The San Francisco 49ers will request a second interview with Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan for the week after the NFC Championship, and plan to offer him the head coach job when Atlanta’s season ends, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said the team plans to connect Shanahan with some candidates for San Francisco’s general manager position, when NFL rules permit the contact.
Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers’ top target, is well prepared to be a head coach
The Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator has made a strong case for consideration as a head coach this season.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
A few weeks into the 2015 season, Shanahan was the hottest name on the potential NFL head coach market. Then, all of a sudden, he wasn’t anymore. After a 2016 season in which his Falcons led the league in most offensive categories, Shanahan’s name was once again bumped to the top of the list, and rightfully so.
Despite being just 37 years old, Shanahan has extensive, valuable NFL experience and an informed approach to the game.
The NFL has always been his life
Shanahan grew up around the NFL, thanks to his father, Mike Shanahan, who has been the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and Washington. It’s in the younger Shanahan’s blood.
His firsthand experience with the NFL goes all the way back to his time with the Broncos as a ball boy, and it remains his passion.
“I think I always felt that way my whole life (about coaching), but that’s really the only thing I’ve had a great passion for,” Shanahan said prior to Atlanta’s Week 5 win over the Broncos. “I was never the best student. I was really committed to sports and always did good enough in school. But football is what I lived and died.
“And my mom and sister have been mad at me and my dad probably every dinner we’ve ever had our entire life, because eventually they’ve got to tell us to stop talking about football.”
Shanahan has extensive experience, and has achieved a great deal
Shanahan’s first NFL role came with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the tender age of 25. He was an offensive quality control coordinator, and it provided Shanahan with an entry point into the league.
After two years in Tampa Bay gaining valuable experience, he joined the staff of the Houston Texans under then-head coach Gary Kubiak as the team’s wide receivers coach. At the time, Shanahan was the youngest position coach in the league.
He ascended through the ranks in Houston, becoming the offensive coordinator after just two seasons. He coaxed league-leading performances out of wide receiver Andre Johnson as the Texans’ offensive coordinator in 2008 and 2009. Johnson topped more than 1,500 yards in each of those seasons.
Shanahan then joined his father, Mike Shanahan, in Washington, where Kyle served as the offensive coordinator on a team that set multiple rookie records with Robert Griffin III at quarterback — including passer rating with 102.4, and interception percentage at 1.27 percent.
After a one-year stint in Cleveland with the Browns, Shanahan was hired by the Falcons to orchestrate the offense under new head coach Dan Quinn. The results were mixed in 2015 as players adapted to a very different scheme than anything they’d run in the Matt Ryan era, but the results in 2016 are undeniable.
The 2016 Falcons alone make a strong case for Shanahan as a head coach
The Falcons, in the team’s second year with Shanahan at the offensive helm, led the league in scoring and finished second in the league in total offense, averaging 415.8 yards per game.
Under Shanahan’s leadership, Matt Ryan has rebounded from a sub-par 2015 performance as he adjusted to the new scheme, and he’s having an MVP-caliber season. He’s doing so while spreading the ball around, hitting 13 different receivers for touchdowns this year. That’s an NFL record.
Yes, the Falcons have some impressive talent on offense, particularly Julio Jones, who was second in the league with 1,409 receiving yards this year despite being sidelined for two games with a toe sprain. But Ryan’s not overly dependent on Jones this season.
When teams blanket Jones to remove him from the equation, Shanahan has proven that he can effectively adjust. Players like Taylor Gabriel, an undrafted free agent released by Cleveland during roster cuts before the 2016 season, and Aldrick Robinson, a sixth round draft pick back in 2011, have emerged as impact players in Shanahan’s dynamic, diverse offense this season.
It has been Shanahan’s most successful year yet, and he said the length of time he’s spent in the league, and the number of on-field scenarios he’s been exposed to as a coach, have made him get better each season.
“I think I’m a better coach every year. You learn from your fails and you learn from your successes, and going through things makes you stronger,” Shanahan said. “I’m always evolving Xs and Os-wise, I’ve never stopped with that. I think I get better — the more situations you go through, the better you are at handling those situations.”
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Shanahan said he’s ready to be a head coach, and the performance of the Falcons’ offense this season supports that. Shanahan’s experience in the league and his overall body of work make a strong case, also.
The 49ers job is the only head coach position still available, and Josh McDaniels withdrew his name from consideration this week. Raiders assistant head coach, Tom Cable, reaffirmed his commitment to the Seahawks, according to his agent, and thanked the Raiders for their consideration after news broke of Shanahan being San Francisco’s top candidate.
The only potential head coach left standing is Shanahan.
However, Shanahan did say he wouldn’t just accept any coaching job that was offered to him.
“It’s about getting that opportunity and hoping it’s the right fit, and it’s definitely not something that I have to do,” Shanahan said. “I love it (in Atlanta), and love the situation here. I love the team here, and there’s no one better I could work for. My family loves living here, so it by no means is something that has to get done.”
In a recent radio appearance on Atlanta’s 680 The Fan, Matt Ryan expressed confidence in Shanahan’s ability to execute the responsibilities associated with a head coaching role.
“Whenever he does get an opportunity, I think he’ll do a great job,” Ryan said. “I hope it’s not for awhile, because we’ve got a good thing going on. But certainly, whenever he get his opportunity, he’ll do a great job.
“I think he’s a good leader. I think he’s got a good feel for talent evaluation (and) getting the guys in that he wants to make it work for him.”
As a head coach, Shanahan’s creativity and ability to react and adjust to what defenses are doing can absolutely turn around the entire offense. That’s certainly what the 49ers need from their new head coach, which makes Shanahan an interesting fit.
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