Kyle Shanahan explains why the 49ers denied requests to interview assistants

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan obviously wants to keep his staff together, but that wasn't the primary reason the team denied requests to interview some of his assistants.

Shanahan and his staff are in Mobile, Alabama this week as they prepare to coach the South squad during the Senior Bowl on Saturday. The head coach caught up with reporters on Tuesday and shared the thought process behind the decision to block other teams from interviewing his assistants.

San Francisco initially blocked an interview of quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello by the Denver Broncos. The team later granted the request, and Scangarello was hired to be Denver's new offensive coordinator.

While Mike Klis of 9News in the Denver area reported that the two sides came to an agreement, Shanahan said the initial decision was because he wanted to talk to all the parties involved to make sure that a Scangarello-to-Broncos scenario would be a clear promotion.

That was made clear by the Broncos, and the 49ers later retracted their denial.

"Rich is a very good coach," Shanahan said. "He's called plays before. Done it a number of times in college, and he'll do a very good job with Denver."

The 49ers also denied several teams permission to interview wide receivers/passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur and run-game coordinator Mike McDaniel because neither was being offered a position where they would be given play-calling responsibilities.

LaFleur and McDaniel will split the play-calling duties during the Senior Bowl.

---

The 49ers will likely look in-house for a replacement for Scangarello and Shanahan feels he has multiple options. He isn't, however, in a rush to make a decision and would rather take the time needed to ensure his staff fits well together.

The 49ers also need to replace assistant offensive line coach Adam Stenavich, who left for the Green Bay Packers.

---

Joe Woods and Kris Kocurek are new to the 49ers coaching staff. Woods takes over as the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator while Kocurek will coach the defensive line. Neither are in Mobile.

"That was part of my recruiting for them," Shanahan said. "I threw that out there before they said yes. If they'd said yes (immediately), I wouldn't have thrown that out there."

Pass rush specialist Chris Kiffin will reportedly coach the defensive line for the Senior Bowl.

H/t to Nick Wagoner of ESPN for the tidbits