In November, I wrote that if Jed York was considering a complete reboot, hiring Mike Shanahan as the man in charge of operations and his son Kyle as the head coach would make a lot of sense.
Two weeks later, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora floated Mike’s name out there as a potential VP of football operations, overseeing hirings and talent evaluation. The report was refuted by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
Thursday, Shanahan broke his silence and joined Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd for a radio segment. Shanahan said he’s not interested in head coaching, but made a compelling case on why he deserves a shot at making big level decisions in an NFL front office: he’s won two Super Bowls.
“I think it would be a lot smarter to take Kyle than it would me,” Shanahan said. “I think I would give an organization maybe a lot more input from top to bottom, you know, the little things that are the difference, and the structure of the organization. Very similar to what I went into when I was the offensive coordinator for the 49ers. It’s such a learning experience.
“I’m not looking for a head coaching job, to be honest with you. I think maybe I could help an organization in some way of what it takes to win Super Bowls. I think really, this game is for younger guys. Guys that are really fired up to run a team, put a good team together. But that head coach has to have a good supporting cast to win a Super Bowl.”
That last sentence is the kicker. The head coach has to have a good supporting cast to win a Super Bowl.
After his run ins with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, does Mike Shanahan believe he can coexist with Jed York? Maybe more pertinently, a supporting cast obviously includes players. Is the 64-year-old Shanahan ready to start an entire rebuilding process from scratch in San Francisco?
One thing is pretty clear: If York were to hire Shanahan to oversee football operations, Chip Kelly’s tenure would almost certainly be one-and-done. Kyle is having a tremendous season coordinating Atlanta’s offense and has been an NFL play caller since 2008. He’s ready for a head coaching opportunity. And Mike helped select Kirk Cousins, Jordan Reed, Trent Williams and Ryan Kerrigan for the Redskins. That team is reaping rewards years after Shanahan departed because of his personnel evaluation.
The case against Shanahan is also pretty cut and dry: He never won consistently without John Elway and his tenure in Washington outside of a fluky RGIII year was full of losing. La Canfora also said on KNBR that people are advising Kyle to stay away from his father and carve his own path. Mike’s two Super Bowls also came in the late 1990s. The NFL is an entirely different beast now.
On Sunday, I wrote it was time for Jed York to get the firings going, starting with GM Trent Baalke. It’s on York to bring in a proper search committee — with names like Steve Young, Bill Polian etc. — to help him identify someone who can rescue the 49ers.
Shanahan seems to be a strong candidate, but he’s going to want full power. Is York willing to relent some of his football operations duties to try and win a Super Bowl?
We’ll find out very soon.
