The San Francisco 49ers are reportedly going to extend a job offer to Kyle Shanahan to become their next head coach as soon as the Atlanta Falcons are finished playing this winter.
49ers plan to offer their HC job to Falcons' OC Kyle Shanahan whenever Atlanta’s season ends, sources tell ESPN. Willing to wait for him.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 17, 2017
In the meantime, the 49ers will reportedly see which general manager candidates mesh well with Shanahan.
The #49ers are expected to get top GM candidates with Kyle Shanahan next week — when they are allowed — to see who meshes well.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 17, 2017
For a while there before Josh McDaniels pulled out of the search, he was considered the front runner to land this job. However, it’s been reported for a couple of weeks that the 49ers were also very high on Shanahan, who has done wonders to help Matt Ryan and the Falcons ascend to great heights.
An offensive coordinator since 2008, Shanahan has been coaching in the NFL since 2004 when he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a quality control coach out of UCLA.
The 49ers have made it clear this past week that the job opening won’t be a temporary gig, that Jed York is committed to letting whoever comes in have time to rebuild the franchise. With tons of draft currency at their disposal, the 49ers have an opportunity to become a competitive team again in a few years, and whoever makes that happen would have an honored place in history of one of the NFL’s most successful historic franchises.
It remains to be seen if Shanahan would be interested in joining the franchise, but it sure sounds like they’re going to make a serious offer. If he doesn’t accept, the other man who could potentially coach San Francisco is Tom Cable, who recently interviewed for the job.
Shanahan and the Falcons are hosting the Green Bay Packers Sunday for the NFC Championship Game.