Offseason Post #1: Thoughts on Head Coach to be Kyle Shanahan...

1) Kap: I always start with the QB. :) While I am curious what Kyle could do with Kap after seeing what he was able to do with RGIII pre-injury, its time to cut the cord. Start over.



2) McDaniels: I can't lie. Going into the weekend, McDaniels was the guy I wanted. I loved the history of second time HCs who get it right the second time around. I liked the connection to the Patriots to maybe rub off a bit of that culture.

However....

Watching the Falcons completely dismantle the Seahawks changed my mind. That was BEFORE the announcement that McDaniels had backed out. It wasn't just about seeing the hated Seahawks lose either. It was HOW the Falcons beat them. It was those stretch runs. It was excellent play calling and scheming players open. It was those stretch runs. :) I have been envious of that running style since I watched Kyles pops run them with Terrell Davis in Denver. More on that later.

Now, was it McDaniels "job to take" if he wanted it? I really dunno. We'll never know. The local media spin will always be the negative one (more on that later as well). I think he saw the way the team was moving and dropped out, but I have no evidence to prove that. Just my opinion.



3) Zone-Blocking: I love it. Love those stretch runs with all those cutback lanes. Niners gave it a shot under Tomsula but Geep Chryst is not Kyle Shanahan. This was a big reason I've been a big fan of bringing back Mike Shanahan in the past even though I'm not a fan of retread coaches. You wanna see an up close example of what this running style can be? Watch game one of the 2015 NFL season when Carlos ripped off over 160 yards. MUCH of that was on the types of runs I'd expect to see a lot of next year.



4) The offense that Mike built: Look at the history of RBs under Mike Shanahan in Denver...

Denver Broncos 1995: Terrell Davis - 1117 yds, 4.7 YPC, 7 TDs
Denver Broncos 1996: Terrell Davis - 1538 yds, 4.5 YPC, 13 TDs
Denver Broncos 1997: Terrell Davis - 1750 yds, 4.7 YPC, 15 TDs
Denver Broncos 1998: Terrell Davis - 2008 yds, 5.1 YPC, 21 TDs
Denver Broncos 1999: Olandis Gary - 1152 yds, 4.2 YPC, 7 TDs
Denver Broncos 2000: Mike Anderson - 1487 yds, 5.0 YPC, 15 TDs
Denver Broncos 2001: Mike Anderson - 678 yds, 3.9 YPC, 4 TDs / Terrell Davis - 701 yds, 4.2 YPC, 0 TDs
Denver Broncos 2002: Clinton Portis - 1508 yds, 5.5 YPC, 15 TDs
Denver Broncos 2003: Clinton Portis - 1591 yds, 5.5 YPC, 14 TDs
Denver Broncos 2004: Reuben Draughns - 1240 yds, 4.5 YPC, 6 TDs
Denver Broncos 2005: Mike Anderson - 1014 yds, 4.2 YPC, 12 TDs
Denver Broncos 2006: Tatum Bell - 1024yds, 4.5 YPC, 2 TDs
Denver Broncos 2007: Selvin Young - 729 yds, 5.2 YPC, 1 TD / Travis Henry - 691 yds, 4.1 YPC, 4 TDs

2008 was Mikes last year in Denver and three different players had over 300 yards rushing.

What's my point? It WORKS. A LOT.

So there will obviously be two things that are obvious. First off, Mike ain't the one the Niners are hiring. We'll get to that. Second, The most recent season there is 10 years ago. Has the league adapted?

To that second question, the answer is no. Kubiak took that offense to Houston. Between 2010 and 2012 Arian Foster ran for 1616 yards, 1224 yards, and 1424 yards. Seattle uses a lot of those techniques and watched Marshawn Lynch run for 1204 yards, 1590 yards, 1257 yards, and 1306 yards between 2011 and 2014. Those were all after Buffalo essentially gave up on him and traded him.

I have wanted this run game for a long, long time and its why I was an advocate for the elder Shanahan and Kubiak.



