Kyle Shanahan - Pro Football Rumors

NFC Coaching Notes: 49ers, Rams, Vikings, Giants

March 5th, 2022 at 8:58am CST by Adam La Rose

Kyle Shanahan has had to deal with quite a bit of turnover on his coaching staff this offseason. One of the most notable additions was made last night, however. According to his (now former) ESPN colleague Adam Schefter, San Francisco has brought in Brian Griese to become the team’s new quarterbacks coach (Twitter link).

This marks the first time the 46-year-old will hold a coaching role at the college or NFL level. He had followed in his father’s footsteps in terms of transitioning from a playing career to the broadcast booth. He initially joined ESPN’s college crew, before being brought on to the Monday Night Football broadcast team in 2020. That followed an 11-year career in the NFL, including five seasons with the Broncos where he won a Super Bowl as John Elway’ s backup.

The former Rose Bowl MVP will replace Rich Scangarello, who left the Bay Area to become the offensive coordinator at Kentucky. His first season on the sidelines will be an important one, with the team expected to transition to Trey Lance as their new starting QB. How quickly he meshes with Shanahan – who was on the Bucs’ staff when Griese played in Tampa – will be critical to the team’s success in 2022.

Here are some other notes from the NFC:

Before hiring Griese, San Francisco interviewed ex-Bears QBs coach John Defilippo “and a few others”, according to Sirius XM’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). In related 49ers’ news, running backs coach Bobby Turner will take this season off to rehab from two surgeries. However, the 72-year-old intends to return in 2023, tweets David Lombardi of The Athletic.
Staying in the NFC West, Rams assistant head coach Thomas Brown will transition from coaching running backs to tight ends, per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic (Twitter link). He will be a valuable staffer for Sean McVay, who has also lost a number of assistants in 2022; Brown will hire his replacement.
The Vikings have announced several additions to their staff, as noted by Chris Tomasson of The St. Paul Pioneer Press (on Twitter). Among them are Tony Sorrentino as an assistant WRs coach, Derron Montgomery as an offensive quality control coach and Ryan Cordell as a passing game specialist. On the defense side of the ball, the Vikings are bringing in A’Lique Terry to assist on the defensive line, as well as Steve Donatell – the son of new DC Ed Donatell – as a defensive quality control coach.
The Giants have hired Angela Baker to be an offensive quality control coach, per a team announcement. She is the first recipient of the Rosie Brown Minority Coaching Fellowship, and joins Laura Young as the other woman on the team’s staff.

NFC Coaching Notes: Vikings, 49ers, Rams, Falcons

February 25th, 2022 at 1:01pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Vikings have already provided new head coach Kevin O’Connell with an experienced defensive coordinator in Ed Donatell. They are moving towards adding another veteran defensive mind, as Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson reports that they are expected to hire Greg Manusky as their new linebackers coach.

Manusky, 55, was most recently a defensive quality control assistant at Kentucky, a post he’d held for two seasons. Before that, though, he had spent two decades on NFL sidelines. Two years after his playing days were over, he joined Washington’s staff in the same LBs coach role he is set to take on again. He held that same title in San Diego for five years, which set him up for his first defensive coordinator position.

Manusky took over as the 49ers’ DC in 2007, and remained there until he returned to the Chargers to call their defense for one season. His third DC post came with the Colts, spanning another four years. Not long after he returned to Washington as their OLBs coach, he was promoted to DC in 2017, staying there for three campaigns.

Here are some other coaching notes from the NFC:

Sticking with Kentucky, the Wildcats are hiring 49ers quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello to be their new offensive coordinator (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero). That role opened up when Liam Coen took the Rams’ OC job earlier this week. The news continues a significant exodus of coaches from Kyle Shanahan’s staff this offseason, the most notable being former OC Mike McDaniel becoming the new HC of the Dolphins.
The Rams are keeping a key member of their defensive staff in place. Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic tweets that defensive line coach Eric Henderson has been extended. His contract was set to expire at the end of the 2022 season, but he will be staying put in L.A., keeping one of the league’s best at that position group in place.
Lastly, Pelissero’s colleague Mike Garafolo reports that Shawn Flaherty is joining the Falcons’ staff (Twitter link). The son of Pat Flaherty, he had spent the first three years of his NFL coaching career as an assistant o-line coach in Miami.

