Kyle Shanahan’s Resilient 49ers Season Deserves Coach of the Year Buzz-Even If He’s Not the Favorite
SAN FRANCISCO - If you watched the 49ers this season and thought, *“How are they still winning?” *-you weren’t alone.
Chris Simms, former NFL quarterback and longtime friend of Kyle Shanahan, had the same reaction. But unlike most fans, Simms wasn’t shy about saying it out loud-sometimes directly to Shanahan’s family.
“I’d joke with his mom and wife, like, ‘You guys aren’t even good,’” Simms said, laughing during NBC Sports’ Super Bowl week media availability. It was all in good fun, but the sentiment captured something real: this San Francisco team wasn’t supposed to survive the season the way it did.
Injuries hit hard and often. All-Pros, key starters, and important depth pieces-one by one, they landed on injured reserve.
Even the quarterback missed time with turf toe. And yet, Shanahan’s group kept grinding out wins.
In his ninth year at the helm, Shanahan had the 49ers in the NFC West race until the final week of the regular season.
Simms, who spent much of the year publicly doubting the 49ers’ chances, admitted he was bracing for a reckoning. “I just kept going, ‘Damn, he’s gonna crap all over me and this team’s gonna win the NFC West.’ This is unbelievable.”
The run finally ended in a lopsided 41-6 loss to the Seahawks in the divisional round. No Super Bowl appearance this time.
But a 12-5 finish-given the circumstances-was anything but ordinary. It marked Shanahan’s fifth playoff trip, and perhaps his most impressive coaching performance yet.
That’s why, even with the season over, Shanahan’s name is still in the spotlight. On Thursday night, the NFL will hand out its annual awards at the Honors ceremony in San Francisco, including Coach of the Year. Shanahan’s never won it, despite being one of the league’s longest-tenured and most respected head coaches.
Simms didn’t hesitate when asked who he’d want leading a franchise from scratch. “Kyle,” he said. “And that’s the way Kyle’s viewed throughout football.”
Still, Shanahan’s path to Coach of the Year isn’t clear-cut. The competition is fierce.
Mike Vrabel and Mike Macdonald guided the Patriots and Seahawks, respectively, from sub-.500 seasons to the Super Bowl. Ben Johnson in Chicago and Liam Cohen in Jacksonville helped engineer dramatic turnarounds for franchises that had been stuck in neutral for years.
Jason Garrett, the former Cowboys coach turned NBC analyst, didn’t downplay Shanahan’s work this year. “You could certainly make the argument,” he said. “A lot of injuries on both sides of the ball, for him to continue to have that team be competitive week in and week out, that’s a fantastic job.”
But like Simms, Garrett acknowledged the crowded field. “Vrabel, Ben Johnson, Liam Cohen-I think all those guys have done a fantastic job.”
Simms, whose relationship with Shanahan stretches back to their college days at Texas, admits his bias. But he also knows what elite coaching looks like.
“What he did this year, come on, it’s crazy,” Simms said. “He’s one of the two or three best head coaches in football. But Coach of the Year is really hard this year.”
He likened the debate to last season’s MVP race, where Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Josh Allen all had compelling cases. “(Shanahan) every bit deserves to be up in that conversation,” Simms said. “But I mean, I can certainly understand Vrabel, Macdonald, and the rest being above that.”
In a year where adversity defined the 49ers’ season, Shanahan’s steady hand kept them competitive when most teams would’ve folded. Whether or not he walks away with the hardware Thursday night, it’s clear: the league knows what kind of coach he is. And if you ask those who’ve been around him the longest, they’ll tell you-he’s the kind you build a franchise around.