Tag: Kyle Shanahan

Kyle Shanahan explains how he’ll reinvent 49ers offense in offseason

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan won’t make major changes to his offense, but their will be some.

The San Francisco 49ers need to do something different offensively.

Last season they were one of the best outfits in the NFL. This season they’ve sputtered on that side of the ball. Injuries certainly played a role, but it doesn’t appear that whatever the 49ers have been doing offensively can work without players like Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk available and playing at a high level.

Those struggles, including 10 points in each of Week 12 and 13, followed by a six-point performance in Week 15, have led to questions about the viability of Shanahan’s offense as presently constructed. Shanahan said any adaptations to his offense will be based on what’s best for the team’s personnel.

“That’s what you try to do every single week,” Shanahan said. “That’s what you try to always do. But it’s kind of like the other question when talking about schemes, you don’t just say, ‘Hey, today I’m going to try to run the wishbone offense and stuff.’ It’s what are the players that you have, what do you believe in and what gives those guys the best chance to succeed? For a little bit here, we almost went with the running quarterback, possibly with [Dallas Cowboys QB] Trey [Lance]. You saw a different offense when he got out there.

“You see different things. You’ve got to adjust your players. I know what I want to do. I think we’ve got the players here to do that stuff. But reinventing yourself as you ask, I did that having a mustache this offseason for a little bit. That’s how I would look at that. And I’m totally joking, but it’s when it comes to football, football’s, that’s why I think coaches get a little too much credit too when a really good scheme is putting the players that you have in the best chance they have to max out and do their best. That’s what we’re gonna always try to do. The scheme will change with that.”

It stands to reason in 2025 we’ll see less reliance on McCaffrey given the team’s issues scoring in the red zone without him this season. There’s also likely to be an adjustment to a version of Samuel that hasn’t been able to take over games via screen passes and designed runs.

Whatever changes need to be made on offense for the 49ers, adapting isn’t something new to Shanahan.

“When I got in the league, you see certain things and I ran a certain offense at Houston when I was there, went to Washington, tried to do a real similar offense and it was totally different personnel and I realized I couldn’t run that same thing and I had to adjust and each year was different,” Shanahan said. “Then we got [Washington Commanders former QB] Robert [Griffin III] in there, which was a quarterback who had a running element, then I had to do stuff that I’d never done before. Not because you’re just reinventing yourself or trying to change the league because you’re trying to figure out what can help the guys that you have be successful. And that can change all the time depending on the player’s skillset.

“But, I’d say as a coach that if you want to make it in this league and you want to have some success in this league you better be able to adjust to anything or you’re only going to be successful when you have the perfect situations.”

How Shanahan tweaks his offense to whatever his personnel is after the offseason will be the greatest factor in determining whether the 49ers are able to open another Super Bowl window.

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49ers have tough decisions to make with 2 star free agents

San Francisco is weighing stardom vs. availability when evaluating LB Dre Greenlaw and S Talanoa Hufanga’s pending free agencies.

San Francisco will have a series of franchise-altering decisions to make when the 2025 offseason arrives.

Among those are what to do with pending defensive free agents in linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga.

Greenlaw has been a staple of San Francisco’s defense during his six seasons with the franchise. Alongside Fred Warner, Greenlaw has helped form one of the NFL’s best linebacking duos.

Even before his Achilles injury in Super Bowl LVIII that sidelined him until last Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, Greenlaw’s career has been hampered by nagging quad, groin, calf and hamstring injuries. Since being selected in the 2019 NFL draft, Greenlaw has missed 34 games.

The results speak for themselves, though. As ESPN’s Nick Wagoner shared, San Francisco’s defense limits opponents to 19.7 points per game and boasts a 44-19 record in its 63 regular season games with Greenlaw.

In the 34 games without Greenlaw, San Francisco is just 16-18 and allows 21.1 points per game.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2021 draft, Hufanga was a first-team All-Pro in the 2022 season. Hufanga has played in just four games this season and entered the year working his way back from a torn ACL in his right knee that ended his 2023 season in November of last year.

After returning from his ACL injury to begin the 2024 campaign, subsequent ankle and wrist injuries shelved him for most of this season.

On Wednesday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked how the team will weigh the duo’s respective star power against their availability when the offseason and their pending free agencies arrive.

“That goes into factoring everything. That’s what’s unfortunate. Nothing those two guys can do differently about it. But those are two of the better players I’ve been around and two of the better players on our team and two of the main reasons we’ve had the success here we’ve had. So, hopefully we can do everything we can to work out keeping them here because they’re as much of examples of 49ers as anyone I can think of,” Shanahan said.

