TOUGH TRANSITION
Heritage Hall alum Wes Welker faced a steep learning curve as 49ers' receivers coach
MIAMI—Dee bo Samuel remembers now the first time he met Wes Welker. He just didn't realize it at first.
It was at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, and the 49ers had requested a meeting with the versatile playmaker out of South Carolina. Just that week, they had announced the additions of two former receivers to their coaching staff — Welker, the decorated former Patriot, and Miles Austin.
Samuel walked into the room hyperfocused on the question-answer session. He walked out not having realized one of the coaches he was speaking with was Welker.
“I walk out the door … and somebody's like, `Did you realize that was Wes Welker?' ” Samuel remembered. “I'm like, `What?' So I run back in just to shake his hand, say it's nice to meet you.”
A few months later, Samuel, t hen a newly drafted second-round pick, and Welker, still establishing himself in his first assistant coaching role, were tasked with the same mind-bending challenge: learning Kyle Shanahan's complex offensive playbook.
Was there any sort of learning curve for the new wide receivers coach?
Samuel burst out with laughter.
“We all did,” he said. “This playbook is something to think about.”
That, Welker said this week in Miami, was the most humbling experience since he traded in his cleats for a headset.
“Some of the players had been in the system longer than I had,” said Welker, a Heritage Hall graduate. “There's definitely an adjustment period, where I had to study and buckle down because a lot of them knew it better than I did.”
So, at the end of his first year under Shanahan, has Welker surpassed his players in his knowledge of the system?
“Yeah, I would say so,” he said, cracking a smile. “They may disagree with you. That's typical players for you.”
Welker would know. He spent 12 seasons racking up receptions, yards and accolades as one of the game's most prolific slot receivers, including five straight as a Pro Bowl selections in New England.
He thought he knew everything there was to know about football. Turns out, there's more to the game than just mastering routes.
“These guys here — Kyle, ( Mike) LaFleur, ( Mike) McDaniel — they've really taught me things about something I thought I knew everything about,” Welker said.
It took him three days to break down his first game. He had never had to identify defensive fronts before. Is it an under, with the three-technique weak from the tight end, or an over, with him on the strong side?
“I'm sitting there thinking, `What am I doing?'” Welker remembered. “It makes you realize just how much there is left to learn.”
Shanahan has developed a reputation as a perfectionist. A head coach who knows exactly what he wants — and how to achieve it. He's direct with his players and coaching staff alike, but he also solicits feedback and it's generally a two-way street.
It's all the more demanding being the wide receivers coach under Shanahan, who pl a yed t he posi - tion at the University of Texas. Shanahan, 40, and Welker, 38, actually played each other in college, when Welker was at Texas Tech.
Welker said he and
Shanahan are similar in that regard. The receiver room is loose, but they hold each other accountable.
“You gonna make this block or what? What the hell's this?” Welker said, intimating a light-hearted interaction with former teammate Em manuel Sanders.
Then, in his best Sanders voice: “And he's like, `I got you.' ”
Welker spent the majority of his career playing for Bill Belichick in New England, but he's had a number of coaches to draw from. He said his style is an amalgamation of replicating what he liked — and avoiding what he didn't.
The big one: Don't tell a player what not to do. Tell him what to do differently.
Now, he's also the person in the room who can tell his guys what to expect from the spectacle that is Super Bowl week. Welker has thrice made it here — but never won a ring as a player.
When he hung them up, he spent his year away from football spending time with his family. But also golfing “four or five hours a day.” His wife was none too pleased.
Whether Sunday ends in his first ring or defeat, he'll have plenty of time to hit the links.
“Now that I work nonstop, it's OK,” he said with a laugh.