49ers chase more East Coast success
SANTA CLARA >> The 49ers will be living the resort life next week after facing the Carolina Panthers Sunday, something that’s become a successful tradition under coach Kyle Shanahan.
Rather than return home with a cross-country flight and begin preparations for another road assignment against the Atlanta Falcons, they’ll bunk at The Greenbrier, a resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia in the Allegheny Mountain Range that dates back to 1778.
It removes the long flight home and allows Shanahan and his staff to practice at a facility with two football fields and replicate a home schedule without the drag of jet lag. It also creates a little bonding time for a 2-2 team that is looking to sweep a pair of NFC South opponents before returning to Levi’s Stadium for a showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 23.
“You’re not sleeping in your own bed, but our organization does such an incredible job of making sure we’re taken care of that it’s really the only change,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “Where you eat your meals, where you’re sleeping. That’s all that’s different. The schedule stays the same, the process stays the same and all the resources that we have you take with you.”
This is the fourth time since Shanahan was hired in 2017 that the 49ers have practiced off-site to stay sharp without a time zone-induced listlessness, and the results have been impressive with the 49ers going 7-1 in those games. 2019 >> The 49ers opened the season with a 31-17 road win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then flew to Youngstown, Ohio, to prepare to face the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2.
The 49ers practiced at Youngstown State’s Stambaugh Stadium soccer field and outdoor track, had access to the weight room and held three days of practice. Youngstown happens to be where the DeBartolo-York family is from.
The result? The 49ers beat the Bengals 41-17, had 571 yards of total offense, and opened a season with back-to-back wins on the road for the first time in 30 years.
In Week 13, the 49ers lost to the Baltimore Ravens 20-17 on the road, then held a week of practice at IMG Academy at Bradenton, Florida.
After a short flight to New Orleans, the 49ers beat the Saints 48-46 at the Superdome for one of their biggest victories in a 13-3 season that ended with an NFC Championship.
2020 >> With back-to-back games against the New York Jets and New York Giants in New Jersey, the 49ers made their first visit to The Greenbrier in between. They beat the Jets 31-13, losing Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead to seasonending knee injuries, then beat the Giants 36-9.
2021 >> Back to the Greenbriar again after running up a big lead on the Detroit Lions and holding on for a 41-33 road victory to open the season. Then it was on to Philadelphia, with the 49ers prevailing 17-11 at Lincoln Financial Field.
It’s noteworthy that all four times, the 49ers won the second game — after spending a week away from their home base.
Shanahan is fond of saying there is no homefield advantage like the one in football because crowd noise can affect a team’s jump off the snap. But there are some perks to road games as well, and they’re only enhanced without a return trip before doubling back to the East Coast again.