49ers news: 5 assistants who could be gone in 2022
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower
Switching over to the coaching side of things from here on out, the Niners may be forced to make some serious changes to the assistants supporting Kyle Shanahan.
For special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, though, a move might not be based solely on a promotion or being taken away by another franchise. If anything, Hightower is surely the No. 1 coordinator candidate to simply be let go by San Francisco during the offseason.
Sure, special teams saved the 49ers’ efforts against the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
Before that, though, special teams was one of the Niners’ primary weaknesses and almost routinely gave up gaffe plays and mistakes on a week-to-week basis during the regular season. All to the point where Football Outsiders ranked this unit 26th in the league over the course of 2021.
True, Hightower rarely has the benefit of carrying over an identical core of special teams players, given the fluctuation in backups and third-string players on a year-to-year basis. But that’s the same issue 31 other teams across the league have, and San Francisco’s special teams unit hasn’t exactly been a strength during Shanahan’s entire tenure dating back to 2017.
If the 49ers are forced to shake up their coordinators this offseason, Hightower is the likeliest to depart.