Kyle Then and Now

Shanahan has always been more of an offensive coordinator than an authentic head coach, and that worked fine when he had Saleh or Ryans running the defense like the future head coaches they are. But now, with a rookie defensive coordinator and a special teams coach in shambles, the cracks are showing. The Niners have lost talent everywhere—players, coaches, even the front office—and the team looks exhausted after years of brutal, relentless football; since 2021, they've played the most football games second only to Kansas City, and the past two seasons they've had historically savage negative rest differentials. Injuries are piling up, gifted and diligent rookies are hitting the wall, and Shanahan’s high-difficulty play-calling is asking way too much of a team running on fumes and disorder.

Brock Purdy is surpassing standards —throwing into tight windows, scrambling when plays break down [for more, see JT O'Sullivan's QB School, a weekly, play-by-play analysis of Purdy’s performance]—but Shanahan’s overcomplicated schemes demand perfection every play. (It’s like asking a Tool cover band to crush a 12-song set with zero slip-ups. It’s just not realistic.) This team needs simpler, rhythm-building play calls that let the talent shine without constantly forcing everyone to be flawless. Give the players a chance to settle in, sustain drives, and make dynamic and impactful plays stemming from their overflowing skills, talent, and experience without constantly fighting fatigue and chaos.

If Shanahan wants to salvage this season, he’s got to simplify the game plan and fully embrace his role as a holistic head coach. That means focusing on the fundamentals: discipline, execution, toughness, situational smarts, and teamwork. He’s got to rally the whole squad—coaches and players alike—to believe and breathe those core principles. If he can’t, the Niners might not make a deep playoff run or even make it at all.

Long-term, Shanahan needs to bring in a killer defensive coordinator who can again free him up to focus on offense without the rest of the team falling apart. Let’s hope he figures it out for the Faithful's sake—because this team has too much talent to waste.