49ers’ Kyle Shanahan on returning to Washington: ‘People overrate that stuff’

The media would love to make a story out of San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan's return to Washington this weekend. An angry and vengeful coach, returning to the organization that fired both him and his father, Mike Shanahan. An organization that once had Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, and others all in the same building, yet can't find a head coach to help resurrect the franchise.

Unfortunately for online writers across the country, Shanahan's contempt just isn't there. Sure, he has feelings about how he and the coaching staff were treated in Washington. He admitted so this week and has never been shy about admitting so in the past.

Shanahan said the best part of his time in Washington was being able to work with his father. The worst part about his time there?

"Everything else," Shanahan responded.

In the end, though, Shanahan's 49ers are 5-0, and Washington is just a means to reach 6-0. The coach has been in three different buildings since his time in Landover. This weekend won't even be the first time he's returned to FedExField with the 49ers. Shanahan faced the Redskins there in 2017, a game he lost 26-24.

This team is much different now. That last meeting was during the first year of a massive rebuild, and the loss was part of nine straight. The 49ers are in year three of Shanahan's and John Lynch's regime, and are much-improved.

Shanahan joined KNBR on Friday morning and shared what returning to Washington means to him.

"I know I led the league in headlines two days ago, so I'm definitely not trying to do that again," Shanahan said on the "Murph and Mac" show. "But I think everybody's the same in that. I mean, we played Cleveland (in Santa Clara) a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't as big of a deal for me then. I left there in some bad circumstances.

"But I think it's always a little bit different when you have family members involved and stuff like that, so that's why it was a little bit more for me there in Washington.

"Besides that, people overrate that stuff too. Everyone's changed since then. You're going to play a team; it's totally different. When you look at it, you don't take a game personally, especially [since] I don't play in the game. I mean, I call plays. To look at something as personal, it really isn't that way.

"I know I answered some questions, but that doesn't have anything to do with the football game."

You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.