Could 49ers firing Schneider signal a fresh start for Moody? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
It was not difficult to surmise during the final days of the 2024 NFL season that 49ers kicker Jake Moody could benefit from a fresh start.
On Monday, coach Kyle Shanahan fired special teams coordinator Brian Schneider after three seasons, the team confirmed.
Could that be the fresh start and reset that Moody appears to need as his focus turns to his third season?
First off, nobody is blaming Schneider for Moody’s struggles after he returned from a high-ankle sprain. But it was clear that nothing came easy for Moody, who made just five of his 14 field-goal attempts from 40 yards or longer in the nine games after the injury.
The entire field-goal operation looked off between long-snapper Taybor Pepper and holder Pat O’Donnell, the punter who replaced injured Mitch Wishnowsky.
Moody ranked 33rd in the NFL in field-goal accuracy (70.6 percent) among all kickers who made 10 or more field goals this season.
The 49ers needed a kicker after the 2022 season, and Schneider was among those with the organization who identified Moody as far-and-away the best option available in the 2023 NFL Draft
The 49ers selected Moody with the No. 99 overall pick, a compensatory selection at the end of the third round.
Now, after two seasons with Schneider as special teams coordinator, Moody will have to earn his spot on the 49ers’ roster in 2025.
That means, he likely will face competition throughout the offseason and in training camp. Moody will have to prove to somebody not responsible for bringing him to the organization that he is the best person for this job.
In that sense, it becomes a fresh start for Moody.
He no longer is on scholarship, and the ultimate decision-maker on who kicks for the 49ers next season will not feel any pressure to lean heavily toward the team’s third-round draft pick.
Moody’s lack of consistency is not the sole reason Shanahan parted ways with Schneider.
The 49ers had issues in every imaginable way on special teams this season with turnovers, penalties, coverage breakdowns, surrendering first downs on fake punts, etc.
The first step in tightening up special teams is to at least give the appearance that special teams matters. That’s an area in which Shanahan certainly can improve.
“My No. 1 goal is to not lose on special teams,” Shanahan has stated in the past.
It is time that he and the entire organization set a higher bar than that.
The 49ers should set out to win games on special teams. And that should be a spoken goal. That way, the standard has been established. And even if that goal is not attained, the next notch down is for the 49ers’ special teams to be neutral.
Special teams, especially the kicking game, did not achieve the goal of being just good enough to not lose games. They were bad enough to lose games.
The signal sent with firing Schneider is the first step in placing more emphasis on that area of the team.
But it cannot stop there.
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