Kyle Shanahan
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Kyle Shanahan (born December 14, 1979, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.) is an American football coach who is considered one of the most creative offensive minds in the NFL. Since 2017 Shanahan has been the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and he has led the team to two Super Bowl appearances (2020 and 2024).
Early life
Shanahan is the eldest of two children born to Peggy (née Brandt) Shanahan and to Mike Shanahan, who later became a successful NFL coach. At the time they were living in Minneapolis, where Mike Shanahan was offensive coordinator at the University of Minnesota. The family moved to California in 1992, after he was named offensive coordinator for the 49ers. Backed by such stars as quarterback Steve Young and wide receiver Jerry Rice, the team won Super Bowl XXIX in 1995. Soon thereafter Shanahan became head coach of the Denver Broncos, and the family settled in Colorado.
Kyle Shanahan attended Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, and he was a wide receiver on the football team. In 1996 he helped the school win the state championship. During his senior year, he suffered a shoulder injury that limited his college offers. He ultimately went to Duke but transferred to the University of Texas in 2000. He played two seasons there, catching 14 passes for 127 yards, before graduating in 2003.
Coaching
Offensive coordinator
Shanahan began his coaching career at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he was a graduate assistant. He moved to the NFL in 2004, when he became the offensive quality control coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After two years there, Shanahan joined the Houston Texans as wide receivers coach in 2006. He served one season in that role before becoming the quarterbacks coach. In 2008 the Texans made him the league’s youngest offensive coordinator at age 28. The following year the team led the NFL in passing yards (4,654).
Meanwhile, Mike Shanahan, who had led the Denver Broncos to two consecutive Super Bowl titles (1998 and 1999), took over as head coach of the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) in 2010. Kyle Shanahan joined his staff as offensive coordinator, though he noted that it was hard to leave Houston. At the time he said, “I’m only going to have so much time to work with my dad. Even though it might not be perfect for me, regardless of the situation, I’m going to go with him.” After two losing seasons, the Redskins finished 10–6 in 2012. However, their star quarterback, Robert Griffin III, tore knee ligaments in a playoff loss in the wild-card round. Although Griffin returned for the 2013 season, he struggled, and Washington went 3–13. Shortly thereafter the team fired both father and son.
Mike Shanahan’s coaching days were over, but Kyle became the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns in 2014. The following year he joined the Atlanta Falcons, where he worked with star quarterback Matt Ryan. In Shanahan’s first season in Atlanta, the Falcons went 8–8, but they became a powerhouse in 2016, posting a record of 11–5. That season Shanahan helped Ryan win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award while overseeing an offense that scored 540 points, a tie for the seventh most points in league history at that time. The Falcons advanced to Super Bowl LI (2017), where the team faced the New England Patriots. The Falcons jumped out to a 21–3 halftime lead, but quarterback Tom Brady engineered a historic comeback to lead the Pats to a stunning 34–28 overtime victory. Shanahan was criticized for his play calling in the second half, which some claimed opened the door to New England’s comeback. Still it had been a great season for Shanahan, who won several awards, including assistant coach of the year and top coordinator of the year.
Head coach
After the Super Bowl the 49ers hired Shanahan as their head coach. “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 in the team’s press release. At the age of 37, Shanahan was the second youngest head coach in the league at the time, older than Sean McVay, the 31-year-coach of the Los Angeles Rams. But the team Shanahan took over was not close to the glory years of Young and Rice. San Francisco was coming off a 2–14 season in 2016, and Shanahan was the fourth coach in the past four years.
Things did not improve right away. In fact, in Shanahan’s first season (2017) as coach, the team had an inauspicious start, going 0–9. Toward the end of that losing streak, San Francisco traded a second-round pick to the Patriots for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and wound up winning six of its last seven games to finish 6–10. The team took a step back in 2018, dropping to 4–12, but then turned things around in a huge way in 2019. That season the team posted a record of 13–3 and made it to Super Bowl LIV (2020). However, the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 31–20.
During the 2020 season Garoppolo missed a number of games because of ankle issues, and the 49ers posted a losing record. The team fared better the next two seasons and made the playoffs, but the 49ers lost the conference championship game both times. Led by QB Brock Purdy, San Francisco had a stellar season in 2023, and the team returned to the Super Bowl. However, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs beat the 49ers again, winning Super Bowl LVIII (2024), 25–22. For Shanahan, it was an unfortunate case of déjà vu. Once again, his team had blown a halftime lead—albeit not nearly as large—and lost in overtime.
Personal life
In 2005 Shanahan married Amanda (“Mandy”) O’Donnell, whom he had met at Cherry Creek High School. The couple have three children.