Dolphins Hire Mike McDaniel As Head Coach

February 6th, 2022 at 5:10pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dolphins have announced that they’ve agreed to terms to make 49ers’ offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel their next head coach (Twitter).

McDaniel recently had his second interview with Miami on Friday. Fox Sports Writer Peter Schrager reported that the interview lasted for 10 hours.
McDaniel was one of two candidates to receive a second interview with the Dolphins as Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore interviewed yesterday. With Moore not getting the job, it looks like Dallas will keep both coordinators as Moore has not been mentioned as a contender for the Saints’ or Texans’ jobs and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has informed teams that he is remaining in Dallas.

McDaniel is a longtime Kyle Shanahan-staffer, following Shanahan from Atlanta to San Francisco. Following Mike LaFleur‘s departure to join Robert Saleh on the Jets, McDaniel was promoted to offensive coordinator.

The 2021 NFL season was McDaniel’s first and only year as an offensive coordinator at any level. He first entered the NFL as an intern for the Broncos in 2004. He spent three years as an offensive assistant in Houston before taking the position of running backs coach for Sacramento’s short-lived UFL team. McDaniel re-entered the NFL ranks an an offensive assistant in Washington for two years before getting promoted to wide receivers coach. He spent one season in that position in Washington followed by a season holding the same position in Cleveland before heading to Atlanta to become an offensive assistant under Shanahan.

The 38-year-old’s rise has been meteoric since joining Shanahan. After two years in Atlanta, McDaniel became Shanahan’s run game coordinator in San Francisco for four seasons before finally getting his shot last year at offensive coordinator. McDaniel didn’t call plays for the 49ers, but he did draw up the running plays and coordinate a running game that ranked in the top-10 despite losing Raheem Mostert in Week 1 and missing Elijah Mitchell for 6 games this year.

With Brian Flores‘ lawsuit against the NFL, Dolphins, Giants, and Broncos alleging racial discrimination, much attention will likely be paid to the fact that McDaniel identifies as multiracial, making him the first minority coaching candidate to be hired in this year’s cycle. The 49ers will receive two third-round compensatory picks as a result of the hire.

With Miami securing their man, there are now only two teams remaining who are without a head coach: the Texans and Saints. Keep up with the last remaining coaching searches on our 2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker.

Latest on Niners’ Trent Williams

January 29th, 2022 at 5:38pm CST by Ely Allen

After injuring his ankle in the 49ers’ Divisional Round win over the Packers, offensive tackle Trent Williams is looking likely to start in the NFC Championship game tomorrow in Los Angeles, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. In the tweet, Wagoner relayed a message from head coach Kyle Shanahan that Williams is adamant that he will be able to play and that Shanahan would be surprised if he doesn’t.

There was a bit of concern for Williams in Green Bay last Saturday night when he was seen on crutches after the game. The first-team All-Pro appeared to injure his ankle early in the third quarter, according to Sports Illustrated’s Grant Cohn, but finished the game with some ankle tape and some true grit. Williams was a question mark to play in the team’s Wild Card win over the Cowboys due to an elbow injury suffered in Week 17. He sat out the regular season finale – which would have ended San Francisco’s season if not for a come-from-behind victory over their next opponent, the Rams – but was able to start once again for both playoff games. The nine-time Pro Bowler has continued to play at an elite level in his second season with the 49ers, an encouraging sign given that he is under contract with the team for another five years after this season concludes.

Wagoner continued in a follow up tweet that running back Jeff Wilson is the only other player on the injury report, being the listed as questionable alongside Williams.

Extra Points: Cousins, 49ers, USFL, Europe

November 18th, 2021 at 3:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

While Kirk Cousins has been the Vikings’ starter for four years now, his status came up constantly ahead of his 2018 free agency bid. Kyle Shanahan confirmed the 49ers would have been in play for Cousins in 2018 — for what would have been a reunion between he and the QB he coached while Washington’s OC — but San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo extension preempted such a pursuit. Washington’s head coach at the time, however, believes the 49ers would have coughed up a considerable trade package for Cousins prior to October 2017’s Garoppolo trade. Jay Gruden said Washington could have obtained two first-rounders and perhaps two seconds for Cousins ahead of the 2017 deadline, and the then-WFT HC said — during an appearance on the Kevin Sheehan Show, via the Washington Post’s Jake Russell (Twitter links) — Daniel Snyder and Bruce Allen effectively killed such talks due to not wanting to reunite Shanahan and Cousins.

