put all those in and then once you see it with the players, okay, now at least we have a starting point. Where I think we can get it pretty close to the fundamentals to get in position to make the block. And then we’re going to see how it all evolves.
"So, I feel good where we’re at right now. And again, there’s 31 other coaches like me that don’t know exactly if we’re on the right track, what it’s going to look like. So more than anything it’s going to be adjusting. And so, right now I feel good finally with the players and getting their input and working through it all. It’s exciting. I mean, I’m fired up. This is the coolest thing to happen in terms of in my coaching career because it’s, what are you going to do? You have a great opportunity to do something that’s never been done before. So, it’s a race to figure it out and it’s going to be constantly adjusting.”
A plethora of return options
Despite losing Ray-Ray McCloud in free agency, the 49ers are not short of options at returner. Ronnie Bell and Jordan Mason both have return experience and the Niners have previously used Deebo Samuel in that capacity. On top of that, they added the fastest running back in the draft in Isaac Guerendo and added a receiver with 4.3 speed in Jacob Cowing.
Asked about his return options, Schneider replied: "The first thing I like that you said is you have a lot of returners and I love that right now. So, we’re getting them as much as we can. And we’ll continue to do that. So, we have a lot of guys back there, a lot of new guys back there and I love it, just the competition. So, we’re going to, all that is going to evolve with the way I see it.
"It’s all about the ball. And so that’s where we always start. So, you always try to anticipate what kickers are going to do and it could be anywhere. So, that’s where we start preparing. So, is it going to be like a shortstop? Is it, you know, what type of fielding balls are you going to get? What type of guys are there? And then what type of runners are there? I mean, is it going to be better to have a bigger back where you can break through the arm tackles? Because everyone’s going to be engaged. Is it going to be a quicker guy? But it all starts with the football. So that’s where you build everything from and really trying to figure out where they’re going to kick it, how they’re going to kick it."
The 49ers haven't had a kick return touchdown since Richie James Jr. took one to the house against the Seattle Seahawks in 2018. How well Schneider figures out the new rules will go a long way to deciding if the Niners are able to end that drought this year.
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It’s difficult to completely agree.
