Shanahan faces former team when 49ers host Falcons

SANTA CLARA — When Kyle Shanahan looks back on the two years he spent as offensive coordinator with the Atlanta Falcons, it’s the positives he remembers much more than the disappointing ending.

After a couple of tough stops in Washington and Cleveland, Shanahan’s coaching career took off after joining the Falcons when he helped Matt Ryan and Atlanta reach record heights on the way to a Super Bowl appearance. That performance helped land him a head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers even if he fell short of a Super Bowl title when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead before losing in overtime to New England.

“Not at all,” Shanahan said when asked if the Super Bowl collapse lessened his memories of his tenure with the Falcons.

“I loved my time in Atlanta, loved the people I was there with. I went there at a tough time in my career and just the two previous places I had been. ... It was good to be in a good place like that, and really enjoyed the players, too.”

Shanahan gets a chance to face his old team, including Ryan and head coach Dan Quinn, when the 49ers (11-2) host the Falcons (4-9) today.

Atlanta set a franchise record by scoring 540 points in 2016 with Shanahan calling plays. Ryan had career bests in yards passing (4,944), TD passes (38) and passer rating (117.1) on the way to winning the league MVP.

“Kyle had a huge impact on my career,” Ryan said. “He challenged me to get better, improve in certain areas and taught me a lot about offensive football. Just seeing things from a different perspective, I feel like I made big jumps in the two years we were together and I’m happy for him that he’s having great success.”