Mike Shanahan tried to steer his son from coaching, something Kyle Shanahan said he will follow his father in doing with his own son.
“I lived and died football, and my grades suffered a little bit for that,” Kyle Shanahan said, via Clark Judge of the Talk of Fame Network. “It was definitely the most important thing in my life. And my parents always raised me, telling me, ‘Hey, don’t be a coach; don’t be a coach.’ And it’s the same thing I’m going to tell my son.”
When Washington named Mike Shanahan as head coach in 2010, he hired his son as offensive coordinator. Kyle Shanahan stayed four years followed by stops in Cleveland and Atlanta before the 49ers hired him as their head coach.
“Coaching isn’t as all-glamorous like people think it is,” Shanahan said. “You’ve got to move a lot. You’ve got to go through a lot of bad times. Everyone’s going to get fired. You’re going to have to move your family. You’re going to have to tell your first-grader she’s moving, and she’s not going to understand why.
“So there are a lot of ups and downs with it. My parents always told me not to get into it. But once they realized I wanted to, I think my Dad was pretty flattered that I wanted to follow after him.”