49ers safety Donte Whitner will face off against his former team this weekend when the Bills head to San Francisco for a Saturday afternoon matchup.
Whitner doesn’t have the fondest memories of his time in Buffalo. During the playoffs last season, Whitner was asked about the differences between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Bills coach Chan Gailey and he said that the biggest one was that Gailey used to publicly blame players when things were going badly in order to keep the heat off of himself.
With the Bills heading to town, Whitner was asked again about his thoughts about his former team. He made it clear that he thinks Gailey and the rest of the coaching staff are falling short when it comes to putting Bills players in position to succeed.
“You never go out there and feel like you’re in control of the football games and I think that comes from coaching,” Whitner said, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chonicle. “I think that comes from upstairs and I think that comes from just getting the right players in place. A lot of times when I was there, we struggled a lot. We wanted to win football games. We went out there and did everything they asked us to do and it didn’t happen.”
It’s happened for Whitner since coming the 49ers, which could say something about the Gailey/Harbaugh comparison or it could be a result of the talent disparity on the two rosters. Whatever the reason, it sounds like Whitner’s found what he’s looking for in San Francisco and that the visit from former teammates won’t make him wish he could shuffle back to Buffalo.