You've heard stories about San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan installing a play and breaking down exactly how he expects the defense to react. Then, when the players execute the play, everything occurs as the coach explained, as if he had a crystal ball to predict the outcome.
Shanahan is a confident play-caller, emphasizing execution by his players to ensure everything goes as planned. The 49ers acquired a big-time playmaker last season, trading for star running back Christian McCaffrey, who had already established himself as one of the most versatile players in the league.
Even McCaffrey marvels at the things his play-caller comes up with.
"I think one of the best things as a player is when you know that your coach has confidence," McCaffrey recently said on the Rich Eisen Show. "And I think when you sit in those meetings, and you really understand the scheme, not just your job, but you start to find out that there's a purpose behind every play.
"And when you know that purpose, and you're able to understand what the scheme is trying to do and how it's supposed to set up other things, it makes it so much fun playing football because you know what Kyle's thinking."
McCaffrey suited up for a game against the Kansas City Chiefs about 48 hours after arriving in Santa Clara last season. Without a full understanding of the playbook, the running back produced 1,210 all-purpose yards and 10 total touchdowns (plus a passing touchdown) through 11 games with San Francisco, amassing 1,880 total yards and 13 total touchdowns throughout the entire season.
Imagine what McCaffrey can do with a full offseason to absorb the playbook and the nuances of Shanahan's scheme.
"And Kyle is trying to get us to know what he's thinking because the scheme's worked," McCaffrey continued. "It's worked for a really long time. I think it's the most sustainable scheme that there is, and it's up to the players to execute it because, in my opinion, when he does say, 'Yeah, this is going to be a big play,' I think everybody perks up because they know that it could be real."
