Why have special teams been such a concern under the Kyle Shanahan era?
The San Francisco 49ers fired special teams coordinator Brian Schneider on Monday night, according to multiple reports, moving on from the assistant after three years with the team.
Schneider, 53, had come over from San Francisco after one year with the Jacksonville Jaguars and was expected to rebuild the 49ers’ special teams unit after the group had struggled under former special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.
However, he never really got a strong footing, as the 49ers struggled on special teams once again, including during an ugly 2024 season where the team dealt with both return and kickoff issues, as well as injuries and field goal concerns, leading to Schneider’s firing on Monday.
Looking at the numbers, the 49ers arguably had the worst special teams unit in the NFL in 2024, while ranking 31st in DVOA on the season.
Under head coach Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers have consistently had a special teams issue, which begs the question: is it more of a Shanahan problem or a coordinator problem?
Looking into this season in particular, there were a number of special teams miscues that felt directly as a result of coaching.
The 49ers had a blocked punt back in Week 2 that gave the Vikings a score. They gave up a fake punt in Week 3, which seemed like an obvious situation where Shanahan was clearly frustrated. A big punt return later in the game set up the game-winning field goal.
Another fake punt came two weeks later. And then came the missed field goals, as Jake Moody ranked 38th in the NFL in field goal percentage this year, leading to a lackluster special teams season as a whole.
The 49ers made a number of significant investments in special teams over the past few seasons. They drafted Moody in the third round, marking the highest that a kicker had been drafted since the failed Roberto Aguayo experiment with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
They re-signed punter Mitch Wishnowsky to a near-top-of-the-market deal and have dealt with inconsistencies there before the 32-year-old dealt with injuries for much of the year. They’ve gone out and signed special teams aces such as George Odum, Oren Burks, and Ray-Ray McCloud to fix certain units.
And yet, the issues continue to arise.
Looking back at the question, it was clear that Schneider had to go. There were one too many problems with all of the team’s investments that he couldn’t return in 2025.
But, the issue can also be seen as a Kyle Shanahan issue. For some reason, special teams continues to be a recurring problem for the head coach, regardless of who his coordinator selection is. A part of the problem is his choices at coordinator, which ultimately falls on the head coach, and the other part is not figuring out a plan good enough to generate any level of success.
The 49ers need a much better solution in 2025. Because they can’t afford for special teams to cost them games in a big year.