Last week, the San Francisco 49ers announced they had signed head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch to multi-year contract extensions, keeping the team's brain trust together for the foreseeable future. However, Shanahan revealed that the deals had been finalized for a while.
"We did it before the Pittsburgh game (Week 1), so I had already celebrated with my family and stuff like that, which is huge," Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. "I feel very grateful just being a coach anywhere for a long time. I know what that means, and I'm extremely grateful for that, to have that opportunity, and mainly for my family to be somewhere for so long, which is cool."
The extensions had nothing to do with the 49ers' 3-0 start to the 2023 season. That's another reason why the organization's trust in Shanahan and Lynch meant so much.
"Doing it before the season even started, I think meant a lot to me," Shanahan admitted. "It just shows you the people that we're with, that we believe in each other despite what could happen, whether we're 0-3 or 3-0, and still be in the same situation. I really like where we live and really like the people we work with. And they're committed to giving us a chance to go for it every single year, and that's all I could ever ask for."
Kyle Shanahan is grateful for the 49ers organization's commitment to both him and to winning 🫡
📽️: @hutchdiesel pic.twitter.com/pPihkuJ6uJ
— KNBR (@KNBR) September 27, 2023
Shanahan has been with the 49ers since 2017. Before that, his longest stint with an NFL team was four years with Washington. The stability he has enjoyed with Lynch and the 49ers is significant for the head coach.
Shanahan admitted that joining the 49ers, a team that needed a massive roster overhaul, was worrisome.
"Sometimes when you come into a situation that looks really hard to win in the first couple years, you're nervous about it because you know how the pressure goes when you lose," Shanahan shared. "No matter what people say, it gets tough to stick with the plan.
"And that's what made it so exciting the first time meeting with [CEO] Jed [York] and the commitment he gave us and what he said. I really feel like that made us make the right decisions for those first couple of years and helped build it the right way. That's really what got us to come here, allowed us to be patient, do it right. And he hasn't changed ever since.
"So I love being in a building where you trust each other. You can always try to do what's right. It might not always be right, but the intent of what we're doing, why we're doing it, how we're doing it, we all believe in each other in that way."
Shanahan isn't the only one who enjoys the stability of the 49ers organization. His players are grateful to be a part of what they have built. There are a lot of organizations in the NFL that aren't run as well.
"I appreciate being in an organization that's stable," star pass rusher Nick Bosa said on Wednesday. "I've seen other teams, friends, my brother (Joey Bosa), people who have not really had a stable working environment, and I'm lucky to have that.
"Him (Shanahan) and John work cohesively together, which is nice. He's offensive-minded, but he knows that defensive line and the front seven is where you win games. So I like that."
Nick Bosa asked what he appreciates about Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch after their contract extensions:
"Consistency. I appreciate being in an organization that's stable." pic.twitter.com/oL7NuRdL2M
— KNBR (@KNBR) September 27, 2023
