If Kyle Shanahan has little patience with veterans who aren’t putting forth effort, he has a reason. While appearing on Tolbert & Lund Thursday afternoon, Shanahan explained how he tried to keep his job as a fourth-string receiver at the University of Texas, while more talented receivers, like Roy Williams, got the playing time.
“I wouldn’t get a ball thrown to me until the third quarter, sometimes it would take a couple of games, but I knew it was going to come randomly,” Shanahan said Thursday afternoon. “And I knew there were a lot of recruits sitting there below me and coaches were just looking for reasons to play them. I knew if I dropped the first ball that was to me, I was going to get on the bench and somebody else was going to come in. I would sit there throughout an entire game and play catch always on the sidelines. And I remember the guys, like Roy Williams, making fun of me and stuff and say, ‘Would you relax? You don’t need to catch throughout an entire game.’”
“I was like, ‘Hey man, I just saw you drop three balls and they are still throwing at you. If I go in and do that once, I’m not playing again. I’m going to keep catching here because when I go in there I want to make sure I’m focused and I never let that happen.’”
It’s hopefully a story he’s imparted on his 49ers team. Before last week’s game, the 49ers were among league leaders with 26 dropped passes this year.
To listen to Shanahan’s full interview on Tolbert & Lund, click the podcast link below. To hear Shanahan describe his time as a receiver at Texas, skip ahead to the 12:58 mark.