Second Coming Of Shanahan
Niner Report|April 2017

New head coach returns home to lead 49ers at birthplace of his offensive innovation.

Craig Massei
Second Coming Of Shanahan

Growing up with the 49ers can have its advantages. Huge advantages. Lifelong advantages. And as Kyle Shanahan embarks on the next exhilarating, adrenaline-charged stage of his relatively young life, he’ll be able to look back at where he came from to know where he’s going as the new guiding light of the wobbling San Francisco franchise.

The 49ers might be looking a little shaky these days, but their footing just got a lot more solid in early February when an offensive virtuoso the team helped mold as a young teenager opted to come full circle and return to the impressionable surroundings of some of his most formative years in football.

Shanahan remembers them well. How could he ever forget them?

Living with the team through the summers of 1992-1994 as a training camp ball boy, Shanahan hung out with future Hall of Famers such as Steve Young and Jerry Rice, among other legendary 49ers. He was connecting roommates with iconic offensive line coach Bobb McKittrick. He had late-night, every night, ping-pong battles with Pro Bowl wide receiver John Taylor.

And all the while, he watched his father create one of the greatest runs of spectacular offense the NFL ever has seen while helping lead the 49ers to the last of their five Super Bowl championships.

“It’s always been a special part of my heart,” Shanahan said. “I had three good years here, and I have a very high expectation of what I’ve always thought this franchise is and that it was the best franchise in sports.”

The 49ers no longer can be considered the best franchise in sports. Far from of it, as of today. But Shanahan knows it can be different, because he was part of it when it was different.

Denne historien er fra April 2017-utgaven av Niner Report.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra April 2017-utgaven av Niner Report.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA NINER REPORTSe alt
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Niner Report

EIGHT IS ENOUGH

Set 49ers lineup still has several new starters

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2021
Calling all cornerbacks
Niner Report

Calling all cornerbacks

Loss of Verrett exposes 49ers’ thin depth at CB

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2021
Always finding their way to run
Niner Report

Always finding their way to run

49ers system accomplished at developing homegrown talent

time-read
9 mins  |
October 2021
ANOTHER COMEBACK?
Niner Report

ANOTHER COMEBACK?

Resilient veteran Verrett to miss rest of season

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2021
TOP 10 Rookie running backs
Niner Report

TOP 10 Rookie running backs

THE BACK LIST

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2021
STOCK UP  STOCK DOWN
Niner Report

STOCK UP STOCK DOWN

DEOMMODORE LENOIR | AMBRY THOMAS

time-read
4 mins  |
October 2021
Will Mostert run for 49ers again?
Niner Report

Will Mostert run for 49ers again?

Raheem Mostert was primed this year to be the centerpiece of one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses, featured as the lead performer in San Francisco’s grinding rushing attack while making his climb among the league’s top running backs.

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2021
THE WONDER OF WARNER
Niner Report

THE WONDER OF WARNER

49ers make All-Pro star highest-paid LB in NFL

time-read
9 mins  |
August 31, 2021
Making the right choice at QB
Niner Report

Making the right choice at QB

In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.

time-read
3 mins  |
August 31, 2021
TOP 10 Linebacker seasons
Niner Report

TOP 10 Linebacker seasons

Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.

time-read
3 mins  |
August 31, 2021