Head coach Kyle Shanahan and his San Francisco 49ers will host his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, at Levi's Stadium on Sunday. Shanahan spent two seasons (2016-17) as the Falcons' offensive coordinator and helped guide the team to the Super Bowl in his final year there.
Now, Shanahan and his former boss, head coach Dan Quinn, will face each other from opposing sidelines for the first time since the 49ers hired their coach. The two share a good relationship and often communicate throughout the year, but that won't be the case this week.
"We get a chance to see each other at league meetings, and the Combine, general NFL events," Quinn told Bay Area reporters via a conference call on Wednesday. "I know, and it's the same with him, we're just a phone call away. 'Hey, I need assistance on something or talk through things.'
"Certainly, we talk prior to the draft, and just different times through the year. We won't talk this week. This week is about battling, but anything past the game, I'm definitely interested to help him in any way."
Quinn also shared what he saw in his offensive coordinator at the time that made him feel Shanahan could flourish as an NFL head coach, which he has done with his 49ers sitting at 11-2 heading into the Week 15 matchup.
"Well, I thought you could really feel it in the offensive meeting rooms, his presence in front of the entire group," Quinn said. "'Here's how we're going to play. Here's how we're going to attack you.' He was so clear on the expectations of what he wanted, and so I thought that could easily be transferred over to an entire team.
"He certainly had a great model to look at through the years, whether it's his own house (with father Mike Shanahan) or [Gary Kubiak with the Houston Texans] or other guys to take examples from. He really had himself squared away in that space right away.
"When those moments come, I just wanted to support him as much as I could, and when people called, I'd want to talk about him."
Quinn also said he's impressed with how Shanahan can alter his game plan from one opponent to the next, noting the Week 14 matchup against the Saints. The 49ers offense needed to put up more points in New Orleans to come away with the win.
Added Quinn: "What he's always had is a really bold and aggressive nature to make plays, and so I think a lot of that, I respect. It comes from his preparation. I think that's one of the things, as a fan, wouldn't show up in the stats, but a real concrete way of how he's going to go about the game plan to build it for that game."
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