SS Antoine Bethea stopped by 95.7 The Game to talk some San Francisco 49ers football as well as promote his Safe Coverage Foundation, which he founded in 2010.
In regards to the 49ers, he talked about new head coach Chip Kelly and what he has learned that he may not have known before. "You hear a lot of things before you meet somebody, but since he's been here, Chip man, I would say, player friendly coach. He's very on point with everything, very organized. Just a good teacher. I think he's a great leader for the team," answered Bethea.
"We're going to be very aggressive. Letting our guys up front rush the quarterback," Bethea said of the 49ers defense in 2016. "As far as the safeties, it's going to give us the ability to make a lot of plays, so I'm excited about that. And then our corners, they're going to make their money. A lot of man-to-man and being able to put them in position so they can make plays as well."
Bethea stated that, with a lot of youngsters on the team, he is embracing the leadership role both on and off the field. "At the end of the day, I always tell the younger guys, 'Just pay it forward.' Somebody did it for me, so I'm doing it for somebody else," said Bethea.
When asked about Kelly's fast tempo offense and the type of strain that it may put on a defense, Bethea stated that as an athlete at the highest level, you have to be in share no matter the system. "That's more opportunities for you to make plays," he said of a defense that is on the field more.
While speaking about the 49ers offense, he noted that RB Carlos Hyde is looking good health-wise. "In Chip Kelly's offense, I think he could really have a breakout year this year. Obviously last year, he started the season off strong. Injuries kind of happened, but I think he'd going to have a good year this year running the rock, catching the ball out of the backfield, whatever they need him to do," said Bethea.
When asked about the quarterback competition in Santa Clara, a popular topic this offseason, Bethea stated that it was good for the team and that both Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert have done good things. "Whoever is leading us that first game, we're going to be behind him 110 percent and we'll go from there," said Bethea.
You can listen to the entire interview here on 95.7 The Game.