5) But wait Marv, Mike ain't the one getting hired: Nope. He's not. Guess who Kyle was a coach under though? Yes, his pops of course in Washington and Gary Kubiak in Houston. Here are the RB numbers for the backs who have played under the younger Shanahan as OC…

Houston Texans 2008: Steve Slaton - 1282 yds, 4.8 APC, 9 TDs
Houston Texans 2009: Steve Slaton - 437 yds, 3.3 APC, 3 TDs / Ryan Moats – 390 yds, 3.9 YPC, 4 TDs
Washington Redskins 2010: Ryan Torain – 742 yds, 4.6 YPC, 4 TDs
Washington Redskins 2011: Roy Helu – 640 yds, 4.2 YPC, 2 TDs
Washington Redskins 2012: Alfred Morris – 1613 yds, 4.8 YPC, 13 TDs
Washington Redskins 2013: Alfred Morris – 1275 yds, 4.6 YPC, 7 TDs
Cleveland Browns 2014: Terrence West – 673 yds, 3.9 YPC, 4 TDs / Isaiah Crowell – 607 yes, 4.1 YPC, 8 TDs
Atlanta Falcons 2015: Devonta Freeman – 1056 yds, 4.0 YPC, 11 TDs / Tevin Coleman – 392 yds, 4.5 YPC, 1 TD
Atlanta Falcons 2016: Devonta Freeman – 1079 yds, 4.8 YPC, 11 TDs / Tevin Coleman – 520 yds, 4.4 YPC, 8 TDs

It should be noted that the last three years have come without his father or Kubiak at the helm. Should also noted that he had the good sense to resign when Cleveland management insisted Manziel be the starter.


Carlos Hyde should be a really, REALLY happy camper right now.



6) Local Media Spin: I've come to the conclusion that the local media has simply learned that negative press sells. Jed has screwed up. A lot. No getting around it. Won't even try.

The level of piling on though is ridiculous. As you read National Media takes from people who are connected within the league (Mike Silver is a great example) you get an entirely different picture than the local media is spinning.

The 49ers identified the guys they wanted and they were on playoff teams. They were willing to wait and eventually got one of the guys they wanted.

To hear the local media spin it the 49ers were bumbling all over themselves, watched lamely as coach after coach came off the board, and then by blind luck fell into a coach that was still available by some miracle. The local media would have you believe that prospective coaches and GMs alike were dropping out left and right because the 49ers were incompetent. OMG...the owner of the team even had a 1 hour phone call with a coach. Shocking I say.

The coaches and GMs dropped out because THEY KNEW THEY DIDN'T GET THE JOB and knew the 49ers couldn't announce their hire. They were saving their own skins. Its really not complicated, but the local media will do anything to spin the story they want spun.

It's ludicrous.

Jed has screwed this up quite well all on his own. There is no need to invent new and exciting ways he is screwing it up still. Give the guy some freakin' credit. They are paying through the nose for two coaches NOT to coach, axed the GM he is friends with all in order to start over from scratch and as he did with the Harbaugh hire has been patient.

All these other teams jumped all over the guys who were available from LOSING teams. Jed waited for the guys he wanted.

Credit where its due.



7) DC: I got no clue who the DC would be. I was hoping for Vrabel or Crennel before this AM but that cam off the table. It'll be interesting to find out but one big bonus over last year is that the 49ers won't have a coach known to wear out their own defense or a history that would prevent free agents from signing in SF.

Additionally Kyle is well regarded unlike the last two HC hires.



8) QBs again: Cousins? Garoppolo? I seriously doubt it. I think they'll sign a cheap journeyman starter and draft the QB of the future to play behind him. Where and when they take that QB will likely depend greatly at what happens with the #1 pick ahead of them. I just can't see them passing on Myles Garrett if he's still there. If he's not, that pick can go in about 10 different directions.




9) GMs: I'd love to be able to speak intelligently about these guys, but I really can't. I kinda think it would be cool if it were a Wolf/Shanahan front office just for the sake of the storyline (kids of famous dads), but that really has no bearing on how good they'd be.



10) Reset: Really nice to be in a reset mode and see it play out. No stopgap. No more bandaging a decapitation. Looking forward to the coming offseason to see how this new structure handles Free Agency, the draft and the 2018 season.

Great post. Theres still alot of question marks everywhere, but most of them will clear up in the upcoming weeks and as early as Monday. Excited with the way it's going so far, so let's hope Jed keeps it up

I always look forward to these posts marvin always optimistic and I agree fully with the local media spin. I'm pretty sure this happens with every team also, even teams like the packers and even falcons. Only place that probably doesn't happen too much is maybe New England, unless they really dig into the cheatings.

