It’s official: 49ers announce hiring of Kyle Shanahan

Thirty-six days after the 49ers fired head coach Chip Kelly, they hired Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to replace him today. Kyle's leadership has brought the best out of his players at every phase of his career and we look forward to watching him build a talented staff to accomplish the same with our players. The post-game criticism came on the heels of a record-breaking season in which the Falcons scored the eighth-most points in NFL history and Shanahan, 37, the NFL's second-youngest head coach, became a hot candidate. Atlanta scored 540 points, led the NFL in yards per play (6.7) league MVP Matt Ryan had the fifth-highest passer rating (117.1) and 13th-best yards-per-attempt average (9.3) in NFL history. Shanahan has spent the past nine seasons of his 13-year NFL career as an offensive coordinator and his offenses have ranked among the league's top 10 on six occasions. "As an offensive mind, I think he stands alone in the National Football League, as evidenced by the explosive and record-setting offense in Atlanta," general manager John Lynch said. At 28, he was the youngest offensive coordinator in NFL history with the Texans in 2008 and quickly made his mark....