With the NFL season coming to a close, many teams are already deep into their offseasons. Scouts are reviewing game film of college players in preparation for the draft and head coach and general manager searches are underway. One team making many early offseason moves is the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers, who were in the Super Bowl just four years ago, have suffered an absolute organizational collapse. Some like to pin this drastic fall to the league’s basement on former general manager Trent Baalke, while some blame CEO Jed York. But whether it’s Jim Harbaugh being run out of town, the Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick controversy, making Jim Tomsula “the fall guy” in 2015 or the failed Chip Kelly experiment in 2016, it’s easy to see that the 49ers have had many problems since Super Bowl XLVII.
As the clock ticked down on the 49ers season, whispers about a new coach were coming out of Santa Clara. Two of their top targets were Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. These two offensive coordinators not only orchestrated two of the top offenses in the NFL and helped get their teams to the Super Bowl, but they’re also two of the youngest, most intelligent and innovative offensive minds in all of football. McDaniels decided he rather stay in Foxborough, while Shanahan plans to leave Atlanta for the Bay Area. Both of these decisions were perfect for everyone involved, and here’s why.
The 49ers now have a coach who in the past has made Matt Schaub into a Pro Bowl quarterback (2009) and Robert Griffin III into rookie of the year (2012) over Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson. We have yet to see another coach get that level of production from Schaub or Griffin. This point can be made with Shanahan’s time in Atlanta. Shanahan has elevated Matt Ryan from a Pro Bowl quarterback to an MVP quarterback.
No question that Shanahan will have his work cut out for him in San Francisco, who have ranked 31st in offense in the last two seasons. Colin Kaepernick has shown signs of promise in the past, but Shanahan will likely vie for a quarterback with one of San Francisco’s early round draft picks. Between Shanahan and John Lynch, the 49ers new general manager, San Francisco seems to be building continuity by moving forward with a young staff that is predicated on rebuilding the culture of the organization.
That being said, Shanahan became one of 32 head coaches in the league and will likely have a lot of say in the organization and how it moves forward from here, but McDaniels is in a much better position and currently holds the second best coaching position in the NFL. With the exception of the Patriots head coaching position, which has been held down by Bill Belichick since 2000 and likely will be until he decides to stop coaching, being the offensive coordinator for the Patriots is the best coaching position in football.
Think about it. It’s hard to beat the coaching position McDaniels finds himself in. First, he understands the organization’s already instilled culture, and doesn’t have to try and bring that to a new locker room. Second, you have Tom Brady, perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time, under center for your offense. Combine those with working under the greatest coaching mind of this generation in Belichick, and the answer is clear: McDaniels should continue to stay with the Patriots even beyond the Brady and Belichick era.
With 14 of his 17 years in the NFL coming with the Patriots organization, it is safe to say McDaniels and his family have planted roots in New England. Most importantly, Belichick and owner Robert Kraft have placed their trust in him. Players and coaches alike who don’t fit into the “Patriot Way” are never around long, so don’t think for a second that the organization will move on from McDaniels anytime soon. With the end of Brady’s (39 years old) and Belichick’s (64 years old) careers approaching much more quickly then it may appear, or more quickly than Patriots fans would like to believe, McDaniels is the Patriots’ future.
Don’t be surprised if he is one of the few who will, or does, know Brady and Belichick’s timeline for retirement. If he does, he seems to have positioned himself in line to continue this historic run without Brady and Belichick as the next head coach of the New England Patriots.
Great article, spot on. I wondered if McDabiels withdrew his name to stay out for the long haul. It was tough to see him go to Denver, hope you are correct that his future remains in Mew England.