Kyle Shanahan is widely regarded as one of the NFL’s top head coaches. His coaching career began in 2004 as an offensive quality control coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he quickly climbed the ranks. He has been the San Francisco 49ers’ head coach since 2017, guiding them to four NFC Championship Game appearances and two Super Bowls.
While Shanahan has worked hard to get to where he is today, but he also had an edge over other aspiring coaches, as his father is an NFL coaching legend. Let’s get to know Kyle’s parents, Mike Shanahan.
Mike Shanahan’s NFL Coaching Career
The elder Shanahan played quarterback at Eastern Illinois University and then got his start as a coach at Oklahoma, where he was a graduate assistant on Barry Switzer’s staff. He would go on to earn a number of assistant coaching gigs at the collegiate level, with stops at Northern Arizona, Eastern Illinois, Minnesota, and Florida.
He got his first NFL coaching gig in 1984 as a wide receivers coach for the Denver Broncos. The Los Angeles Raiders hired him as their head coach in 1988, and then he coached the 49ers, serving as the team’s offensive coordinator from 1992 to 1994 and helping them win Super Bowl XXIX. Mike’s stint in San Francisco allowed a teenage Kyle to spend time around the franchise that he would later coach.
However, Mike is most known for his head-coaching stint with the Broncos, serving as their head coach from 1995 to 2008. He won two Super Bowls with the Broncos, defeating the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII and the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII. Shanahan is Denver’s all-time leader in regular-season games coached, regular-season wins, and playoff wins, and he was inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame.
Mike Shanahan’s Importance to the Evolution of the Running Back
Mike is widely regarded as one of the innovators of the zone-blocking scheme. For years, it tormented opposing teams, and regardless of who the running back was, they seemed to be guaranteed a minimum of 1,000 yards each season.
Shanahan would often draft late-round running backs or even use undrafted players and then turn them into stars. Terrell Davis was a fourth-round pick who had a 2,000-yard season with the Broncos and became a Hall-of-Famer.
"[Kyle Shanahan] has taken Mike's system and just put that thing on a different level, extracted all the greatness from it, and added his tweaks and twists. And all the coaches who spawned from that. It shows you why we were really great and it leads back to Mike Shanahan."… pic.twitter.com/PkmxaGZpUV
— GoJo and Golic (@GoJoandGolic)
However, guys like Alfred Morris (sixth round), Mike Anderson (sixth round), and Olandis Gary (fourth round) also put together excellent seasons under Shanahan.
Throughout Mike’s coaching career, there were six different running backs who had 1,000-yard seasons.
Like His Father, Kyle Is Considered an Innovative Offensive Mind
What makes Kyle so similar to his dad is the fact that he doesn’t necessarily need a superstar at running back in order for the offense to thrive. Obviously, Christian McCaffrey is a star player, but other running backs have thrived in San Francisco as well. For example, look no further than Jordan Mason, who was an undrafted free agent.
Shanahan’s offense has been extremely impressive despite not having a high draft pick play the quarterback position as well. The 49ers got to the Super Bowl four years ago with Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brock Purdy is still known as Mr. Irrelevant. While Purdy has been fantastic for the 49ers, he was still a guy the rest of the league didn’t think was a starting NFL quarterback.
“I spent some time with Mike Shanahan in 2022 and he kept talking about Brock Purdy…”@MikeSilver said the elder Shanahan knew Purdy was a player before his son Kyle did: pic.twitter.com/yxfJyMlKjo
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod)
The 49ers’ play-action is one of their most dangerous plays. They have an insane amount of talent on the outside, which complements McCaffrey perfectly.
There’s no question that growing up around the game helped Kyle.
“He’s so much further ahead than I was at the same age it’s not even close,” Mike said, who saw greatness in his son from a young age. “He’s been around me, and he’s been on the field. He’s run routes against NFL defensive backs since he was a junior in high school. He’s been in the locker room during the offseason program. The first time I was on a pro practice field was when I was 31 years old.”
