Grant Cohn: 49ers practice sessions?a laboratory for clever coaching

SANTA CLARA - Saw some things this week I hadn't seen before at a 49ers practice.

Saw the defensive backs practice man-to-man, in-your-face “press coverage” with 2-ounce Everlast boxing gloves on their hands. Saw the quarterbacks warm up their arms with weighted baseballs they threw into a net. Also saw ball boys participate in seven-on-seven team drills as designated pass rushers.

These ball boys wore giant screens attached to their backs like backpacks, and these screens extended 4 feet over each ball boy's head. Chip Kelly invented these contraptions. Calls them “bug wings.”

During seven-on-sevens, three “bug men” would creep toward the quarterback after the center snapped the ball, and the quarterback would have a few seconds to find an open receiver and throw either over the bug men, around the bug men or between a couple of them. Clever way to simulate a rush during a point in the offseason when league rules prohibit hitting and tackling. I never saw previous 49ers coaches try to simulate a pass rush during OTAs. Bug men is a brilliant creation.

I'll tell you what Geep Chryst used to make the quarterbacks do. Chryst was the quarterbacks coach under Jim Harbaugh and the offensive coordinator under Jim Tomsula. Chryst currently is unemployed.

When the rest of the 49ers practiced field goals or punts or kickoffs, Chryst would bring the quarterbacks to a side field and have them throw deep passes into a bucket he placed in a corner of an end zone. This was the “bucket drill.” It was supposed to improve the quarterbacks' accuracy on deep throws.

But the Niners consistently were one of the worst deep-passing teams in the league under Chryst. The bucket drill never seemed to help, never seemed practical in the first place. Quarterbacks don't throw deep passes to stationary receivers during games. Quarterbacks throw deep passes to receivers running full speed. These passes have to lead receivers so they can catch the ball without breaking stride. Leading receivers is what quarterbacks have to practice, not throwing into buckets.

The new quarterbacks coach, Ryan Day, doesn't seem to use buckets. Here's the drill he led Wednesday when the rest of the 49ers practiced special teams.

On a side field, Day placed two orange pads that looked like mini orange speed bumps side by side on the ground, then he placed a screen in front of the pads. The screen faced the quarterback's body and rose a few feet over his head. Each quarterback had to shuffle his feet in figure eights around the pads while staring downfield, then throw a pass over the screen to a running back.

After the quarterbacks got the hang of the drill, Day tried to swipe the ball out of the quarterbacks' hands while they did their figure eights. When Day swiped, the quarterbacks had tuck the ball under their arm and scramble out of the pocket, then dump the ball to a receiver in the flat. Day made each quarterback practice scrambling both to the right and left.

What a practical way to coach poise and footwork in a collapsing pocket. I never saw Chryst try to coach either of those things during his five years with the team.

Am I saying the 49ers will be good next season? Not at all. Their roster is one of the weakest around, and it may have gotten even weaker this offseason after losing both Anquan Boldin and Alex Boone in free agency.

But the coaching staff has improved big-time, both on offense and defense. Read what safety Eric Reid said Wednesday about the new defensive scheme.

“It just makes sense,” Reid said. “When (I) line up and get a call, I know exactly what I'm doing. I know exactly what the guy next to me is doing. And when you feel that way, you can be confident about the way you break on a ball, thinking from a DB's perspective. You know where your weaknesses are and you know where your strengths are. For example, if I have outside leverage, don't get beat outside and trust that the guy inside of you is going to play the inside route. It just makes a lot of sense.”

“Are you saying it's simpler than last year's defense, less to think about?” a reporter asked.

“I wouldn't say it's simpler,” said Reid. “There is thinking to do, but once you get your call, once you make the adjustment, you can be confident as long as everybody is on the same page.”

“Last year,” a reporter said, “especially early, it seemed you guys were off the same page more frequently than you had been. Why was that?”

“There were a lot of times where there was a gray area, too much gray area,” Reid answered. “I'm wondering what this guy is going to do, so I'm watching him instead of watching the offense because I don't know what the guy in front of me is doing. Just a little bit too much gray area at times last year, but that's the past and I'm focused on this year.”

Even if the 49ers win zero games, they're better off than they were last season when they had a coaching staff that pretty much kicked the bucket, if you know what I mean.

Grant Cohn writes sports columns and the “Inside the 49ers” blog for The Press Democrat's website. You can reach him at grantcohn@gmail.com.