Shanahan navigating intricacies that come with head coach’s job
In the hours before he made his head-coaching debut Friday night, Kyle Shanahan spoke with two men who have combined to coach 596 regularseason NFL games.
First, Shanahan, 37, called his dad, Mike. Then, during pregame warmups, he spoke with Kansas City’s Andy Reid, 59, who is old enough to be his dad.
Shanahan didn’t divulge the details of his conversations with the accomplished offensive minds. However, if he was seeking advice, it presumably wasn’t about X’s and O’s, but … chicken or steak?
The 49ers hired Shanahan for his offensive acumen, but the rookie is spending part of the preseason becoming mindful of all the minutiae that comes with his new title.
Last week, Shanahan acknowledged that he had to be reminded to appoint team captains before the exhibition opener against Kansas City. He made those choices, but other decisions, such as what to eat in the air, are still being weighed.
“We look at everything from
just how we travel from the airplane, to the food on the planes, to what time we got to the stadium,” Shanahan said Saturday. “So there are lots of little tweaks that you look at that, I think, we’ll be looking at throughout this preseason.
“Hopefully, we get it to exactly where we want by the first game. The game-day process, I thought, went smooth. It definitely was my first time as a head coach. I’m still going through the exact same process I’m used to as a coordinator and I can’t lie: There’s a lot more to think about.”
Given Shanahan’s last name, and his success as an offensive coordinator for the previous nine seasons, it has been widely assumed that he’d transition smoothly into his new role.
That could be the case — but Shanahan has been candid about the challenges he has faced. In the spring, he acknowledged he was still figuring out where to stand on the practice field after spending his career focused solely on offense.
On Saturday, less than 24 hours after his debut, he noted the challenge of still calling the offensive plays while keeping his eye on everything else. In the first quarter Friday, Shanahan unsuccessfully challenged a play when the 49ers’ defense was on the field.
“The defense is up, and I’m trying to study pictures and get my calls right for the next (offensive) series,” Shanahan said. “But I’m also glancing at them and having to pay attention to the clock when the offense isn’t up, and thinking about replays and all the situations that are going on.”
Shanahan’s learning curve could be particularly steep, given the lack of experience around him.
He’s the league’s second-youngest head coach, and two of his top assistants, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, 38, and special-teams coordinator Richard Hightower, 36, are both rookies in their roles. In fact, the 49ers’ coaching staff includes just one assistant with head-coaching experience at any level (tight ends coach Jon Embree led Colorado from 2011 through ’12).
In Los Angeles, the Rams’ Sean McVay, 31, the NFL’s youngest head coach, can seek counsel from defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, 70, whose 146game head-coaching career included stints with six teams.
Of course, Shanahan does have a trusted adviser in his father, one of 13 head coaches to win two Super Bowls. Mike Shanahan was a frequent visitor to 49ers’ practices in the spring, but he hasn’t been observed at a training-camp session.
Shanahan, who worked under his dad for four seasons as Washington’s offensive coordinator, speaks frequently with his father. Shanahan noted the hectic pace of training camp was the reason why they hadn’t talked for about a week before they reconnected Friday.
Shanahan said their conversations often follow the same pattern, and that’s something he’d like to change as he navigates his first season in a moredemanding role.
“I don’t have any questions until I’m struggling with something,” Shanahan said. “I usually call him once I’ve already messed something up …
“I tell him, ‘Hey I messed this up. Has that ever happened to you?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, maybe you should have called me before that and I could have helped you.’ ”