The 49ers gave up only a second-round pick for Garoppolo, though Cousins was a far more established starter at the time. The 49ers were mentioned in trade rumors regarding Cousins ahead of the 2017 draft, prior to his second Washington franchise tag, but Shanahan has only confirmed the team was planning to go after him in free agency. Gruden suggested Washington still had hopes of re-signing Cousins then; the team walled off this path after trading for Alex Smith in January 2018. Washington has long since moved on, firing Gruden during the 2019 season and Allen at its conclusion, though a notable void still exists for the franchise at QB.

Here is more from around pro football:

The XFL is not planning to launch its latest reboot until 2023, but another spring football attempt is in the works. Fox Sports is aiming another effort at establishing the United States Football League and has slated the effort for April, Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal reports. The USFL represents the best effort yet of a spring league in America; its ill-fated plan to move to the fall in 1986 led to its demise after three seasons. Fox employees Daryl Johnston and Mike Pereira, along with The Spring League co-founder Brian Woods, are set to be involved with this latest spring effort. Games would be televised primarily on FS1. Details are scarce at this point, but the recent Alliance of American Football and XFL 2.0 forays illustrate the uphill battle spring football presents.
The NFL’s push to play a game in Germany is expected to come to fruition by Super Bowl weekend, with Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports noting plans for the league’s future in Germany will become clear by February. The league is set to begin playing games in Germany annually either next season or in 2023, depending on COVID-19 restrictions, JLC adds. This would up the total of international games to at least four — two in London, one in Mexico City and one in a to-be-determined German city. With the NFL having sent more than two games to London in several previous seasons, it is possible the number of international games will surpass four.
Additional COVID testing is on tap for the post-Thanksgiving week. The league will require masks for all players, regardless of vaccination status, from Nov. 25-Dec. 1 at team facilities, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. All players and staffers will be tested twice the week following Thanksgiving.

Kyle Shanahan Discusses Decision To Take Trey Lance Over Mac Jones

July 8th, 2021 at 10:23pm CST by Ben Levine

Even up until the day of the 2021 Draft, it was still uncertain which QB the 49ers would take with the No. 3 pick. Our final report on the subject indicated that the decision was down to the team’s eventual pick, Trey Lance, and Alabama’s Mac Jones, who ended up going to the Patriots at No. 15.

During a recent appearance on the “Flying Coach” podcast, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan seemed to indicate that the team did seriously consider Jones before ultimately choosing Lance.

“I think either one would have been a good decision,” Shanahan said (h/t Yahoo’s Josh Schrock). “Like, you’re not moving up if you don’t feel good about both of those. And if it had just been one then we probably would have said no — well, we probably wouldn’t have said that because it’s still risky. But we really — either one of those players would have been a great pick, in my opinion. And the third guy with Justin [Fields], he would have been a great pick. It’s just what direction do you want to go.

“There’s so many things that go into it and you’ve got to make that decision. But I didn’t blame people at all for thinking it would be Mac Jones. Because Mac Jones deserves that. He’s that good of a player and he put it on tape for a whole year, and everyone did want to relate me to Kirk [Cousins] because that’s the only guy that I was openly going for as a free agent, so people talk about him. But Trey brought another element. And it doesn’t mean he’s better or worse. It just means he brought another element that over the course of us studying it really intrigued us, and that’s a direction I would love to go and have always wanted to go.

“But the guy has got to be able to do it all, and Trey sold us that he could and that’s why I’m excited to work with him and it’s up to us to get him to do it.”

After acquiring the No. 3 pick from the Dolphins for No. 12 and a pair of future firsts, the 49ers never really showed their hand, but it sounds like the team was sincerely exploring all of their potential options. As Shanahan noted, the 49ers seemed to value Lance’s diverse skill set, something that was especially evident during a 2019 collegiate season where the quarterback ran for 1,100 yards. For comparison’s sake, Jones had 42 rushing yards throughout his entire college career.

While Lance will eventually be under center for his new team, it sounds like the team is going to give Jimmy Garoppolo every opportunity to win the starting gig.

