San Francisco 49ers wide receiver coach and passing-game coordinator Mike LaFleur, not head coach Kyle Shanahan, called the plays in the first half during the Senior Bowl while the same duties fell on run-game coordinator Mike McDaniel in the second.
How did Shanahan feel about his time off as a play caller?
"It's a little boring when you're not doing that," Shanahan told team reporter Joe Fann after the game.
LaFleur and McDaniel weren't the only ones asked to work outside of their comfort zones last week as the 49ers staff prepared the South squad for the annual all-star game. The team was without new defensive line coach Kris Kocurek and defensive backs coach Joe Woods. It was also without a quarterbacks coach after the Broncos hired Rich Scangarello to be their new offensive coordinator.
The 49ers replaced Scangarello with Shane Day on Sunday.
Shanahan's team would eventually fall 34-24 to the Jon-Gruden-led North squad, but his staff gained some valuable experience.
"It's a good opportunity for everyone," Shanahan said. "All those guys, they've been around for a little bit but to be down here and put them in some new situations that they haven't done yet completely. It's good practice for them but those guys were more than ready to go, and they were very good this week."
Shanahan got a head start on studying this year's incoming rookie class thanks to the opportunity of coaching in the Senior Bowl. He explained the process of getting ready for April's draft and preparing for free agency, which officially kicks off on March 13.
"The pro guys, there's not as many because it's free agents," Shanahan said. "So you dedicate a couple of weeks to that. But in order to do that, you've got to watch your own guys, too.
"We were off for a couple of weeks. We've been here (in Mobile, Alabama) this last week. We'll get back in the office, and we'll go through our whole season, all 16 games of cut-ups, study our own personnel, our own scheme, see where we need to improve.
"Then we'll get to free agents. Then we'll go to Indy, and it really doesn't stop."
