San Francisco 49ers left tackle Joe Staley is preparing to enter his 12th NFL season. Throughout his NFL career, Staley has played for six head coaches since being drafted by the 49ers in 2007. He has learned numerous systems throughout his 11-year career with San Francisco. However, when Staley talks about the current regime, you sense the genuine excitement in his voice.
Much of that has to do with his current head coach, Kyle Shanahan. He is considered to be one of the most brilliant young offensive minds in football. You will get no argument from the veteran tackle.
"I've never been around a play caller like him as far the Xs and Os and just completely understanding how every single piece fits together," Staley said on The Rich Eisen Show. "With him, he doesn't have just a mastery of the run game or the passing game or the screen. I mean, he's got a complete understanding of everything. Not only just what we're trying to do schematically, but how it fits, and how every single person on the football field has a job, and the play has to be set up in a certain way, and the way he calls a play in the game to kind of set up something in maybe the third (or) fourth quarter down the road, and how the defense is kind of attacking.
"He's like next-level genius stuff that I've never really been around. As far as that, it's really, really exciting as a player to be around a guy like that, that you just have full, full confidence every single time you're on the field that this is the exact right play call that we need in a situation. It's just up to us as players to go out and execute it. You're never confused or thinking that maybe, 'Man, I don't know why he's calling this.' It's never that situation with him right now.
"And then also, just in front of the team, he's been unbelievable. He's been a great communicator, keeps it very honest, keeps guys accountable. You kind of worry – not really worry – but have questions; this guy has been a coordinator his whole entire career and just how he's going to step into that head coaching role.
"Last year, just seeing how he was with the team, in front of the team, and communicating with the guys, I've been nothing but pleased with him as a head coach."
The media was impressed with Shanahan's answer when asked on Wednesday about the zone-read within his offensive scheme and if he is worried about defensive coordinators figuring out how to stop it.
"It's not your base offense, but if you're in pistol or shotgun, you can run it at any time," Shanahan said. "Defenses have been playing 11 against 10 for so long. Now all of a sudden, you have to play 11-on-11 and if you're not that changes everything you do. It's not that they've caught up, you just need the right people, the right commitment, you have to stay healthy, and you've got to have the whole package together. If we're just running zone-read, well they'll stop that. It's what are you doing off of it?"
The 49ers wrapped up their final practice of this week's mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. After a family day on Thursday, the players will break for about six weeks until they report back for training camp in late July.