The San Francisco 49ers parted ways with special teams coordinator Brian Schneider late Monday night, according to multiple reports, following a season in which special teams lapses contributed to several close losses and kicker Jake Moody struggled down the stretch. ESPN was the first to report the news.
Special teams miscues were particularly prominent in the first half of the season, including in narrow Week 2 and 3 losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.
The Vikings blocked a Mitch Wishnowsky punt when the 49ers blew a blocking assignment. The 49ers also got next to nothing on kick and punt returns, especially after return man Jacob Cowing muffed a punt that the 49ers were able to gather in after a scramble for the ball.
A week later in Los Angeles, the Rams used a fake punt to pick up a critical first down, Moody missed a 55-yard field goal and the Rams had a big punt return in the final minute that set up their game-winning field goal. In a full-circle moment, the 49ers also allowed the Arizona Cardinals to convert a fake punt in Sunday’s season finale to set up a first-quarter field goal.
The 49ers hired Schneider, 53, in 2022 after five largely lackluster years with Richard Hightower running their special teams. Schneider’s units didn’t do any better with kickoff coverage and a meager return game being consistent issues. The 49ers haven’t had a kick return for a touchdown since 2018. A punt-return touchdown? That hasn’t happened since 2011.
Special teams ranking by DVOA under Kyle Shanahan
| Year | DVOA ranking | Coordinator |
|---|---|---|
|
2024 |
31st |
Schneider |
|
2023 |
25th |
Schneider |
|
2022 |
15th |
Schneider |
|
2021 |
26th |
Hightower |
|
2020 |
23rd |
Hightower |
|
2019 |
12th |
Hightower |
|
2018 |
14th |
Hightower |
|
2017 |
11th |
Hightower |
Schneider’s biggest responsibility may have been finding a kicker for the 2023 season after the team moved on from reliable veteran Robbie Gould.
The search for a replacement led them to Moody, widely considered the top college prospect that year due to several, high-pressure kicks in inclement weather at the University of Michigan. Armed with three late third-round picks that year, the 49ers used one on Moody, making him the highest kicker taken since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ disastrous stint with Roberto Aguayo, a second-round pick, in 2016.
Though the 49ers were criticized for hinging their champion-caliber roster on an unproven kicker, Moody was mostly solid as a rookie, making 21 of 25 kicks in the regular season. He wasn’t quite as good in the postseason, missing two field goals — and, prominently, an extra point in the Super Bowl — though he also made two field goals from beyond 50 yards in the Super Bowl.
This year was much more difficult.
Moody started the season 13 of 14 on field goals before suffering a high ankle sprain while attempting a tackle on a short-field kickoff — another special teams theme for the 49ers — in a Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Moody missed the next three games and was 11 of 20 on field goals after returning.
Required reading
• Jake Moody, Nick Sorensen and others make a poor final argument in 49ers’ loss
• 49ers embracing, experimenting with new kickoffs: ‘It’s a race to figure it out’
(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)
