Bears Hire Former 49ers Special Teams Coach Richard Hightower
The 49ers just lost their worst position coach -- Richard Hightower.
Hightower signed with the Chicago Bears on Sunday to be their new special teams coach, according to The NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. It's unclear if Hightower's contract was up with the 49ers or he simply decided to leave the 49ers and take a lateral move with an inferior team. Either way, the 49ers most likely will find an upgrade.
With the exception of the divisional playoff game against the Packers, when the 49ers special teams arguably won the game with a punt block and a touchdown, Hightower's unit seem unprepared most of the season. It never stopped a fake punt. It gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. It consistently allowed poor field position and fumbled punts and kickoffs.
The unit improved during the playoffs when Deebo Samuel started returning kicks, but that's to be expected as he arguably is the best player in the league, and he probably won't return kicks in the upcoming regular season. Which means the 49ers need a new coach who can turn this unit around. And it shouldn't be hard to find an upgrade over Hightower.
The 49ers have gotten rid of two assistant coaches so far this offseason -- Hightower and Jon Emree, who was the tight ends coach and assistant head coach. Anthony Lynn will replace Embree as the assistant head coach, but the 49ers still need to hire a tight ends coach and now a special teams coach as well
Stay tuned.
