The San Francisco 49ers search for a new special teams coordinator continued Tuesday when they interviewed former Carolina Panthers special teams coordinator and interim head coach Chris Tabor.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the interview.
Tabor’s experience is the polar opposite of recent interviewee Chris Banjo. Banjo has only two years of coaching experience after spending the last two years as an assistant special teams coach with the Denver Broncos. Tabor has been a coach in the NFL for 16 years. He spent 13 of those years as a special teams coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears and Panthers.
It would make sense if the 49ers wanted a seasoned special teams veteran to help guide their group. That’s been their preference in the Kyle Shanahan era where Richard Hightower and Brian Schneider were the two ST coordinators. Schneider was let go following a disastrous 2024 campaign.
The Browns under Tabor’s guidance had an excellent special teams unit, and it’s noteworthy that in 2021 when Bears head coach Matt Nagy was out with COVID-19, Tabor was the person Chicago turned to as the interim head coach. Tabor lost that game to the 49ers. He also went 1-6 as the Panthers interim head coach.