49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Thread

Originally posted by BleedsRedNGold:

I'm rewatching the Falcons 2016 season and here's what I'm noticing so far:

• Kyle's offense doesn't necessarily need a #1 All Pro WR. Matt Ryan spread the ball around pretty good between #2, 3 WR tight ends and RBs. Now I'm not saying we don't need one, because the success of those other guys depended on the attention that Julio demanded, but we shouldn't suffer from the lack of a true #1.
• There's no such thing as a decoy in Kyle's offense. He will make you respect the deep threat by taking legit shots. Clearing route, my ass. You better cover our speed going down the field.
• Juice and our tight-ends will be getting lots of work.
• Kyle used a fair amount of zone read plays with Matt Ryan. Contrary to popular opinion, Matt Ryan is decently mobile. We'll see a lot of boot legs off of play action and maybe some zone read. It seems that the main reason Kap wasn't a fit for Kyles offense is it's complexity. If we had Russell Wilson instead, he would probably be a fit because he can make throws from the pocket as well.

Keep it coming!

Originally posted by BleedsRedNGold:

• Kyle's offense doesn't necessarily need a #1 All Pro WR. Matt Ryan spread the ball around pretty good between #2, 3 WR tight ends and RBs. Now I'm not saying we don't need one, because the success of those other guys depended on the attention that Julio demanded, but we shouldn't suffer from the lack of a true #1.

I also made this observation last season after watching his offense. Kyle's offense is holistic in that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Good stuff.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2718815-nfl1000-ranking-the-best-offensive-schemes

Many teams use motion to help the quarterback discern whether a defense is playing man or zone, and some teams are especially good as using motion to gain positional advantages (Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, also profiled in this piece, is an excellent example). But under Shanahan's watch, pre-snap motion becomes a crazy quilt in which any skill position player can start anywhere and move anywhere else.

The motion concepts were simpler in 2015, Shanahan's first year with the team. They were generally about moving a tight end or receiver from one end of the formation to the other. In 2016, when his players had a season to comprehend everything, Shanahan opened up the playbook.

Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman might start in the backfield together and each move into the receiver group—perhaps one in the slot and one outside. A Shanahan staple was to take fullback Patrick DiMarco and move him from the backfield to the outside receiver formation—something fullbacks don't generally do. But DiMarco caught seven passes for 52 yards in the regular season and three more for 43 yards in the playoffs, and he never carried the ball. He was a blocker and receiver, and that was that.

Tight end motion is also a big thing in a Shanahan offense—not only to reveal a defense's coverage plan by showing how defenders move with motion or don't, but also to group the tight end with other receivers in Atlanta's Levels (multiple receivers to different levels on one side of the field) and Flood (multiple receivers to a defined area) plays.

With all this motion going on, and since Shanahan refused to let his offense ever be defined as static, running lanes would open for Freeman and Coleman precisely because defenses were set on their heels by the changes in pre-snap formation and the subsequent expansion of the passing game.

Shanahan won't have the same level of talent to work with in San Francisco—he's in charge of a team that's rebuilding on all levels. But once his new roster gets the hang of his pre-snap ideas, don't be surprised if those players achieve unexpected gains.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2718815-nfl1000-ranking-the-best-offensive-schemes

Many teams use motion to help the quarterback discern whether a defense is playing man or zone, and some teams are especially good as using motion to gain positional advantages (Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, also profiled in this piece, is an excellent example). But under Shanahan's watch, pre-snap motion becomes a crazy quilt in which any skill position player can start anywhere and move anywhere else.

The motion concepts were simpler in 2015, Shanahan's first year with the team. They were generally about moving a tight end or receiver from one end of the formation to the other. In 2016, when his players had a season to comprehend everything, Shanahan opened up the playbook.

Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman might start in the backfield together and each move into the receiver group—perhaps one in the slot and one outside. A Shanahan staple was to take fullback Patrick DiMarco and move him from the backfield to the outside receiver formation—something fullbacks don't generally do. But DiMarco caught seven passes for 52 yards in the regular season and three more for 43 yards in the playoffs, and he never carried the ball. He was a blocker and receiver, and that was that.

Tight end motion is also a big thing in a Shanahan offense—not only to reveal a defense's coverage plan by showing how defenders move with motion or don't, but also to group the tight end with other receivers in Atlanta's Levels (multiple receivers to different levels on one side of the field) and Flood (multiple receivers to a defined area) plays.

With all this motion going on, and since Shanahan refused to let his offense ever be defined as static, running lanes would open for Freeman and Coleman precisely because defenses were set on their heels by the changes in pre-snap formation and the subsequent expansion of the passing game.

Shanahan won't have the same level of talent to work with in San Francisco—he's in charge of a team that's rebuilding on all levels. But once his new roster gets the hang of his pre-snap ideas, don't be surprised if those players achieve unexpected gains.

That was a cool article. I was hoping it would include some of the better run games in the league (TEN, BUF), and it did. Thought maybe it would be lazy and just list the offenses with the best QBs. I really liked this paragraph from the article:

In today's NFL, not every schematic genius is an innovator. Most aren't, in fact, and that's OK. Innovation is great, but execution is far more important. You can only invent so much, and the league's 32 coaching staffs are looking to get the edge on all the other coaching staffs at any given time. What the best play designers must do for their teams is understand their personnel and marry that personnel to their playbooks. It's important to note that marrying personnel to scheme is the way to success—not the other way around.

I agree that most NFL coaches are not innovators. They just tinker with what they see/learn from other coaches.

