Hightower on chemistry with Thomas Brown, working with Kyle Shanahan |
CHICAGO - Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower is one of the only people on Chicago’s coaching staff that has not seen significant changes in responsibilities throughout the season. However, the chain of command has changed with Thomas Brown named the interim head coach.
This does not seem like it will be a problem for Hightower who quickly developed chemistry with Brown. “We have been following Coach Brown’s lead, obviously, with unity and getting everything connected. So, that’s been preached throughout. So, it’s been outstanding and our guys are upbeat and they (are) ready to rock and roll like they always are,” Hightower said. “A really good thing about Coach Brown and I is (when) he got here, we clicked immediately for some reason. I don’t know, but we just clicked and we think alike and it’s been outstanding, talking to him about those situations and those really started the minute he took over as an offensive coordinator as well. We had some talks then as well about things we believed and things like that. But, from day one since he’s got here, (we) just see eye to eye. So, it’s been cool and I’m excited for his opportunity obviously and we all in full support and try to help him go get this dub.” During his long coaching career, Hightower spent five seasons with the 49ers. He is very familiar with their stadium, Levi Stadium, which has some unusual wind patterns. However, the biggest lesson Hightower took away from his time there was the adversity of losing many close games. “Levi Stadium is not the easiest place to kick and obviously, it’s not the old Candlestick. But, there is some openings and certain areas there as (I) spent time there and it’s just interesting because they’re parallels and similarities to every team that you’re with. So, people talk about adversity, talk about kicking there. I might have had the most adversity in my coaching career when I was there I think my first year as a coordinator in that stadium. You’re talking about just learning to win. (I) believe we were 0-9 our very first year there and we lost five games by three points or less. 0-5 in five games by three points or less and I think we were 1-10 at one point. But, you just keep fighting,” Hightower said. “You keep building and we finished 5-0 and we won two games there by I think two points or more and even in those losses, out of those (five) losses, I think two of those went to overtime. So, it’s just a part of the NFL and part of the process of just scratching and grinding, clawing. I don’t expect our team here to do any different and two years later, I think we were in the Super Bowl there. So, I got good, fond memories of Levi Stadium and being around that program and all I’m trying to do is bring some of those experiences that I had here to these guys to help them be better players and help them fight through any adversity they may face.” Coaching against San Francisco 49ers’ head coach, Kyle Shanahan, will be bittersweet for Hightower, who worked for years with Kyle’s father, Mike Shanahan. Mike Shanahan is a native of Oak Park who won back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 1990s. It was near the end of his career when he coached with Washington was when he worked with Hightower. “Mike Shanahan might be one of the best football minds I ever been around in my life. We would be sitting in a room and he would rewind the tape (and) for a little while, we (were) like, ‘(Why) does he keep rewinding it?’” Hightower said. “Well, he’s looking at all 22 people on the field and he’s going to address all 22 people on the field in a staff meeting to try to get everybody on the same page and that just blew me away as a coach when I was young, just blew me away because he would take so much time on one play. But, that’s what his attention to detail (meant) to him and that’s why to me, he (is) one of the best to ever do it and probably should be in the Hall soon.”