It’s clear that Shanahan has an affinity for the duo and would like to keep both Greenlaw and Hufanga around.

Shanahan wasn’t surprised that both stepped right in and played well in their respective returns either.

“That’s what they’ve done the other times. One of the best games I’ve seen a linebacker play is, I think ’21, when Dre played in Week One versus Detroit and didn’t come back until Week 17 versus the Rams. We needed that game to go to the playoffs and that was the first time I’ve seen someone miss 16 games and come back and play at that level. So it doesn’t surprise me at all,” Shanahan said of Greenlaw.

“Huf’s, he came back earlier in this year and with having a wrist injury and stuff, he’s been able to get ready for this opportunity a little bit more than coming off his ACL that he had before that. So Huf’s been chomping at the
bit to get back and he was more ready for that moment.”

In his season debut, Greenlaw played just 30 defensive snaps before exiting with knee and Achilles soreness, but he racked up a quick eight tackles and the 49ers limited the Rams to just 12 points.

Hufanga tallied five tackles in a 38-13 blowout win over the Chicago Bears in Week 14. San Francisco held Chicago to just four yards of first-half offense in that victory over the Bears, which was the lowest mark of any NFL offense in a first half this season.

Then, against the Rams last week, Hufanga totaled eight tackles and 1.5 stuffs.

Even with possible free agency looming, Shanahan said that pair can help provide an energy to the 49ers’ locker room during these final three games of the season.

“A ton. I think you guys can see how, I think Huf going out there the Sunday before, and I think our safeties have played pretty good this year too, but just Huf the person and his communication and just having him out there I think was very inspiring.

“And then adding Dre the next week, or four days later, one, how good of a player he is and how big of a difference he makes just from that, but the style of how he plays really adds to our defense and makes everyone else better around him, not just adding a good player,” Shanahan said.

San Francisco (6-8) hopes that the spark from that duo can roll on into this week when the 49ers travel to Miami (6-8) to battle the Dolphins from Hard Rock Stadium. Kickoff on Sunday is set for 1:25 p.m. PT.

1 big offensive adjustment 49ers must make in final 3 games of 2024 season

It’s Ricky Pearsall time.

With the postseason all but out of their grasp, the San Francisco 49ers can now start operating with the 2025 season in mind.

That doesn’t mean the dreaded ‘tank’ where the team tries losing games to improve its draft position. It does mean they should be looking to see exactly what they have with some of the players on their roster in the final three games.

One key adjustment they need to make while turning their sights toward 2025 and beyond is getting first-round wide receiver Ricky Pearsall more involved in the offense.

Pearsall this season has 24 targets in eight games, but after earning six targets in Week 10, he has only nine targets in the five games since. Overall he’s turned his opportunities into 13 catches for 153 yards and one touchdown.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Wednesday told reporters he’s happy with the rookie now that he’s getting a regular chance to play and practice.

“I think Ricky’s doing a hell of a job,” Shanahan said. “I know everyone talks about the gunshot wound, but what people don’t realize is, I think I said a couple weeks ago, but he only had three practices before that gunshot wound. He missed all OTAs and all of training camp and then to get that gunshot basically went from Florida to us halfway through the season. So, I thought he did a hell of a job coming back from that, trying to learn and practice as he goes. He’s been banged up a little bit, started in Green Bay. I think he’s fought through that here the last couple weeks. I thought he did some real good stuff on tape last week. He had a couple big catches. I think he’s going the right direction and hope it keeps improving here these next three games.”

One way to ensure he’s improving is trying to get him the ball more often. In that Week 10 game where he had six targets, Pearsall hauled in four of them for 73 yards and a touchdown. His absence from the offense may just be a result of the injury issues Shanahan mentioned, but that’s something they need to resolve before the season ends.

Pearsall is a key piece of their receiving corps in the future and ironing out a more accurate trajectory for his immediate future will play a significant role in how the 49ers should operate in the offseason.

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Falcons QB change may alter 49ers QB plans in offseason

Hear us out…

The Atlanta Falcons are making a change under center that could have a ripple effect that reaches the West Coast.

According to Falcons team reporter Tori McElhaney, Atlanta is benching starting quarterback Kirk Cousins and moving rookie signal caller Michael Penix Jr. into the starting lineup.

