Kyle Shanahan certainly left an impression on Austin Hooper. The Atlanta Falcons' Pro Bowl tight end recently sat down with Adam Lefkoe of Bleacher Report and praised the current head coach of the San Francisco 49ers while reminiscing about their time together.
Shanahan's final season as the Falcons' offensive coordinator was during Hooper's rookie year. The tight end remembers Shanahan game-planning with the offense and accurately predicting what defenses would do in response to his play calls.
"If he called it, it actually happened," Hooper said. "It was crazy. I just thought that's what an NFL offensive coordinator was. I just didn't know any better.
"Wednesday meetings, he was like, 'Yeah, we're going to run this here as soon as they go eight-box, and then we're going to score. I'm just like, 'Okay, this is probably coach-talk. Whatever.'
"And then it actually happened. I'm like, 'This guy is Nostradamus. This guy is a fortune teller.' And it would happen every time. I mean, we scored so many points that year. Obviously, players were already bought in, but when the guy is shooting 90 percent at the free-throw line, you tend to believe he's going to make it."
Kyle Shanahan is a play-calling wizard. @AustinHooper18 is still stunned by the 2016 season.
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