49ers won’t have fans at Levi’s Stadium, so they’re experimenting with artificial noise
Reporters sitting in the last row of the lower bowl at Levi’s Stadium could hear just about everything being said on the field.
Coach Kyle Shanahan used four words, one not suitable for print, to kick his starting offense off the field after a snap flew over quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s head for a safety. Defensive line coach Kris Kocurek was screaming nonstop, imploring his pass rushers to fire off the ball and attack their gaps. Even players’ laughter could be heard hundreds of feet away.
The practice last Friday was nothing like the NFC championship in January, unquestionably the best atmosphere for a 49ers game at the stadium which opened in 2014. Roughly 72,000 attended that game. On hand for the quiet Friday practice: about 20 reporters and communications staffers.
Watching the practice inside the 49ers’ home venue, and not on the practice field, made it clear 2020 would be nothing like the NFL has seen with fans barred from attending games due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Which is why the league is still trying to figure out a policy to allow artificial noise during games to make up for the absence of fans. And it’s led to the 49ers moving three practices inside Levi’s Stadium over the past week to prepare and experiment with artificial noise that might used until fans are allowed in, which might not happen in Santa Clara until 2021.
“I want to experiment with a few things and hopefully we’ll get that solidified this week,” Shanahan said Wednesday, 11 days ahead of the season opener against the Arizona Cardinals. “If it’s silent in there, it’s definitely going to be a difference.”
It would make sense for teams to want background noise amid the chaos of games. It would prevent other teams from picking up their signals — and might help the television networks avoid off-the-cuff cursing caught on broadcasts.
However, Shanahan didn’t sound all that concerned with opposing defenses hearing his play calls to his quarterbacks. He’s more apprehensive about the defensive signals being relayed and opposing offenses knowing what’s coming.
“Every time you change strengths (of formations) and you get to hear what the middle linebacker says and all their calls and stuff, a lot of quarterbacks could pick up on that,” Shanahan said. “So, you’re hoping we can get some noise in there so it does feel a little bit more like a real football game. We’re just trying to figure out if that noise is constant, what decibel it’s at and all the things that go with it, which we don’t have a ton of experience in that.”
The 49ers haven’t said exactly how they’re experimenting with new ways to pipe sound in the stadium. They often play music at high levels throughout practice to get players used to communicating in loud environments.
It’s been said the league is considering allowing teams to allow a constant stream of crowd noise at the same decibel level throughout the entire game, only pausing the noise at halftime for competitive balance.
But others might argue that negates the idea of home-field advantage, which should still be prevalent even with no fans. It would be logical for teams to be allowed to crank up the noise when their defense is on the field.
“We’ve been in the stadium a couple of times trying it, so we’ve gotten into a pretty good rhythm of it,” Garoppolo said. “I think we’ll have to be ready to go for both (sound and quiet) though. Whether the home team wants it or doesn’t want it, we’ll be ready either way.”
It will be a far cry from when Garoppolo was forced to use silent counts last December in Baltimore, New Orleans and Seattle, which create some of the best atmospheres in the NFL through fan energy.
“You’ll have to bring your own juice,” Garoppolo said. “Our team, that’s one thing we don’t have a problem with. That’s bringing the energy, we bring it every day in practice.”
Defenders often thrive off crowd noise, which can create confusion for offenses and even cause offensive linemen to jump offsides. Defensive linemen can better time their burst off the snap by going off a quarterback’s gestures while using a silent count, which is often lifting one of their legs while in shotgun.
In a more quiet stadium, a quarterback can use his cadence to draw defenders offsides, which could impact the 49ers’ imposing pass rush.
“We have to focus on what coach tells us, watch O-linemen or watch the back of the ball, whatever your key is,” defensive lineman Solomon Thomas said. “Get a good feel for it during film and once you see it move just get off.”
The 49ers should have clarity on the rules for artificial crowd noise finalized in the coming days.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
