‘All I wanted to do was throw’
49ers head coach Shanahan says he's learned value of the running game
Kyle Shanahan grew up around offenses that heavily featured the run, but like any good son, he wanted to rebel.
The 49ers head coach spoke Thursday ahead of San Francisco’s NFC Championship showdown with the Green Bay Packers, highlighting his own playing experience as a reason for his early verve for calling pass plays.
“I didn’t play O-line growing up, so you know, when I first became a coach all I wanted to do was throw,” Shanahan said. “I played receiver and quarterback my whole life, so that’s what you want to do.”
But his priorities have changed.
Like his father Mike, who won a Super Bowl as offensive coordinator of the 1994 49ers and two more as head coach of the Broncos, Kyle has adapted to his roster’s strengths. And these 49ers can run the football.
Shanahan called 47 run plays in Saturday’s divisional round win over the Vikings, including eight in a row on a third-quarter touchdown drive. The
49ers racked up 186 yards rushing compared to 122 passing, wearing down Minnesota’s defense.
Shanahan called just six pass plays the rest of the game after Jimmy Garoppolo’s interception late in the second quarter. It’s not necessarily that the coach didn’t trust his quarterback; it’s that he didn’t have to.
In the age of analytics, the “establish the run” crowd is growing quieter as those who champion the efficiency of passing the ball have become more boisterous. Shanahan, known as a young offensive whiz, says he’s gone the other way because running lowers pressure on the offense.
“The longer you do it, you realize that no matter how cool of passes you can draw up, you’ve got to protect, you’ve got to do things,” he said. “You can’t put all the pressure on the quarterback and the thing that does make it a lot easier is being able to run the ball. So running the ball takes pressure off everyone and puts pressure on the defense.”
Part of that lesson may have come from his aggressive play-calling as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons as they blew a 28-3 lead over the Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
Another possible factor would be not knowing how well Garoppolo would play this year coming off ACL surgery. As it’s turned out, Garoppolo has been mostly good when the 49ers need him. But by committing to the run early in the season, Shanahan knew this team could move the ball efficiently on the ground to keep Garoppolo from feeling too much heat.