The San Francisco 49ers have had numerous issues in recent years when it comes to play-calling and getting to the line in relatively short order. An emphasis under Jim Tomsula has been on tempo. The team has worked to get to the line of scrimmage with plenty of time left on the clock. The team is still working on consistency, but reports from Saturday's practice indicated the team was doing a good job getting to the line with 28-32 seconds left on the play clock.
Earlier in the offseason workout programs, there were reports Geep Chryst and company were simplifying the language of of the playbook. Now, it sounds like the team has made another adjustment. Under Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh, Roman would call the play to Harbaugh who would in turn relay it to Colin Kaepernick. The quarterback cannot have a direct communication with the booth, so someone has to be the middle man. This year, Geep Chryst will be calling the plays to quarterbacks coach Steve Logan, who will then relay them to Kap.
I am not entirely surprised Harbaugh wanted the plays going through him, just like I am not surprised Jim Tomsula will not have the plays going through him. This is not exactly rocket science. We won't be able to determine what specifically leads to improved time to the line (assuming it is achieved in the regular season), but hopefully there is some improvement.
The team is working to get used to their play-calling structure already. Geep Chryst spoke with the media on Monday, and he mentioned that Jim Tomsula has the coaches working in game-like situations. For stretches of practice, they have simulated having the coaches "in the box" where plays are being called down. Chryst mentioned some coaches get a little frustrated with it because they can't go up right away and get in the ear of players to correct them on things. But as Chryst said, that kind of simulation will pay benefits in getting the team ready for the regular season. And just to clarify, this is not the only way they are handling play-calling at practice, but rather instances of simulation.