San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was involved in a serious car accident last month that nearly cost him his eye.
The crash forced him to take a step back and have a limited role early in training camp, but he is gradually recovering as new details about the accident continue to spark heavy discussion.
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Shanahan’s car accident occurred on July 14, but details surrounding the incident did not emerge publicly until 11 days later.
During that time, the 49ers remained silent about the crash, and some reporters also refrained from publishing the story.
The delay raised questions about whether the situation would have been handled the same way if a player had been involved in the accident.
Shanahan initially told reporters that he crashed after dropping his phone between his seat of his Tesla and triying to retrieve it. However, during his first formal press conference of the training camp on Saturday, he said the vehicle had been driving itself when the crash took place.
Shanahan said he was unsure whether he had accidentally disengaged the autopilot or whether it had malfunctioned. However, Tony Farmer of the “Last Men Standing” podcast was skeptical of the 49ers head coach’s explanation.
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“Kyle Shanahan just suggested his Tesla Autopilot may have malfunctioned at the exact moment he went to grab his phone from the backseat. This is hard to swallow and not what accountability looks like so sadly my investigation will continue. This story is getting weirder by the day,” Farmer tweeted.
Kyle Shanahan just suggested his Tesla autopilot may have malfunctioned at the exact moment he went to grab his phone from the backseat‼️
This is hard to swallow and not what accountability looks like so sadly my investigation will continue.
This story is getting weirder by the… pic.twitter.com/mQwzeaX2gR
— Tony Farmer (@Tonysmarkettips) August 8, 2026
Questions have also emerged regarding how Palo Alto police handled the incident, with debate surrounding whether authorities initially seemed to place some responsibility on the 21-year-old driver for a crash caused by Shanahan. An early entry in the state crash database listed the other driver as being at fault, but police said this was a clerical error and not intentional.
Shanahan later accepted full responsibility for the accident, but questions still remain about both the crash itself and how the situation was handled in the days afterward.
Shanahan has yet to resume all of his coaching responsibilities following the accident fully, but he said most of his injuries have healed.
He is still wearing a cast on his left hand and is eager to have it removed, but he indicated that he is close to returning to full strength and has already been operating near that level for some time.
Shanahan also said he plans to coach the 49ers in their preseason opener against the Tennessee Titans.
