Ronnie Lott recently compared Kyle Shanahan to legendary San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh. Another defensive back, Richard Sherman, never played for Walsh but has played for another successful NFL head coach in Seattle — Pete Carroll. He compared the two during a recent discussion with NFL.com about the most valuable traits of an NFL head coach.

Sherman didn't just list similarities between Shanahan and his coach of seven years with the Seahawks. He also noted their differences. The two men are the only head coaches he's played for during his illustrious Hall-of-Fame-worthy career.


Sherman notes that Carroll isn't a "rah-rah, curse-you-out" coach. Nor are any of his assistants. Instead, the Seahawks coach relies on positive feedback and reinforcement to bring out the best in his players.

"Kyle is similar in that he has a philosophy of the best man plays," Sherman told Jim Trotter. "He doesn't care about your draft position or any of that."

Then you have the differences.

"[Shanahan is] more of a straight shooter than Pete," Sherman continues. "Pete has a way of making sure everybody feels good, making sure he pushes buttons with certain players and not pushing buttons on other players. Kyle is different. He's one size fits all. I'm going to cut it to you as straight as I can, as best as I can, and I'm going to explain every single detail of what I understand about the game that either makes this a good play or a bad play or makes us a good team or a bad team. That honesty is something that I think is valuable in a head coach because there's no gray area."

Shanahan has no problem telling his players the truth, good or bad, while also being able to absorb genuine feedback from those players. Sherman respects that honesty and objectivity.


Shanahan's knowledge of the game is one of the additional aspects that drew Sherman to join the one-time division-rival 49ers in 2018.

"Kyle is one of the best offensive minds we've ever had in this game," Sherman said. "That comes into it. With Pete, it's the Cover 3 he brought to the league. It seems so simple, but nobody can run it like we ran it. The way both of them implement what they do -- they talk to others on a personal level, then have the great coaches around them who believe in their philosophy."

Sherman notes that last part as being an essential trait for a head coach because it's the staff that has to continue relaying the coach's philosophy on a daily basis.

"We might sit in a meeting with the head coach for 30 minutes a day," adds Sherman, "but I sit in meetings with the assistants for five to six hours a day. So the staff is critical."

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