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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In an offseason that figures to bring plenty of change after a 6-11 finish, the San Francisco 49ers made their first major move Monday, relieving Brian Schneider of his duties as special teams coordinator, sources told ESPN.
Schneider’s firing comes as little surprise after he oversaw a special teams unit that was among the worst in the NFL in 2024. The Niners finished 32nd in the league in expected points added on special teams at negative-47.67, which was nearly 24 more points lost than the next-closest team (the Atlanta Falcons at negative-23.9).
In San Francisco’s lost season, special teams’ errors seemed to happen nearly every week, including missed field goals, successful fake punts allowed, costly penalties, muffed return attempts and a middling punting unit.
At the team’s bye in late October, coach Kyle Shanahan said he had “no concerns” with Schneider and that moving on from him “hasn’t entered my head at all.” But Shanahan also was holding out hope that things would turn for the better on special teams.
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In November, Shanahan said the Niners were spending “a lot” of meeting time and practice time trying to improve on special teams but also acknowledged the trickle-down effect of the team’s injuries also wasn’t helping those efforts.
“We have mixed a lot of guys in there,” Shanahan said then. “I do think guys are getting better, but we’ve got to make sure that we don’t make those dumb plays where we can cause a penalty, where we can cause a turnover and those are the things that we’ve really got to clean up.”
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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he plans to move quickly to hire a head coach, while also addressing the decision to fire Jerod Mayo after just one season.
“This whole situation is on me,” Kraft said Monday. “I feel terrible for Jerod, because I put him in an untenable situation. I know that he has all the tools as a head coach to be successful in this league. He just needed more time before taking the job.
“In the end, I’m a fan of this team first, and now I have to go out and find a coach who can get us back to the playoffs and hopefully championships.”
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The Patriots, who were 4-13 under Mayo, have already submitted a request to speak with
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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Thomas Brown will have the opportunity to remove the interim tag from his title when he interviews for the Chicago Bears’ head coach opening after the season.
On ESPN 1000’s Bears pregame show, general manager Ryan Poles said Brown will receive a formal interview after five games as the Bears’ interim head coach. Brown replaced Matt Eberflus, who was fired Nov. 29.
“He will get an interview, and I’m excited to hear his thoughts,” Poles said. “Because he’s been here. He’s been here, he’s seen and reflected just like we have on the past and how we got to this and why were the results, the results. So I’m excited to hear from his side on how we got here and how he would fix it.”
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The Bears have lost four straight games with Brown as the interim head coach and close the 2024 season Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
Brown, who started the season as the passing game coordinator, was promoted to offensive coordinator after Shane Waldron was fired ahead of Week 11. Three weeks later, Brown was promoted to interim head coach.
“I’ve been so impressed with Thomas and his leadership,” Poles said. “I know the results haven’t come. That was a very difficult situation he’s been put in. I grew up in this business where you earn more, and that’s exactly how we got here with Thomas. I feel like he’s done a really good job.
“You could see the leadership traits, and then he got moved to the offense coordinator position and did well. We saw improvements on offense and then at the head coaching level, got the opportunity to do that and lead the entire team. And just sitting in team meetings, meeting with him after games — he’s a truth teller. He’s someone that does challenge our players to get better, creates accountability. So there’s a lot of really positive traits that Thomas has, and I’ve been proud of how he’s stepped up and led this team down the stretch here. And again, it’s not the results that we wanted in terms of wins and losses, but the traits of a leader. He absolutely has those.”
The Bears were one of three teams, along with the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints, to make a midseason switch at head coach.
Chicago’s interview process is expected to begin this week.
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Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff Writer
METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ending his season.
Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi had repeatedly disputed the idea that Carr’s season was over after the veteran fractured his non-throwing hand against the New York Giants on Dec. 8. Rizzi had said each week since the injury that he would keep the door open for Carr to play.
“I got frustrated with reports in the beginning because I witnessed and watched this guy every single day come in here and rehab with a purpose of getting back,” Rizzi said Friday. “At no point in the rehab process was there ever a ‘I’m done for the year’ and it was literally ‘We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.’ He’s been progressing every day. I think it goes without saying … he really wanted to try to get back for the last two games being the Raiders honestly, and then this game, it just didn’t go as planned. Sometimes that happens and as I said, we never want to put [him] out there in a position where he felt like he couldn’t function at a high level, and that’s just not how we feel right now.”
The Saints listed Alvin Kamara, who has missed two games with a groin injury, as doubtful. Rizzi said the team would put him through tests Saturday to see if he can play. Chris Olave, who sustained multiple concussions this season and has not played since Nov. 3, is officially questionable.
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Rizzi said Monday that Carr would need to go through at least one successful simulated game scenario to be able to play in the season finale. The Saints had attempted to do that last week to bring Carr back against the Las Vegas Raiders, his former team.
The Saints injected Carr’s hand with pain medication, but he did not have full functionality, the coach said.
“We already tried once before. We did try to eject the hand and see if he could function. We’re just not there yet,” Rizzi said Friday.
“I know that’s all been behind the scenes and that’s not seen by everybody every day, but it’s seen by me and our staff and our players and so I do want to commend him on the effort to try to get back out here on the field. He really did everything humanly possible to do that.”
The coach had said Monday that the team would try a simulation again early in the week before the Saints resumed practice Wednesday.
“If you see him out there with that red jersey running around then that means he did well Tuesday or Wednesday [prior to practice],” Rizzi said.
The simulation had not been run by Wednesday. On Friday, Rizzi declined to discuss the timing of the second simulation, saying he didn’t want to disclose details on the matter.
“It’s because of where he is with his rehab,” Rizzi said. “I’m following the lead of the medical side. It’s just where he is in the rehab. It’s better off waiting. In layman’s terms, it’s better if you get the hand as strong as possible before you do that to see if he’s going to be able to function.”
