At this point, it seems like prospective 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan could get just about whatever he wants from the 49ers. As the only candidate on San Francisco’s radar, reports have stated that the 49ers, the only NFL team without a head coach, will indeed announce Shanahan as their newest hire following the Super Bowl next Sunday.
But without a backup plan, the 49ers have put all their eggs in the Shanahan basket, and though it has been reported he will accept the job, Shanahan has maximum leverage, especially considering Jed York can hardly afford the embarrassment that would come from his only candidate walking at the final hour.
It appears as if Shanahan may use that leverage to get his father, former Super Bowl winning head coach Mike Shanahan, a job in the 49ers front office, according to a report Friday morning from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
There’s increasing chatter in league circles that Kyle Shanahan will try to get his father a job in San Francisco, forcing the team to bite its tongue and do what it doesn’t want to do in order to avoid having to go back to the drawing board to hire a coach at a time when the team has been settled on Kyle Shanahan.
It’s unclear what Mike Shanahan’s role would be, if he ends up with the 49ers. Regardless, the 49ers may have to reluctantly carve out a spot on the organizational chart for the father if they want to close the deal with the son, who has a tremendous amount of power over his next employer, if he chooses to use it.
Our 49ers beat writer Kevin Jones threw out the possibility of hiring both Mike and Kyle as the respective GM and head coach in November, but Mike’s name has not been mentioned since the 49ers’ GM search began in ernest after Baalke’s firing on New Year’s Day.
After working in the NFL for nearly three decades, Mike Shanahan has been out of football since being fired as the head coach of the Washington Redskins in 2013, where he worked with Kyle, the team’s offensive coordinator. Mike was the 49ers’ offensive coordinator from 1992-1994. He has never held a job in an NFL front office.
Kyle is reportedly scheduled to meet with the 49ers final two GM candidates, Cardinals VP of player personnel Terry McDonough and Vikings assistant GM George Paton, on Saturday, in an attempt to see who he connects best with. If Florio’s sources are indeed correct, Shanahan could tell the 49ers that he’s not interested in working with either, leaving the 49ers in a position to either hire the person Kyle wants, or scramble to find another potential head coaching candidate.
Its also possible that Mike may not want a GM job per say, but a different position within the front office. Regardless, considering the position York and Co. find themselves in, it’s hard to imagine any scenario where they don’t move heaven and Earth to give Kyle whatever he desires.