placeholder image

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports


49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo spent up to 15 hours per week last season studying with Mike Shanahan, reports The MMQB

Aug 12, 2019 at 8:16 AM--


Videos are auto-populated by an affiliate. This site has no control over the videos that appear above.
Albert Breer of The MMQB recently spoke with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, head coach Kyle Shanahan, and the coach's father, Mike Shanahan. He learned more about the quarterback's time with Kyle's father, studying film and learning how to play quarterback within his head coach's offense.

It had just been about a year since Garoppolo was traded to the 49ers, and he suddenly found himself with an abundance of time on his hands. Garoppolo suffered an ACL injury in late September of last year and used his time while sidelined to become a student of the game; more specifically, a student of Shanahan's offense. That's where the elder Shanahan was able to help.

For three months, in October, November, and December, Garoppolo would sit down for four to five hours on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays to watch film with Mike Shanahan.

"As a quarterback, you always want to know the why, because if someone comes up to you and asks a question, you want to be able to answer it," Garoppolo told Breer. "So there's certain things, when I got traded here, they were just telling me, 'Learn this play, you don't need to know the whole play, just this part of it.' And then after that was over, you get more time to break it down and everything, and Mike did a phenomenal job with that."

There was no need, after all, for Garoppolo to sit down every day in meeting rooms as the healthy quarterbacks prepared for game days. Garoppolo was not going to play and would not get back onto the practice field again until the offseason. It wasn't wasted time for the quarterback, but it was time that could be put to better use.

"The coordinators were getting the other guys ready to play," Mike Shanahan said. "With Jimmy not playing, if he's sitting in the meetings as the third-team quarterback, that's totally different from sitting down for four, five hours a day to talk about the plays. That's what was fun for me, fun for Jimmy too."

As highly regarded as Garoppolo is, he still lacks something crucial in his quest to become a great NFL quarterback — experience. He has 10 starts under his belt, including just three last season before his injury. The hope was that Garoppolo would gain that much-needed experience last year, which did not happen.

"We've seen it in practice. But he's still got to go play quarterback," Kyle Shanahan told Breer last week. "There's going to be be ups and downs with that. And I'm expecting that. No one goes out there and just plays great. He started that way last year. He did some good things and some bad things in his first two-and-a-half games. We were ready to have some ebb-and-flow throughout the year, and to learn a lot, and then we missed that."

Still, Garoppolo believes some good came out of his injury, like his valuable time spent with Mike Shanahan and his ability to sit down and absorb everything about Kyle Shanahan's offense without having to worry about game plans or walk-thoughts.

The experience learning with Mike Shanahan is something that will, hopefully, help a healthy Garoppolo during the upcoming season.

Click here to read the entire article over at The MMQB.

H/t to Patrick Tulini for the find.



Facebook Comments



More San Francisco 49ers News


placeholder image

Jimmy Garoppolo explains why he signed with 49ers' division rival

By David Bonilla
Mar 20

Jimmy Garoppolo is back in the NFC West after signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback recently explained his decision to join the division rival after a one-season stint with the Las Vegas Raiders. "Obviously good players all around," Garoppolo said, per ESPN. "That's a big part of it. Talking to [head coach] Sean [McVay] on the phone, him just running me through offense and things that he had in mind, it really became appetizing. And I know a lot of the coaches here, so a lot of familiarity in that aspect. And then having played against the Rams a lot in my career, I've seen a lot of good things


placeholder image

Andy Reid praises 49ers' Brock Purdy, has advice for Kyle Shanahan

By David Bonilla
Mar 25

Super Bowl-winning head coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs witnessed all he needed from Brock Purdy last season to assure him that the San Francisco 49ers are in capable hands at the quarterback position. Purdy was an MVP nominee in 2023 and had his 49ers just a play or two away from clinching a Super Bowl victory away from the Chiefs. Unfortunately, for Purdy and the 49ers, Reid and his own quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, widely regarded as the best in the game today, dashed their Super Bowl dreams in overtime last month. According to NBC Sports Bay Area, speaking at the NFL owners meetings on Monday, Reid stated, "Yeah, I


placeholder image

Kyle Shanahan: 49ers hope to keep Brandon Aiyuk, Brock Purdy together

By David Bonilla
Mar 26

Last week, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan ran into his wide receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas. "He was randomly at our hotel. I don't think he wanted to be," the coach shared on Tuesday while speaking to reporters at the NFL owners meetings. The 49ers are currently negotiating a long-term extension with Aiyuk to ensure he remains with the team for the foreseeable future. However, with it only being March, it's challenging to predict how everything will unfold. Typically, under the leadership of Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, the 49ers have reached agreements with their star players closer to training camp in July. Lynch stated yesterday that the


placeholder image

Kyle Shanahan explains why 49ers promoted Nick Sorensen to defensive coordinator

By David Bonilla
Mar 26

After Steve Wilks's dismissal, the San Francisco 49ers had several options for their vacant defensive coordinator position. Although former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was considered for the role, he ultimately joined the coaching staff as the assistant head coach under head coach Kyle Shanahan. He will focus on game plan preparations while offering his experience to the team. Nick Sorensen, the team's defensive pass game specialist, was awarded the defensive coordinator position. Shanahan opted for an internal candidate, valuing Sorensen's familiarity with the staff and the defensive system. When asked what qualities Sorensen demonstrated to prove he's ready to call plays for the defense, Shanahan explained, "He's worked with a lot of people


Latest

Trending News

Share 49ersWebzone