INDIANAPOLIS — Wes Welker landed a promotion Wednesday, officially joining the San Francisco 49ers as the team’s wide receivers coach after spending the last two seasons as an offensive assistant with the Houston Texans.
Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan explained why he chose to bring the former New England Patriots star aboard.
“If you can find somebody who (played the position) and you feel they’re prepared from a coaching standpoint, that’s kind of the best of both worlds,” Shanahan said. “Wes, I’ve known just hanging out and meeting him over the years. I’ve never worked with him or anything, but he’s one of my favorite players of all time just watching him from afar and what he did.
“I used to play against him in college when he was at (Texas) Tech and just watching how he made it and the way he made it. That’s a guy who not only was really talented but made it because of what’s upstairs also and how he developed. He’s put in the work and put two hard years in Houston, going the quality control route.
“And just talking to him and interviewing him, you can tell he was serious about becoming a coach and was ready to put in the work, put in the hours. He’s a talented guy, a good person and we’re fortunate to have him on the staff.”
The 49ers also added another retired wideout to their coaching staff this week, hiring Miles Austin as an offensive quality control coach. Austin played 10 seasons in the NFL, eight with the Dallas Cowboys and one each with the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.
Shanahan was Austin’s offensive coordinator during his lone season in Cleveland, and he raved about the two-time Pro Bowler’s coaching potential.
“He was in the second-to-last year of his career, and that’s where I got to know Miles,” Shanahan said. “Miles is one of my favorite players that I’ve ever coached just in terms of how on it he was. Whether it’s the run game, the pass game, he really enjoyed football. He was descending at that time in his career, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like his as much. But then when I got there and I saw the person, you could see why he was so successful. And a guy like that, you’re always like, ‘Hey, man, if you’re ever really interested in being a coach, you’d be a hell of a (coach).’
“But also, a lot of those guys I think they’re too smart to be coaches. You made some money, your life’s happy, you seem like your wife likes you. You don’t have to move very much. Why do you want to come coach? Usually, a lot of them are just like, ‘Because I just miss it.’ Those are the guys who come and they do it for a year and they’re like, ‘Man, this isn’t what I thought.’
“Miles got into scouting in Dallas and had done it for a little bit. He’d been hitting us up for a while. We flew him down to Mobile (for the Senior Bowl) just to, not necessarily interview him, because it wasn’t about that, but just to hang out with him and see how passionate he was about getting into football and how serious he was. And when you could hear how much he wanted to do it and how good he wanted to be, he has every skill set possible to be as good of a coach as he wants.
“I just wanted to see how bad he wanted to do it, and he has shown that he really wants to do it. So now he’s going to put in the work, and it’s a matter of time before he’ll be a real good one.”
