The 49ers have a void for their special teams coordinator in the wake of Richard Hightower leaving for the Bears, but these three candidates make sense.
The San Francisco 49ers’ coaching staff under head coach Kyle Shanahan is going to look noticeably different in 2022 than it did in 2021.
One of the potentially hot names many thought would be departing is defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans after engineering a top-10 defense over the course of last season. But after initially interviewing with the Minnesota Vikings for their head-coaching vacancy, Ryans felt it best to stay put with the Niners this season.
He’s the only coordinator to do so, though.
San Francisco’s biggest loss, without question, was seeing offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel depart to take over as the Miami Dolphins new head coach. Perhaps this was foreseen by Shanahan and Co., as they made the move to onboard former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn a mere day before McDaniel officially accepted his position.
But the other departure, perhaps not quite as shocking, was special teams coordinator Richard Hightower leaving his post with the 49ers to join the Chicago Bears in the same role.
Hightower was in charge of a Niners special teams unit that finished 26th in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric last season and seemingly was responsible for game-altering gaffes on almost a week-to-week basis.
San Francisco might be satisfied with the reality Hightower is gone after relatively substandard special teams performances the last few years, but it does prompt the necessity to replace him with someone just as capable if not better.
Here are three candidates who could best fill that void now.
49ers Special Teams Candidate No. 1: Joe Judge
49ers fans may be a little leery about the idea of bringing aboard former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge, who flamed out in that role after just two seasons and perhaps is known more from his heavy-handed handling of the G-Men’s roster in the wake of a training camp fight, then subsequent regression and mismanagement of the Giants as they went 4-13 over the course of 2021.
But that all overshadows the commendable efforts Judge put together as both a special teams assistant and coordinator for the New England Patriots between 2012 and 2019.
During that stint, the Pats’ special teams units finished within the top 10 in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric each year, suggesting Judge was more than competent enough to ensure this vital third phase of the game didn’t suffer the year-to-year drawbacks of having to constantly infuse rotating heads, being how the back end of the roster is typically asked to perform special teams duties.
Judge might not have the overall leadership skills to command a head-coaching job.
As a coordinator, though, he’s more than proven and capable.
49ers Special Teams Candidate No. 2: Rich Bisaccia
Leadership does matter, even for special teams coordinators, and few personified that as much in 2021 as Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia.
In the wake of the Raiders parting ways with former head coach Jon Gruden in the middle of the year, few would have taken shots at Bisaccia if Las Vegas completely fell apart in the aftermath. Instead, and despite all the distractions the Raiders endured, Bisaccia was directly responsible for getting his team back into the playoff dance with four consecutive wins to close out the regular season.
The #49ers should strongly consider doing whatever it takes to land Rich Bisaccia for special teams’ coordinator.
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) February 6, 2022
Bisaccia and Shanahan spent two season together in Tampa Bay. Clearly, Bisaccia was beloved in Vegas this year.
Commendable. Especially to the point where he had more than a few Raiders players vouching for him to take over Las Vegas’ full-time vacancy.
That vacancy went to former Patriots head coach Josh McDaniels, of course, meaning Bisaccia is now on the open market. While his special teams unit ranked 21st in 2021, according to Football Outsiders, there’s no questioning the amount of respect he has across the league.
Even if last year’s DVOA ranking wasn’t in the top 10, what Bisaccia managed in Las Vegas last year on the third phase of the game was still better than Richard Hightower’s output for the Niners.
49ers Special Teams Candidate No. 3: Tracy Smith
Diving a little deeper into the pool of potential San Francisco replacements for Richard Hightower, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to explore the realms within the NFC West.
Seattle Seahawks special teams assistant Tracy Smith should be on the shortlist of coaches who could assume this position, particularly after Smith played a role in Seattle boasting the NFL’s fifth-best special teams unit in 2021, according to Football Outsiders.
Smith had served as an assistant on special teams with the Houston Texans in 2018 and 2019, and he made a notable difference there, as the Seahawks’ personnel website pointed out:
"With Smith’s help, the 2019 Texans turned in one of the best all-around special teams performances in team history. Behind standout coverage units, the Texans led the NFL and set the single-season franchise record in opponent punt return average, allowing just 3.4 yards per return, and also led the league in opponent field position after kickoffs."
Going through Smith’s career path, it’s tough to find a season where his special teams units have performed in the bottom-three rankings of the NFL pecking order.
Plus, the 49ers would have the advantage of gaining a little inside knowledge of one of their chief divisional rivals.