USA TODAY International Edition
49ers tout Mobile to Miami in drastic turnaround
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Robert Saleh stood in a corner of a festive 49ers locker room Sunday night, reflecting on the efforts that led to a berth in Super Bowl LIV, when a team staff member popped up in front of the defensive coordinator and waved a T- shirt.
It was like a pop- up flashcard. The black T- shirt contained bold letters that read: “Mobile to Miami.”
Saleh stopped his thought in midsentence. “Where did you get that from?”
The staffer pointed to the coaches’ quarters adjacent to the players’ dressing room. “They’ve got ’ em in the back,” the staffer replied.
Saleh grinned and added, “Oh, I’ve got to go and get me one of those.”
NFC championship T- shirts are one thing. And there were plenty of those being worn by the players as they basked in the aftermath of the NFC title game victory against the Packers. But for members of Kyle Shanahan’s coaching staff and the 49ers’ personnel department, the “Mobile to Miami” garb represented another type of serious swag as a matchup against the Chiefs looms Feb. 2 in Miami.
“We were in Mobile, Alabama, this time last year as a coaching staff and now we’re going to Miami,” Saleh said. “So it’s been a helluva year.”
The staffs from the teams with two of the worst records in the NFL traditionally draw the assignment of coaching at the Senior Bowl. Last year, the 49ers ( 412) coached the South team.
“We had a special dinner down there in Mobile and somebody coined the statement, ‘ Mobile to Miami,’ ” GM John Lynch said. “Sure enough, here we are.”
“We met before we went,” he added, “and said, ‘ Let’s make the best out of it.’ Some of the fruits of that labor: Deebo Samuel. We coached him all week. Dre Greenlaw was on the opposing team.”
Samuel, who has demonstrated remarkable talent as a game- breaking receiver ( 57 catches, 802 yards, 3 TDs during the regular season), was drafted in the second round. Greenlaw, a weakside linebacker picked in the fifth round from Arkansas, made the goal- line tackle that preserved the Week 17 victory at Seattle that secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
“Getting to spend a week around those guys was awesome,” Lynch said.
Even better, though, will be the week in Miami.