SANTA CLARA — Coach Kyle Shanahan is the best thing going tor the 49ers, while Levi’s Stadium’s cramped training room and hot tubs are the worst.
So says an annual survey of players that, overall, saw the 49ers climb from seventh to sixth in the NFL Players Association’s rankings among the league’s 32 franchises.
Here is how the 49ers’ graded in each of 11 categories in the NFLPA’s second-annual survey, as completed by over 1,700 players (77 percent).
Treatment of Families: A- (No. 2 in NFL)
Food/Cafeteria: A- (No. 3)
Nutritionist/Dietician: B+ (No. 8)
Locker Room: B+ (No. 7)
Training Room: C (No. 24)
Training Staff: B- (No. 21)
Weight Room: B+ (No. 11)
Strength Coaches: B+ (No. 16)
Team Travel: C+ (No. 13)
Head Coach: A (No. 7)
Ownership: A- (No. 10)
The NFLPA’s summary of the 49ers: “The positives for the team start at the top of the organization, with the players giving high marks to the club ownership group and CEO Jed York along with head coach Kyle Shanahan. Responding players also highly ranked the treatment of families and the food program.”
The head coach and ownership categories were added to this year’s survey. Shanahan just completed his seventh season, having guided the 49ers to their second Super Bowl appearance and fourth playoff berth in five years.
“The one area that survey respondents believe needs to be prioritized going forward is the training room,” the NFLPA statement added. “The room itself is small with a limited number of treatment tables. Also, the hot/cold tubs are very small, which limits the players’ ability to comfortably use them to either warm up or recover.”
Similar complaints were raised a year ago regarding the training room and, specifically, the tub room. This year, 56% of players felt they had enough space in the hot tube (54% last year), and 62% were OK with the cold tub capacity (58% last year).
Regarding the C+ grade for team travel, the NFLPA noted that the 49ers are among seven teams requiring some players to have roommates the night before a game. The only other area with a worse grade for the 49ers was the C-graded training room, where it should b noted the 49ers did rank fourth overall with 94% of the players feeling they have enough full-time physical therapists; 92% felt there were enough full-time trainers (No. 12 ranking).
“Many players feel that the training room is too small and they are restricted in what they can do,” the NFLPA said of the training room, which is adjacent to the locker room at the 49ers’ 10-year-old stadium.