Originally posted by thl408:
That was a cool article. I was hoping it would include some of the better run games in the league (TEN, BUF), and it did. Thought maybe it would be lazy and just list the offenses with the best QBs. I really liked this paragraph from the article:

In today's NFL, not every schematic genius is an innovator. Most aren't, in fact, and that's OK. Innovation is great, but execution is far more important. You can only invent so much, and the league's 32 coaching staffs are looking to get the edge on all the other coaching staffs at any given time. What the best play designers must do for their teams is understand their personnel and marry that personnel to their playbooks. It's important to note that marrying personnel to scheme is the way to success—not the other way around.

I agree that most NFL coaches are not innovators. They just tinker with what they see/learn from other coaches.

Or you can draft for your scheme, and then modify your scheme as the draftee develops. But at least the article points out to Head Coaches that have good and proven systems that work at all levels. Execution is important, but if your scheme is Vince Lombardi's run to daylight approach, that particular scheme isn't going to have a lot of success in today's NFL.

This guy's so awesome he coaches an elite high school QB camp wearing no shoes.

Great reads. Can't wait to see what Shanahan does during the year

I haven't heard a 9er coach talk about footwork since Mooch. Love this.

"Being around Kyle, the one thing that I kind of forgotten and quickly remembered is that he's very particular about our feet. Watching the difference with Matt Ryan his first year with Kyle and the second year, it was almost like night and day. So, I've tried to really take what Matt tried to do in his second year and tried to implement with some drills and things like that."

Originally posted by NCommand:
I haven't heard a 9er coach talk about footwork since Mooch. Love this.

"Being around Kyle, the one thing that I kind of forgotten and quickly remembered is that he's very particular about our feet. Watching the difference with Matt Ryan his first year with Kyle and the second year, it was almost like night and day. So, I've tried to really take what Matt tried to do in his second year and tried to implement with some drills and things like that."

Well its that aspect of the WCO, timing and anticipation. The Harbaugh offense was not predicated on that. His offense was more predicated on the play action, deception, and pure power stuff. Nice thing about Shanahan is he incorporates all that stuff in and adds the zone run to it also. Pretty much an unbeatable system if he gets the right personnel in it.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by NCommand:

I haven't heard a 9er coach talk about footwork since Mooch. Love this.

"Being around Kyle, the one thing that I kind of forgotten and quickly remembered is that he's very particular about our feet. Watching the difference with Matt Ryan his first year with Kyle and the second year, it was almost like night and day. So, I've tried to really take what Matt tried to do in his second year and tried to implement with some drills and things like that."

Well its that aspect of the WCO, timing and anticipation. The Harbaugh offense was not predicated on that. His offense was more predicated on the play action, deception, and pure power stuff. Nice thing about Shanahan is he incorporates all that stuff in and adds the zone run to it also. Pretty much an unbeatable system if he gets the right personnel in it.

...and calls the right plays + execution!

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by NCommand:
I haven't heard a 9er coach talk about footwork since Mooch. Love this.

"Being around Kyle, the one thing that I kind of forgotten and quickly remembered is that he's very particular about our feet. Watching the difference with Matt Ryan his first year with Kyle and the second year, it was almost like night and day. So, I've tried to really take what Matt tried to do in his second year and tried to implement with some drills and things like that."

Well its that aspect of the WCO, timing and anticipation. The Harbaugh offense was not predicated on that. His offense was more predicated on the play action, deception, and pure power stuff. Nice thing about Shanahan is he incorporates all that stuff in and adds the zone run to it also. Pretty much an unbeatable system if he gets the right personnel in it.

We all thought that Harbaugh was going to bring back the WCO. Turns out, he was just a power run guy. Kyle is the the guy to bring the niners back to its roots.

cant wait

I think many will be surprised at what this team is able to achieve this season.

Originally posted by gold49digger:

We all thought that Harbaugh was going to bring back the WCO. Turns out, he was just a power run guy. Kyle is the the guy to bring the niners back to its roots.

cant wait

Amen brother! Amen!

Originally posted by gold49digger:

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by NCommand:
I haven't heard a 9er coach talk about footwork since Mooch. Love this.

"Being around Kyle, the one thing that I kind of forgotten and quickly remembered is that he's very particular about our feet. Watching the difference with Matt Ryan his first year with Kyle and the second year, it was almost like night and day. So, I've tried to really take what Matt tried to do in his second year and tried to implement with some drills and things like that."

Well its that aspect of the WCO, timing and anticipation. The Harbaugh offense was not predicated on that. His offense was more predicated on the play action, deception, and pure power stuff. Nice thing about Shanahan is he incorporates all that stuff in and adds the zone run to it also. Pretty much an unbeatable system if he gets the right personnel in it.

We all thought that Harbaugh was going to bring back the WCO. Turns out, he was just a power run guy. Kyle is the the guy to bring the niners back to its roots.

cant wait

His offense wasn't bad. It was a more vertical kind of WCO, the power run will work with a vertical passing game. That was the Air-Coryell system that Walsh borrowed from and incorporated. All Walsh did was turn it from vertical to horizontal. The play action pass is a staple to both systems, but the difference between the Walsh WCO and the Air Coryell/Al Davis(sid gilman) offense is the power run. Without the power run, the vertical offense will not work, and you need speed at the WR positions to make the Air Coryell work and a very good receiver TE to work the underneath routes. Lack of a good TE killed us against 4-3 under defenses we faced in Seadderall and other teams that have good corners and safeties. Stupid Baalke never really got the receivers and TE's that this vertical style of passing game needed. The WCO doesn't need that premier rusher for the ground game, it needs a good runner yes, but the RB's and FB's are more receivers than runners. You see Kyle's system make 1,000 yard rushers out of 4th+ rounder's, because they are also very good receivers, and that makes it different than the power run Harbaugh system. Tough to load up on the run in Kyle's system, when the RB's can fake a run and go out for a pass.