49ers coach Kyle Shanahan will appear in his third Superbowl when San Francisco take on the Chiefs, but it seems he always had the inside track.
Shanahan is no normal kid made good; he is the son of two-time Superbowl champion Mike Shanahan.
“Being a coach’s son, just very fortunate to be around it so much. Especially at the NFL level,” Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday.
“My dad went to the NFL when I was four years old, so just being around it my whole life. You don’t realize how much it helps you ’til you get in it, and you realize a lot of the stuff that you’ve been around and it makes it a little easier. I think, not only the son of a coach, but my dad’s the best coach I’ve ever been around. So, to be around that good of one I think also was a huge advantage for me.”
One massive example of his upbringing shows what an unassuming role Mike played.
Shanahan senior won two Superbowl titles with the Denver Broncos.
“He never was really training me to be a coach, he was just being my dad. And just the way he went about everything and how direct he was with people, how honest he was with people, how hard he worked. As a son and someone you work with, that’s all you can ask from people.”
But Shanahan junior had dreams of being a Superbowl winner as a player, as all sports loving kids do, and he was insistent that he could make the grade.
“I was always in my dad’s ear, every second annoying the heck out of my sister and my mom every meal we probably ever had together. Or car ride. Just asking questions about football,” Shanahan said. “I loved football just as a true fan. Loved playing in the backyard all the time. I remember right in eighth grade, telling him how I wanted to play professional sports, I wanted to earn a scholarship and which sport should I try? I know football, it’ll probably be the hardest one for me.
“I remember him telling me on this long car ride how you’ve just got to commit to it and do it. I remember setting up a plan then on how to work out and do all this stuff. From that standpoint on, I was always trying to be a player. Trying to get a scholarship, trying to play in college, things like that.
“I think once my fifth year hit and the reality of what I was as a player hit, then I think I started to think about it. I was like, you know what, I think I want to coach. I don’t want to stop being around football right now, and you know what, I think I’ve actually kind of been working at this my whole life because it’s a little bit easier than playing. And I think it kind of naturally happened.”
Shanahan was in rare form and even shared an anecdote about Christian McCaffrey, his star running back and outside chance at winning the league MVP.
“I was so close with Christian’s dad growing up,” Shanahan said of former Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey, father of current 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey. “Him and Rod Smith were the two receivers on the Broncos, when I was throughout high school trying to be a receiver, those were the guys I tried to cut my shoes like, wear the same shoulder pads, meet them after school to run routes and do workouts throughout the summer, everything. His dad was such a gym rat and just such a technician. Him and Rod taught me almost everything I know about playing, which gave me a chance to play.
“Then it was just so funny watching Christian over the years. Hearing about him in high schools, to at Stanford, going to the draft and everything. I just couldn’t believe how talented he was. But I also knew his dad and how psychotic his dad was with his work ethic and his attention to detail.
“That’s what’s been so neat trading for Christian and actually getting to know him. I feel like I’m watching Ed half the time. (Ed’s wife) Lisa, the other half, she probably had a little better personality, which is in Christian. But it’s funny how the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, and I’m sure they’ve got some similarities watching me with my dad.”
The stories are rich in history and texture and dripping with future Superbowl glory, and there is a chance destiny will smile on Shanahan and McCaffrey senior this season.
