San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has now had three double-digit leads in the Super Bowl and lost, twice with the 49ers. As the team spends the 2024 NFL offseason calendar recovering from the Super Bowl LVIII losses, questions are already being raised about Shanahan’s future.
Shanahan, 44, is widely recognized as one of the best head coaches in the NFL and easily the best offensive mind in the sport. However, his teams have repeatedly come up short in critical moments when a championship was at stake.
- Kyle Shanahan coaching record: 64-51, 8-4 in the NFL playoffs
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In San Francisco alone, his teams have blown multiple double-digit leads. In Super Bowl LIV, the 49ers led 20-10 entering the fourth quarter, only to allow 21 unanswered points to the Kansas City Chiefs and lose. Two years later, San Francisco led 17-7 after three quarters of the NFC Championship Game. The Los Angeles Rams answered with 13 fourth-quarter points, winning 20-17.
Following the latest heartbreaking loss, this time in overtime to Kansas City, there is now speculation that San Francisco may eventually have to move on from its head coach.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk recently suggested that if the 49ers lose another big game under Shanahan because of his history, including the decision to not draft Patrick Mahomes, San Francisco might need to make a change.
“The simple truth is that Shanahan keeps losing to Mahomes. The other simple truth is that Shanahan could have drafted Mahomes in 2017, but Shanahan passed on the emerging GOAT. At some point, the string of Super Bowl losses — especially to Mahomes — could become too long.”
Mike Florio on Kyle Shanahan’s situation with the San Francisco 49ers
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If Shanahan was ever let go by the 49ers, he would be hired immediately with multiple NFL teams offering him to become head coach. In each of the past four offseasons, we’ve seen clubs target Shanahan’s assistant coaches and coordinators on both sides of the ball for promotions.
While three blown double-digit leads in the Super Bowl will hang over Shanahan’s resume until he hoists the Lombardi Trophy, San Francisco also knows it has one of the best head coaches in football. If anything, the 49ers will likely extend Shanahan’s contract if he takes the team to another Super Bowl.
