One of the NFL head coaching vacancies with a pretty murky future is without a doubt the San Francisco 49ers head coaching job. After the Niners relieved Chip Kelly of his duties, the team immediately was not among one of the hotter landing spots for prospective coaches. Their quarterback situation is a mess, they don’t have one clear young star to build around and the front office is often surrounded by drama. But despite their apparent issues, the team is still looking to bring in some young talent to lead their franchise.
It has been reported that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has taken himself out of the running for the San Franciso 49ers head coach position per Mike Reiss:
Josh McDaniels confirms he is staying with Patriots. “At this time, best for family and myself to remain here in New England.”
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 16, 2017
McDaniels was only going to leave if it was the perfect situation. Let’s be honest, becoming the 49ers head coach is not a perfect situation by any stretch of the imagination. With McDaniels removing himself from candidacy, Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan emerges as the new favorite to become the next head coach of the San Francisco 49ers per Adam Schefter:
49ers are – and have been – honing in on hiring Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan as their HC, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 16, 2017
Other than becoming a head coach for the first time in his career, a big reason that Shanahan would leave is to pair up with his father again, Mike Shanahan. The 49ers are willing to make Mike the GM and Kyle the head coach. This would allow the Shanahan’s to work together and gives Kyle the ability to draft players he’d want to fit his offensive schemes.
As a Falcons fan, I don’t want to see Shanahan go for obvious reasons. But this does present itself as a fantastic offer for him and if he chooses to leave, I wish him the very best. That is of course when they aren’t playing the Falcons.
(UPDATE 2/6/17:) The 49ers officially named Shanahan their new head coach.
The San Francisco 49ers announced on Monday that the team has agreed to terms with Kyle Shanahan to become the 20th head coach in franchise history.
Shanahan will be formally introduced as head coach during a press conference later this week at Levi’s Stadium. Details regarding the press conference will be distributed at a later time.
“This is a very exciting day for the San Francisco 49ers and our fans,” said 49ers CEO Jed York. “Throughout this process, we learned many things about Kyle that convinced us he is the perfect coach to lead this team. Over the years, he has proven to be one of the brightest minds in the game of football and his recent success speaks for itself. Kyle’s leadership has brought the best out of his players at every phase of his career and we look forward to watching him build a talented staff to accomplish the same with our players.
“Kyle and John are top-tier, football men with outstanding pedigrees who join the organization with a tremendous amount of respect for each other. The future of this franchise will be constructed from their vision, and we look forward to watching them work together for years to come as they instill the culture necessary to consistently compete for championships.”
