Kyle Shanahan has coached top five offenses in three different stops as an offensive coordinator — in Houston, Washington and now Atlanta. He masked the flaws of Matt Schaub and Robert Griffin III and has revived Matt Ryan’s career with his play-calling.
Shanahan has proven he can tailor his offensive system to the personnel he’s given. The 36-year-old is viewed as one of the hottest coaching prospects this time around.
And while his father Mike is being linked to sweeping changes the 49ers are set to make, Jason La Canfora is reporting Kyle may not be entirely onboard for a reunion.
“I don’t see them as a package deal,” La Canfora told KNBR on Monday. “There’s a lot of people who have advised Kyle, people he respects, in the coaching community, people who have been in the league a long time, even some at the ownership level who have advised that the best move for him was to cut his own path. To sort of be his own man and work somewhere where he’s the head coach and not reporting to his dad.”
There’s a lot to digest here. Would Mike be willing to come back without his son controlling the headsets? Does the 64-year-old really want to coach a football team himself? Kyle could also be a leading head coaching candidate in Los Angeles, Jacksonville or elsewhere — places that have more talented rosters and a more stable organization than the 49ers.
It’s the father-son’s time in Washington that led to Kyle to greener path, where he’s proven he can succeed on his own. The Shanahan’s led the Redskins together from 2010-2013, posting records of 5-11, 6-10, 10-6 (NFC East title) and a major falling out in a 3-13 final season.
Notably, during that final season, Kyle broke from Mike in an interview and said Griffin III should remain the starting quarterback over Kirk Cousins. It was a media mess, full of leaks that pitted Mike against nearly everyone in the organization.
“The plan in Washington was for Mike would do it for three or four years and turn it over to Kyle, but that whole thing got so toxic, Kyle had to break free and spend time with the Browns,” La Canfora said. “Obviously he’s done a heck of a job with the Falcons. Obviously, Kyle will be interviewing for head coaching jobs. There will be no shortage of people advising Kyle — don’t just hop back in the saddle with your dad. He needs to kind of break free from some of the cries of nepotism that haunted him at times in his career.”
La Canfora on why Mike Shanahan might grasp at any opportunity, even without his trusted son coaching the football team?
“He desperately wants to get into the Hall of Fame,” La Canfora said. “He’s trying to find avenues to pad his resume, and not have the last stop be as ugly as it was in Washington, where he was literally kind of fighting a proxy war with the owner through the media. And fighting the quarterback. Some of those press conferences were must-see TV. That’s not what he wants to be the epithat on his NFL career. He’s going to try and find a way where he can turn a team around in one capacity or another. I don’t think he could coach for a long time, but let’s be real: Tom Coughlin is 70 years old. He may get a coaching gig.”
