The memory of losing Super Bowl LIV to the Kansas City Chiefs is still fresh in San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan's mind. So imagine his thought process upon learning he was being named the NFC Coach of the Year by the Kansas City-based Committee of 101, and had to travel to Kansas City to collect it.
"When they told me I won an award and they told me it was in Kansas City, I said there was no way I was going," Shanahan said via the Kansas City Star.
The coach eventually decided to make the trip to accept at the banquet on Saturday night.
Shanahan's 49ers won 13 regular-season games and two playoff games on the way to the Super Bowl. That came following a four-win season in 2018.
Of course, Shanahan was asked about that disappointing 31-20 loss last month — a game the 49ers led by 10 points in the fourth quarter. The prominently Kansas City based media asked about letting the game get away from him.
"I don't look it as much as it getting away from us," Shanahan responded. "It's what it takes to beat a good team, and you have to do that in all three phases. The other team makes plays. That's what happens.
"It's a big deal, and it's tough. It's also a big deal to get to one. Not many people understand that. But I don't try to make it more than it is. We lost the game. We didn't move the chains on our last two possessions, and they did. When that happens against a good team like that you don't win.
"You lick your wounds, you see what you could have done better and you work harder."
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was named the AFC Coach of the Year.