Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
CBS Sports ranks four NFL head coaches ahead of 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan
Jun 30, 2020 at 8:45 AM
•
Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
Many consider San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan to be one of the most innovative young minds in football. After a massive rebuild that started in 2017, his squad reached the Super Bowl last season and was a play or two away from potentially winning a championship.
The 49ers could be a formidable obstacle to opposing teams for years to come. Or everything could collapse. You never know in the NFL. But Shanahan is amid a championship window, and fans are waiting to see if he can take advantage of it.
Writer Sean Wagner-McGough of CBS Sports recently ranked his top 10 NFL head coaches and listed Shanahan at No. 5 (h/t to
Peter Panacy of Niner Noise). All four of the coaches ahead of him have something in common. Each has won at least one Super Bowl. Those coaches are Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, and Sean Payton.
Reid's Super Bowl victory came in February against Shanahan. Belichick has won six.
Shanahan owns a 23-25 regular-season record, which in itself is not too impressive. However, when you consider 22 of those losses came in his first two seasons, it paints a very different picture.
Shanahan had very little with which to work in 2017, the first year of his roster rebuild. Then, he lost his franchise quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, in Year 2 when many expected the 49ers to take a big step forward.
San Francisco had an opportunity to prove itself last season and did so by winning 13 games, the division crown, the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and a Super Bowl berth.
"Even though we finished 6-10 (in 2017) and 4-12 (in 2018), we still felt like we were winners,"
Shanahan said during last week's State of the Franchise event. "We felt like we were better than that record indicated, but we knew we had to prove it.
"Last year, we went out to prove that we were winners, and we could compete in every single game we were in, and we did that. And we did that as well as any team. In the games that we lost, we barely lost. And it felt like even though we lost a few, we could have won all those."
Recent success
earned Shanahan a six-year extension, keeping the well-respected coach with the 49ers through the 2025 season, so he will likely have a chance to prove he can finally win the big game. That's exactly what he has his sights set on in 2020.
"I
know we were good enough to win that Super Bowl, and we didn't," Shanahan added. "And that's something we've got to live with. And that's why the state of the franchise, right now, is we've got to get right back to that moment. We've got to get right back to that fourth quarter, and get to have a lead, and we've got to finish the job."
Facebook Comments
More San Francisco 49ers News
49ers GM John Lynch, QB Brock Purdy speak ahead of the draft
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with reporters as the team prepares for the 2024 NFL Draft. Quarterback Brock Purdy also addressed the media. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
General Manager John Lynch
Opening comments:
"This to me, there's nothing like watching our guys compete on Sundays or Thursdays or Mondays. We play a lot of different days now, but nothing like watching our guys compete. But to me, this is really my favorite time of year as an organization because I think it represents our organization coming together and working for a common goal as much as anything we do. When you look at the guys I call our
Brock Purdy hopes to organize throwing session ahead of 49ers training camp
The San Francisco 49ers will hold a mandatory minicamp from June 4 through 6, officially concluding the team's offseason program. After that, the Niners will break for over a month and return to the Santa Clara facilities for training camp in late July.
Between that time, starting quarterbacks will often organize throwing sessions with their receivers in an effort to build chemistry ahead of the rigors of training camp. 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been unable to participate in such sessions over the last two years. The last overall draft pick in 2022, Purdy had yet to make a name for himself during his first offseason. Last year, he was still recovering from offseason surgery on his throwing arm.
RELATED:
Breaking down the 49ers drafts under John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan
We are less than one week away from the NFL Draft, and the San Francisco 49ers have their first day-one draft pick since 2021. That was the year they selected QB Trey Lance number three overall. The trade-up to get Lance cost the 49ers their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023. And now that they are back in the first round, at pick 31, fans are anxious to see what the team does with the pick. And with former assistant GM, Adam Peters, now in Washington, it will be interesting to see how well the 49ers draft without Peters in the room.
We looked back at the seven drafts GM John Lynch and Head Coach Kyle Shanahan have led to see what information we could pull from those drafts. There were plenty of hits, plenty of misses, and a few surprises along the way. The draft picks are
Brock Purdy hopes Kyle Shanahan makes addition to 49ers playbook
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw for a franchise-record 4,280 yards last season, leading the team to the Super Bowl and earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He held onto the football 39 times on the ground, rushing for 144 yards and scoring twice. This marked a significant improvement over his rookie 2022 campaign when he had 22 carries for 13 yards and a score.
Purdy further displayed his athleticism during the 49ers' playoff game against the Detroit Lions last season, helping engineer a comeback victory while rushing for 48 yards on five carries.
On Tuesday morning, Purdy joined the "Pat McAfee Show," acknowledging that he believes he can contribute more rushing yards if called upon. However, that decision rests with head coach Kyle Shanahan,
