Last year, when rumors emerged of Mike and Kyle Shanahan arriving to fix the 49ers, the team quickly made it clear that Mike would not be working for the team. And Mike isn’t working for the team, at least not officially.
It’s the best of both worlds for the 49ers, with the franchise now getting the benefit of father and son. And they only have to pay one of them. Which is nice.
As noted by Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports California, Mike has been present for several of the team’s offseason practices, with his own tablet containing the team’s playbook and coaching video. Mike also is expected to be presented for an extended stretch during training camp. During the regular season, though, Mike won’t be around as much.
“He’s enjoying life right now,” Kyle Shanahan said of his father. “He’s got a pretty good deal in Denver, where he lives. He can help me out in other ways anyways without having to be here every day.”
Kyle nevertheless appreciates the second set of ears and eyes, especially since Mike Shanahan has had plenty of success as a head coach.
“You’re going 1,000 miles an hour,” Kyle Shanahan said. “Sometimes to see everything you’ve got to really slow things down and take your time to look at stuff and you don’t always have that time as a head coach.”
An edge like that can never be a bad thing in a highly competitive industry, whether in the first year as a head coach or the 20th. And along with the other moves the team has made since the 2016 season ended, it’s another reason to think that the 49ers could be in the process of turning around a franchise that took such a horrible wrong turn a few years ago.