A lot has been said of Josh McDaniels' decision to bail on the Indianapolis Colts' head coach job, leaving a number of assistants who had agreed to follow him hanging. Our own Peter Penacy, also of Niner Noise, wrote a column about the situation on Wednesday. The New England Patriots made a last-minute effort to retain McDaniels, and it worked, which left the Colts scrambling for answers.
Apparently, the Atlanta Falcons tried very hard to keep Kyle Shanahan, who is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, last year. Adam Schefter of ESPN joined KNBR on Thursday morning to discuss the McDaniels situation and explained what happened with Shanahan in Atlanta.
"Last year, I don't know if people realize this, but Atlanta made a last-ditch effort at keeping Kyle Shanahan in Atlanta and preventing him from leaving to the 49ers," Schefter said on the "Murph & Mac" show, "and he thought about it. What if he had decided at that point and time, 'I'm not going to leave Atlanta?'
"And I'm telling you, there was a day there where it was really tempting to stay in Atlanta and not take the 49ers job. There was a day, there was a time where that was possible. But in the end, ultimately, Kyle did what he felt was best for him and the credit goes to the 49ers for presenting it in such a way that they made it as attractive as it could be for him. And he felt as comfortable as it could be.
RELATED 49ers are lucky they missed out on Patriots OC Josh McDaniels last year
"But that was a situation where he almost stayed in Atlanta last year. There was some thought given to that at that time. And in the end, he didn't do it because in the end, whether it's Kyle Shanahan or Josh McDaniels or Dave McGinnis, who walked out on the Bears in [1999] before they hired Dick Jauron, whoever it is, ultimately your responsibility comes down to you and your family. And you must do what's best for you and your family.
"Kyle decided it was best to move. Josh decided it was best to not move."
Of course, McDaniels was a top target by the 49ers for their vacant head coach job following the firing of Chip Kelly in January of last year. Like Indianapolis, San Francisco ended up waiting until after the Super Bowl for their eventual target, which ended up being Shanahan. The team officially announced his hiring on February 6, 2017.
Schefter says the 49ers were aware that Shanahan was considering remaining with Atlanta.
"They were aware of it," he said. "Obviously, that's when it's permissible, you step in, and you make sure the guy is comforted, and soothed, and understands everything that's at stake for him."
You can listen to the entire interview with Schefter below.