Benching Cousins with three weeks to go in the 2024 season could be a sign that Atlanta plans to hand the keys to Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, long-term. If Penix acquits himself well as the team’s starter, the Falcons could part ways with Cousins in the offseason, making the 36-year-old a free agent for the second consecutive year.

It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers kicked the tires on Cousins as a backup in that scenario.

Cousins isn’t the same player he was when head coach Kyle Shanahan had him lined up to be a high-priced free agent signing in 2018. The four-time Pro Bowler is in the midst of his worst season as a pro after signing a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in the offseason. He may still get a starter-level contract in free agency, but his numbers and play this season have shown his best years are likely behind him.

If his season is over he’ll have thrown 18 touchdowns with 16 interceptions, and averaged 7.7 yards per attempt with an 88.6 QB rating – his worst mark since becoming a full-time starter. While those numbers aren’t good, it’s not likely we see Cousins out of the league in 2025 even if the Falcons do let him go.

San Francisco appears to be all-in on Brock Purdy as a franchise QB which is why Cousins wouldn’t likely be on the table as a starter even if he was a free agent coming off a good year. However, both 49ers backup QBs, Brandon Allen and Josh Dobbs, are set to hit free agency after the season and San Francisco will need to find a No. 2 behind Purdy.

If head coach Kyle Shanahan believes Cousins is still capable of operating an NFL offense, it would make sense to see if Cousins is available for backup QB money. Having a viable veteran backup who can step in and potentially win a game if Purdy is unavailable would be a valuable piece for a team that should be looking to revamp its depth in the offseason.

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Report clarifies Kyle Shanahan’s future with 49ers after rough year

No head coaching search for the 49ers this offseason.

The San Francisco 49ers’ 2024 season has been a disaster in most conceivable facets.

A 6-8 start and a near certain absence from the postseason for the first time since 2020 led some fans to clamor for Shanahan’s ouster. While Shanahan deserves at least some of the blame for San Francisco’s rough year, the Athletic’s Dianna Russini on Saturday reported the 49ers aren’t going to be searching for a new head coach this offseason.

Via the Athletic:

And what about Kyle Shanahan? Despite this being the Niners’ worst season since 2020, Shanahan, in his eighth season with San Francisco, isn’t going anywhere. The mutual commitment between coach and franchise remains. Ignore all the rumors. The organization fully believes in his ability to lead the team forward, even after a rough year.

Given some of the struggles the 49ers had in the post-Jim Harbaugh era, it’s not a shock that ownership would aim to avoid another coaching search for as long as possible.

Harbaugh went to three straight NFC championship games and a Super Bowl before getting fired following some internal turmoil and an 8-8 season. In the two years after that the 49ers had two head coaches who went a combined 7-25.

Shanahan stepped in and in Year 1 posted a better record than either of the previous two coaches at 6-10, and in Year 3 the team was in the Super Bowl.

2024 was a mess, to be sure, but there’s a long enough track record that it makes sense to continue betting on Shanahan. Moving on from him one year removed from a run of three consecutive NFC title games and a Super Bowl could set the organization back years.

They made that mistake once already, and it doesn’t sound like they’re keen to make it again.

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Kyle Shanahan, 49ers expecting to part with LB De’Vondre Campbell

Kyle Shanahan confirmed on Friday that the 49ers are expecting to part with LB De’Vondre Campbell.

In a Friday conference call, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that the franchise is planning to part with linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.

“We’re working through the semantics of exactly how to deal with it, but you guys heard from me last night, you guys heard from our players. His actions from the game, it’s not something you do to your team or your teammates and still expect to be a part of our team.

“We’re working through exactly the semantics of it right now, but we’ll handle the situation appropriately,” Shanahan said of Campbell.

Despite suiting up, Campbell refused to enter the 49ers’ 12-6 loss against the Rams on Thursday night. Instead, Campbell walked off the field in the fourth quarter with his helmet in hand and a towel draped over his head.

Those actions sparked backlash from Campbell’s teammates. 49ers tight end George Kittle ripped into Campbell and San Francisco cornerback Charvarius Ward said he expects Campbell to be cut soon.

Shanahan clarified that Campbell left the field of his own accord, too.

“I’m not sure exactly what led to him leaving the field, but once I found out he wasn’t playing, I moved on to people who we could count on,” Shanahan said.

Campbell abandoned the 49ers in a precarious spot. San Francisco linebackers Dee Winters and Dre Greenlaw had both exited the Rams game with injuries.