Cowboys, 49ers, Jags Penalized For OTA Violations

July 3rd, 2021 at 2:56pm CST by Ben Levine

SATURDAY: It turns out the 49ers were not forced to cancel their final week of OTAs this year, with Schefter adding the team avoided such a penalty after having already canceled its final OTA session and its mandatory minicamp (Twitter link).

THURSDAY: Three organizations have been slapped with fines following OTA violations. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), the league handed out the following punishments:

Cowboys fined $100K, HC Mike McCarthy $50K
49ers fined $100K, HC Kyle Shanahan fined $50K
Jaguars fined $200K, HC Urban Meyer $100K

The three teams violated CBA rules focused on offseason workouts.

The Cowboys will also have to forfeit one of their OTA practices during the 2022 offseason, while the Jaguars will have to forfeit a pair of 2022 practices. The 49ers have already carried out their penalty; per Schefter, the NFL Management Council “ordered” the organization to cancel the final week of OTAs back in June. When we reported that the 49ers were cutting short their offseason program, the decision was attributed to injuries, as the team lost part-time starters Justin Skule and Tarvarius Moore for the season and running back Jeff Wilson for the next few months.

“The health and safety of our players is our highest priority, and we take following league rules very seriously,” the 49ers said in a statement today (via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area on Twitter). “We will continue to work with the NFL and the NFLPA to ensure compliance.”

Latest On 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo

April 26th, 2021 at 4:39pm CST by Ben Levine

Is Jimmy Garoppolo guaranteed to be on the 49ers roster next week? Kyle Shanahan made it clear that he couldn’t guarantee the fate of humanity, much less the roster status of his starting quarterback. However, the 49ers head coach later provided a thoughtful response that seemed to hint that the organization would be content with keeping the veteran.

“The biggest thing with Jimmy is his injuries,” Shanahan said (via David Lombardi of The Athletic on Twitter). “It’s been very tough for us when he’s been hurt. This happened two of these three years. That’s where it starts. Jimmy knows that. I’ve been very up front with him with everything.

“Excited to get him in here coming up, especially when this draft is over. But I feel very fortunate taking a rookie quarterback that we do have a guy like Jimmy. We didn’t sign a guy who’s capable or has the history of being a starter right away. We have a guy, every time he’s been a starter, he’s played at a high level. So to have that with Jimmy with having a rookie quarterback gives us a lot of leeway into this. I’m not going to set anything into stone, but I know that’s the situation that would be hard to get rid of. When you take a rookie quarterback and you take a veteran like Jimmy who we know we can win with, just to move on from that is something that’s not easy to do. That is a good situation for us and I think that is something that’ll be important to us this year.”

We heard that the 49ers may be holding out for a first-round pick for Garoppolo, and the organization would obviously trade the veteran in the right deal. However, Shanahan’s argument for keeping his starting quarterback does have plenty of merit, and the organization has made it abundantly clear that they won’t simply give Garoppolo away.

So who are the 49ers going to take? The head coach wouldn’t provide any answers, but he noted that the organization still feels good about five prospects at the No. 3 spot.

“We could have sat there at 12, and waited which one came to us, if one did,” Shanhan said (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Twitter). “But we made a decision that we felt we needed to get a starting QB. We wanted to dicatate it. We’ll get the one that we feel is best for us.”

NFC West Notes: 49ers, Wright, Conner

April 13th, 2021 at 7:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Of the three high-end quarterback prospects expected to be available to the 49ers at No. 3 overall, Justin Fields has lagged behind the other two — Trey Lance and Mac Jones — in terms of being linked to San Francisco. But Kyle Shanahan has reached out to Fields’ pre-draft coach, former NFL QB John Beck, at points this offseason. Beck has overseen Fields’ pre-draft preparations and has taken over that role for Lance in recent weeks. Beck was with Washington when Shanahan served as the team’s OC.

“Knowing that I’ve been around (Fields) the last three months, he’ll reach out and just want to ask questions or talk,” Beck said, via The Athletic’s Matt Barrows (subscription required) of Shanahan. “And kind of like prod into: What are the things we’re working on, the things that I think having played in his system, having been coached by him, I know how he’s going to coach quarterbacks. I know what he’s looking for.”