Excellent post Marv. I share your love for those stretch zone running plays. Whether it was Mike, Kyle, or Kubiak calling the plays that scheme just flat out works. 20+ years running that stuff and its still lethal. Love the bootleg play-action off it, it just gives the offense so much balance and variance.

Good post. Thoughts on 6)

This played out MUCH differently than what happened in 2015, so I feel you on the ridiculous media spin. I hate what Jed has done in the past, but I feel he is REALLY trying to get things right again. This years search for HC/GM has proved that to me.

If Garret is not there, trade back and get a QB in the later part of round 1.

Niners are going to need to rehaul their entire offensive line if they want to commit to zone. I know Trent Brown is a stud, but just don't think hes a fit for zone. Probably going to need to diet down to 300 pounds, or we find someone else.

For QB, I would bring in Brian Hoyer, and cut Kap. Hoyer knows Kyle's system already, so thats a plus. Rebuild everywhere else. Defense needs an overhaul depending on what the new defensive staff wants to run since we were one of the worst in NFL history.

This team is going to look a lot different in two years, I think.

Originally posted by Ensatsu:
Niners are going to need to rehaul their entire offensive line if they want to commit to zone. I know Trent Brown is a stud, but just don't think hes a fit for zone. Probably going to need to diet down to 300 pounds, or we find someone else.

For QB, I would bring in Brian Hoyer, and cut Kap. Hoyer knows Kyle's system already, so thats a plus. Rebuild everywhere else. Defense needs an overhaul depending on what the new defensive staff wants to run since we were one of the worst in NFL history.

This team is going to look a lot different in two years, I think.

Sounds like a plan. Agree the offensive line will need to be re-configured to a degree. Staley, Beadles, and Kilgore can function well in a outside zone scheme. Garnett might be able to. Brown is the question mark. He's so talented, you gotta give him a shot and see what he can do.

Hoyer is a logical choice for bridge QB. Draft a QB in RD 1 or 2 and we have a decent foundation to work with.

Why couldn't this go in the Shanahan thread.

Originally posted by Ensatsu:
Niners are going to need to rehaul their entire offensive line if they want to commit to zone. I know Trent Brown is a stud, but just don't think hes a fit for zone. Probably going to need to diet down to 300 pounds, or we find someone else.

For QB, I would bring in Brian Hoyer, and cut Kap. Hoyer knows Kyle's system already, so thats a plus. Rebuild everywhere else. Defense needs an overhaul depending on what the new defensive staff wants to run since we were one of the worst in NFL history.

This team is going to look a lot different in two years, I think.

I'm not so sure Brown can't play in this offense.

While the guy is huge, he's athletic as hell. He would certainly need to keep his weight under control, but I think he can do it. I wouldn't discount Garnett either. He's a mauler and not fast in straight lines, but he can get up and move in short areas.

Originally posted by susweel:
Why couldn't this go in the Shanahan thread.

Why can't you not complain.

Originally posted by Marvin49:

Originally posted by susweel:

Why couldn't this go in the Shanahan thread.

Why can't you not complain.

Srsly tho everybody else discusses it in there. What makes you special ?

Originally posted by susweel:
Why couldn't this go in the Shanahan thread.

Shanahan is a large part of the thread, but it's about the offseason in general. Plus, it's a great reset on these rabbit-hole, long threads.

1. Kap is gone. That offense was a one year wonder as we saw here and neither Shanahan wanted to draft RGIII. So that is NOT the style of QB he wants.

2. Keep in mind with the Seattle game. Since Earl Thomas has been out the Seahawks had the 30th ranked passing D. So while that was fun to watch, its probably not the team we will be dealing with next year.

3. Everyone keeps bringing up the run game. Here are his rushing ranks: #13, #30, #30, #25, #1, #5, #17, #19, #5. Much different from his dad who had 19 top 10 rushing offenses in the last 23 years. Kyle has been much more consistent on the passing side: #4, #1, #8, #14, #20, #16, #20, #6, #3.

4. You can easily substitute local media with Webzone posters.