One of the most admirable things a coach can do is take the blame away from a player that made a mistake and make it his own.
That is exactly what San Francisco 49ers offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster did on Friday at his press conference. Foerster was asked about the blocking blunder made by right guard Spencer Burford in the Super Bowl.
In overtime, the 49ers had a chance to seal the game but failed due to Burford's mistake of allowing a free rusher. It was something that Burford took ownership of and laments over to this day, but Foerster didn't want that spotlight on his player. Instead, he wants all the blame to be pointed at himself for why that blunder occurred.
"I struggle with it. It's my fault," said Foerster. "I prepare him to play. It's my job to get him to do it. And yeah, it's my fault. And he didn't have it down. Banks missed a similar thing earlier in the game. Nobody talks about that one. It was a pressure, and I think he got the ball out, but it wasn't covered good enough. Or if it was, they didn't get it because if they don't get it, I can't just say their fault, not mine. Heck no. I'm responsible for those knuckleheads and if those knuckleheads don't do it right? I'm the knucklehead, I'm the guy that's not doing the job right."
This is amazing leadership by Foerster. He's trying to redirect all criticism towards himself so that Burford doesn't get in his own head, which can create confidence issues or mental breakdowns. Now, it is interesting that he is doing this now instead of before, but this is only because it's the first time he's been asked about this publicly.
I'm sure that Foerster talked with Burford about it by holding himself accountable to him. Even if Burford truly is at fault, it's still an elite coaching move to try to take the burden of that blame off of his shoulders. That is what great coaches do. Now it's all about getting Burford to move past it and be strong with training camp picking up.
"It was tough on all of us and tough on him in particular, but he's been great. He's come back, bounced back well, and he's done a good job. And I love the guy. He’s doing everything right to hopefully fix a lot of those things that went wrong.”