Beck, who added that he has also spoken with 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters this offseason, incorporated 49ers concepts into Fields’ first pro day. Peters, 49ers QBs coach Rich Scangarello and college scouting director Ethan Waugh attended Fields’ first pro day. Beck will not attend Fields’ second showcase, but the 49ers will run the workout. Here is the latest from the NFC West:

With Trevor Lawrence almost certainly Jacksonville-bound and Zach Wilson on track to join the Jets, the 49ers’ QB preference has emerged as perhaps the draft’s top talking point. Few in the team’s building know which passer Shanahan prefers. He and John Lynch have only told “a couple” of people the quarterback they are targeting, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Podcast (video link). It will come down to Fields, Lance and Jones. Thus far, Jones may have a slight lead. While Shanahan and Lynch showed rare transparency following their trade up to No. 3, their secrecy within the building will continue to generate interest as to which QB Shanahan wants. Lynch and Shanahan opting to attend Jones’ pro day over Fields’ may have served as an early tell, but the 49ers are attending Fields and Lance’s second showcases.
K.J. Wright expressed interest in returning to the Seahawks but is not keen on taking a discount to re-sign. However, the veteran linebacker may have no choice. Wright may need to accept a deal that slashes his previous pay in half, John Clayton of 710 AM Seattle writes, adding that he is not getting “good vibes” another Wright-Seahawks accord may come to pass. Wright averaged $7MM in salary on his third Seahawks contract, which he signed in 2019. He was interested in joining ex-Seattle DC Dan Quinn in Dallas; nothing has emerged to indicate the Cowboys are pursuing Wright. The Seahawks moving on would make sense. They used a 2020 first-round pick on Jordyn Brooks and have Bobby Wagner signed to the top off-ball linebacker contract. Wright, 31, has played all 10 of his NFL seasons with Seattle.
New Cardinals running back James Conner underwent toe surgery recently. He suffered the injury in an ATV accident, he said Tuesday. The former Pro Bowl back is expected to be 100% by training camp.

Extra Points: 49ers, Hurts, Gase

November 29th, 2020 at 8:22pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The 49ers picked up a huge win over the Rams on Sunday, but they were dealt an unexpected blow earlier this week when Santa Clara County officials suddenly announced they wouldn’t be allowed to practice or play in their stadium moving forward. That’s left the 49ers reeling, with little time to formulate a backup plan. Speaking after the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan said it was “extremely disappointing” that the team wasn’t given any advanced notice, and said “we’re working our tail off” to find new accommodations. As of right now the “most likely” option is for the 49ers to play their remaining home games at the Cardinals’ stadium, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Their division rivals are apparently willing to lend a helping hand to the 49ers. Rapoport also writes that a stadium in Texas is another option, although the NFL would prefer them to play at an NFL arena. The question would then turn into what the team will do for a living situation. Rapoport writes that it’s possible the team just stays in Arizona and lives out of hotels in the area, forming a bubble of sorts. It’s a tough situation that will put 5-6 San Fran at a competitive disadvantage for the rest of the year. We’ll update whenever a plan is officially ironed out.

Here’s more from around the league:

Eagles fans that have been clamoring for more Jalen Hurts are about to get their wish. Philly is expected to give Hurts his most extensive playing time of the season, including plays where Carson Wentz isn’t on the field, for their Monday night game against the Seahawks, Rapoport writes. Rapsheet says it’s unlikely he’ll get a full series, but to expect to see him for two or three plays at a time. Philly inflicted this quarterback controversy upon themselves by drafting Hurts in the second-round back in April. Wentz, of course, has been mostly awful this season. He’s still owed over $50MM in guaranteed money over the next two seasons, but it sounds like things could finally be trending toward a benching if he doesn’t get things turned around soon. Either way, it’ll be very interesting to see how Hurts looks on MNF.
The Jets continued their march toward a potential winless season with a defeat at the hands of the Dolphins. 0-11 aside, there’s now a minor controversy over who is calling the plays in New York. Before the game, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com tweeted that Adam Gase would re-take play calling duties from offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. But after the game, Gase insisted he wasn’t calling the plays. Reporters pressed Gase on it, claiming Loggains looked like he was doing nothing on the sidelines and that Gase was the one talking. Gase then claimed Loggains would talk to him before the drive about what plays to call, then conceded he was calling the plays for third downs and two-minute drills. Sam Darnold said after the game that it was Gase’s voice in his helmet telling him the plays. It’s another bizarre situation, but one that is pretty much par for the course for this 2020 Jets campaign.