Kyle Shanahan has emerged as one of the NFL’s top head coaches in recent years, leading the San Francisco 49ers to an impressive run of success in his seven years at the helm.
He quickly worked his way up in the league’s assistant coaching ranks before earning his first head gig with San Francisco and taking off from there.
Has Kyle Shanahan Ever Won a Super Bowl?
Shanahan has led the 49ers to several successful seasons since taking over as the franchise’s head coach in 2017, earning his first head coaching job in the league after plenty of impressive years as an offensive coordinator.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UCLA in 2003 before moving into an offensive quality control role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two seasons. He then was a position coach for two years with the Houston Texans before taking over as their offensive coordinator in 2008.
He moved on to serve as offensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders from 2010-13 prior to taking on the same role with the Cleveland Browns in 2014 and Atlanta Falcons in 2015-16.
The savvy offensive play-caller was a key part of Atlanta reaching the Super Bowl to cap off that 2016 season. The Shanahan-led offense helped the Falcons jump out to a 28-3 lead before the New England Patriots’ improbable comeback to win the game 34-28 in overtime.
Shanahan parlayed his success that season into taking over as the 49ers’ head coach following Chip Kelly’s less-than-stellar one-year run at the helm.
After a 6-10 debut season and 4-12 showing the next year, Shanahan’s squad broke through for a big year in 2019. The 49ers went 13-3 that season, rolling past the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round of the playoffs and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game before falling victim to the Kansas City Chiefs’ 21-point fourth-quarter rally in a 31-20 Super Bowl defeat.
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Shanahan’s squad has been unable to make it back to the Super Bowl since then, but it has been close a pair of times.
Following a rough 6-10 year in 2020, San Francisco made its way into the playoffs despite finishing third in its division and advanced to the conference title game before dropping a 20-17 bout to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
The 49ers made it back to the game the next season but ultimately fell 31-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now, San Francisco is one win away from getting back to the NFC Championship Game after coming into the playoffs as the conference’s No. 1 seed. A win Saturday over the Packers would get the 49ers one step closer to finally breaking through for a championship under Shanahan.
Time will tell whether San Francisco is ultimately able to get it done, but Shanahan and Co. certainly have the pieces to give themselves a shot this year.
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