Shanahan’s job becomes cashing in on Purdy

Kyle Shanahan might finally be able to crack a smile. But not for long, because the heavy lifting will start soon.

The last time the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers made a public appearance, he was dour and withdrawn, still crushed by the 49ers’ NFC Championship Game loss. But with the news that Brock Purdy’s elbow surgery went as hoped on Friday, that it was a relatively quick fix and that the young quarterback should be ready to go close to the start of the upcoming season, Shanahan might finally be feeling more optimistic.

And getting ready for his greatest task.

Because this will be his moment, as much as it will be Purdy’s. Can the coach labeled an offensive wizard finally develop a quarterback into a Super Bowl winner?

Normally that would be a lot to put on the plate of a secondyear Mr. Irrelevant. But, in this case, it’s not a premature or unfair question for either Shanahan or Purdy.

Not with the news that the elbow injury shouldn’t be the setback that so many had feared. The 49ers have been knocking on the door for four years, with three NFC Championship Game appearances and a Super Bowl loss in that time.

Somehow, the shortcomings were always laid on the quarterback: either Jimmy Garoppolo’s failings in big games, or the devastating injuries to Purdy and Josh Johnson that left the 49ers essentially playing 10 vs. 11 against Philadelphia.

But things should be different this year. Garoppolo and his position as the perennial scapegoat won’t be around; he’s likely to soon sign elsewhere as a free agent. And despite the presence of Trey Lance, Purdy is clearly going to be the team’s No. 1 quarterback heading into the season, which means the uncertainty

that has surrounded the 49ers’ most important position for the past two seasons should be largely eliminated.

In Purdy, Shanahan has his perfect pupil, but also his ultimate proving ground. Purdy didn’t come to him with any other professional influences or systems or training. With no high expectations.

Unlike some of the other raw 49ers quarterbacks whom Shanahan has tried to shape — C.J. Beathard, Nick Mullens and Lance — Purdy has proved he can win big games. He already has an impressive resume after just nine games (eight starts and the game in which he played for three quarters following Garoppolo’s seasonending injury). Purdy won two playoff games. He won in front of hostile Seattle fans in a nationally televised game.

During the most critical stretch of the season, when the 49ers had no room for error, he proved himself week in and week out, prolonged the team’s winning streak and helped the team clinch the division. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn’t been injured in Philadelphia?

The 49ers have been Super Bowl-ready since they lost the title to the Chiefs in Miami in February 2020. They will still be Super Bowl-ready next February, four years later.

But that is four hard seasons of wear and tear on the players responsible for all the high expectations: Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle. Some of their other standout players have a lot of mileage and injury history: Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey.

The upcoming season will, once again, be fraught with urgency. Shanahan has rightly earned his reputation as an innovative offensive mind and brilliant play schemer, one of the very best in the NFL. But he came to the 49ers with a reputation as a quarterback whisperer, thanks to the work he did as an assistant with Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan.

With the 49ers, that reputation has not played out. In his six seasons as the 49ers’ head coach, the quarterback position has usually been more muddled than clear. While Garoppolo was at the helm for most of Shanahan’s success, the relationship was always tense and lacked an element of trust. The young quarterbacks he handpicked — Beathard, Mullens, even Lance to this point — did not develop.

In Purdy, he may finally have found his perfect protégé. Lance, for a third consecutive season, will remain the biggest question for Shanahan and the 49ers. Will we ever see him develop to his full potential? Will the 49ers try to trade him to recoup some of the huge price they paid to move up and draft him in 2021? If they keep him around, will the 49ers again be faced with a quarterback controversy that could be detrimental for both young quarterbacks?

Those are big questions the franchise has yet to answer.

For the moment, one thing seems clear: Purdy will be the 49ers’ starting quarterback. Can Shanahan transform him into a Super Bowl winner?