San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was enjoying some vacation time with his family when word reached him that other NFL teams were interested in some of his assistants. It was a call he didn't expect. The 49ers have won just 10 games over the past two seasons. They won only four in 2018.

Shanahan did not envision there being much demand for coaches who were part of a 4-12 campaign. He was wrong.


The 49ers blocked requests to interview wide receivers/passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur and run-game coordinator Mike McDaniel. LaFleur's job coaching the 49ers receivers has been taken over by former NFL wideout and Houston Texans assistant Wes Welker. LaFleur, however, remains on the staff as the team's passing game coordinator.

"Mike LaFleur, last year his title was passing game coordinator/receivers," Shanahan told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday. "It'll make his job as a pass game coordinator a lot easier, taking him out of that room. It's very tough to do both. Stuff that I try to meet with him on and depend on him for game-planning and stuff, but then he's got to coach the receivers. (It) just makes his job easier."

One of the teams that requested to interview LaFleur was the Green Bay Packers, whose head coach is Mike LaFleur's brother, Matt. How did the conversation between LaFleur and Shanahan go?

"Obviously, it didn't go very well," LaFleur answered via NBC Sports Bay Area.

Shanahan also noted that he considered letting LaFleur join his brother's staff in Green Bay.


"It's something that possibly could've worked," he said. "They weren't the most patient with it."

The 49ers lost quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello, who left to become the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. Defensive backs coach Jeff Haffley departed to become the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State, assistant offensive line coach Adam Stenavich left to become the offensive line coach in Green Bay, and offensive assistant T.C. McCartney joined Scangarello in Denver as the quarterbacks coach.

Shanahan joined team reporter Joe Fann for a one-on-one interview in Indianapolis and discussed the surprising interest in his staff.

"I was a little surprised," Shanahan told Fann. "Everyone has told me, 'Hey, when you win, be ready because everyone is going to raid you.' I know we didn't have a great record. I knew going 4-12, I'm like, 'Alright, they're not going to raid us this year.' And then we had four guys try to get taken from our offensive staff.

"It definitely woke me up a little bit. I realized I need to be prepared for that. We've gotten a number of guys in here. Some new guys that will prepare for us to be able to handle that stuff as that does happen because I definitely plan on us winning more. I know we're going to lose more (coaches) as that goes.


"It's a credit to those guys, though. We've got some good guys on our staff, and I'm glad that people know that."

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