Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Tuesday, January 28th, 2025
49ers hire former Jets assistant Boyer as special teams coordinator
“Boyer, 53, played 10 seasons in the NFL as a linebacker and core special teams player from 1994 to 2003 with Miami, Jacksonville and Cleveland.
He served as the Jets’ special teams coordinator since 2016 under Todd Bowles, Adam Gase, Robert Saleh and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich. Boyer also worked four seasons as an assistant special teams coach with the Indianapolis Colts.”
49ers hire Jets’ Brant Boyer as special teams coordinator: What he brings to San Francisco (paywall)
“Though the Jets’ special teams dipped a bit in 2024, Boyers’ units have been consistently strong over the last decade, especially in kickoff coverage, something at which the 49ers have struggled in recent seasons.
While being coached by Boyer, two Jets players — Braxton Berrios in 2022 and Andre Roberts in 2018 — were named AP All-Pros as returners while three others, Justin Hardee (2023), Roberts (2019) and kicker Jason Myers (2019), made Pro Bowl appearances.”
McAfee declares 49ers acquired ‘beast’ with new coordinator Boyer
“Holy s—t. This guy’s a beast,” McAfee said. “This guy’s a beast. He was [with] the [New York Jets]. I think even Jets fans would say, ‘There was a lot that went wrong with our team, [but] our special teams was great.’ Blocking kicks, taking kicks to the house … you name it. Boyer’s a dog.”
49ers mailbag: What should be first on Robert Saleh’s offseason agenda? (paywall)
“I will say that one of the best coaching jobs I’ve witnessed came in 2011 when, due to the lockout, the 49ers still were assembling their starting squad well into training camp.
Fangio, who was in his first year as San Francisco’s coordinator, resisted settling on a defensive scheme until he knew exactly who’d be on the team and determined what they’d be good at. So he experimented with some concepts throughout August and into the beginning of the season.
As a result, the 49ers’ defenses of that era were very good at making adjustments and showing looks they hadn’t shown in previous games. That versatility was especially critical in the 2012 NFC Championship Game. The Atlanta Falcons jumped out to a 24-14 lead at halftime. Receiver Julio Jones had 135 yards and two touchdowns at the half. Atlanta was cruising.
The 49ers, however, made adjustments in the locker room by going back to a concept they practiced this previous summer. The Falcons never scored again and the 49ers went on to the Super Bowl.
That seems like the type of versatility Shanahan said he was looking for when he spoke about the defensive coordinator position at his end-of-year news conference.”
Cowboys hiring former 49ers DC Nick Sorensen as special teams coordinator
“Sorensen will reunite with new Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer. The two worked together in 2021 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where Schottenheimer was the passing game coordinator and Sorensen was the special teams coordinator. They also previously worked together with the Seattle Seahawks from 2018 to 2020.”
NFL.com identifies area of improvement for surprise 49ers rookie
“A lot went wrong for San Francisco in 2024, but the 49ers nailed their third-round pick,” Patra wrote. “Puni was everything the Niners could’ve hoped for when selecting him 86th overall. A Day 1 starter, Puni fit Kyle Shanahan’s offense to a T. As a rookie, he finished as one of the better run-blocking guards in the entire NFL, blowing away other first-year OGs in that regard.”
However, Patra also noted an area where Puni needs improvement: pass protection. While Pro Football Focus awarded Puni an impressive 81.5 run-blocking grade—the highest among all rookie offensive linemen—his 68.9 pass-blocking grade revealed room for growth. Despite this, it still ranked third among first-year offensive linemen.”