Reporters also wondered why Campbell didn’t go into the contest earlier on in the night when fellow 49ers linebacker Fred Warner came off the field for a snap.

“Because he wasn’t by the teammates at all and was distant from everyone. I didn’t know this until the third quarter when Dre came out and Dee went in. Then, I got on the defensive headset and asked what was going on and then the coaches told me.

“Then, I addressed De’Vondre and found out. It was pretty simple to see how he was and then we moved on with our lives after that,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan was also asked for his assessment on how Campbell had played and how he had fit in with the 49ers prior to his actions against the Rams on Thursday night.

“We were needing a starting caliber linebacker to fill in for Dre until he could get back. We didn’t know how long that would be. I thought he had some ups and downs throughout the year. I thought he started off slow. I thought he got more used to our defense and how we expected people to play and I thought he improved throughout the year,” Shanahan said.

Campbell started 12 of the 49ers’ first 13 games. The 6-foot-4, 232 pound linebacker played 90% of San Francisco’s defensive snaps with 79 tackles, including three for loss, and a pair of passes defended.

49ers update injury report day after loss vs. Rams

Kyle Shanahan provided next-day injury updates on linebackers Dee Winters and Dre Greenlaw and safety Ji’Ayir Brown.

The San Francisco 49ers (6-8) fell on Thursday night against NFC West rival Los Angeles, 12-6.

Along the way, linebackers Dee Winters and Dre Greenlaw and safety Ji’Ayir Brown exited with injuries.

On Friday, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan updated that trio’s status on a conference call with reporters.

“Alright guys, injuries from the game. Ji’Ayir Brown had a groin, checked out pretty good, though. He’ll be day-to-day. Dee Winters, same thing with his neck. He’ll be day-to-day also. Greenlaw with his Achilles, knee, checked out good, so he’s just dealing with some soreness. He should be good going forward. He’ll be day-to-day. And that’s it from the game,” Shanahan said.

It’s good news across the board for the 49ers with Brown, Winters and Greenlaw.

Another welcome sight was defensive end Nick Bosa remaining healthy and off the latest injury report. Bosa had missed three games with hip and oblique injuries before returning and playing 47 snaps against the Rams.

“Yeah, no report of anything today, so it was awesome to get Nick back and he really helped us. It was a good sign that they didn’t tell me about anything today,” Shanahan said of Bosa.

The 49ers also updated the status of left tackle Trent Williams.

“He’s trying to get back. This has been a frustrating injury for him. It hasn’t healed like he or we would like. Hopefully, having these 10 more days before our next game, hopefully that gives a better chance.

“Trent’s doing everything he can to get back, but he is injured. With the injury, there is a chance he will get back, but it has to start recovering and it’s been a lot slower than anticipated,” Shanahan said.

Williams has missed four consecutive games with his ankle injury.

The 49ers close their 2024 season with games at Miami on Dec. 22, versus Detroit on Dec. 30 and at Arizona on Jan. 5.

Kyle Shanahan responds to Deebo Samuel tweet about ‘not getting the ball!!!!!!!’

Deebo Samuel tweeted. Kyle Shanahan responded.

It looked like something may have been amiss in the San Francisco 49ers locker room Monday when wide receiver Deebo Samuel took to the internet to respond to the critiques of his 2024 season.

Samuel, who is having the least productive seasons of his career, wrote in a since-deleted post on Twitter (currently X), “Not struggling at all just not getting the ball!!!!!!! 🤷🏾‍♂️.”

That would appear to be a direct call out of either the offensive play calling or quarterback Brock Purdy, but Samuel clarified in another post that he wasn’t calling out anyone on the team. This one is still up on the social media site:

Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the post in his Tuesday press conference, and his answer alleviated some of the concerns that there might be some dissension in the 49ers locker room.

“Yeah, we’d always love things to stay in-house,” Shanahan said. “That’s probably why I don’t mess with social media. I’m sure I’d get worked up and stuff too if I was reading stuff about myself all the time. And then I’d maybe make a tweet or something too. I mean is it a distraction in our building? No. I’ve got to answer questions about, it’s the first time I’ve talked about it is right here. But Deebo and I see each other every day and talk about stuff every day. So my advice is to not let the outside frustrate you, because just answering those things isn’t going to help you in any way. Usually only hurts you. But as far as like what we deal with and our relationships and our team, it’s water under the bridge.”

The 49ers would love to see Samuel return to form Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams. They may be down to their fourth-string running back so a huge game from the former All-Pro would give San Francisco a much-needed lift against a good NFC West club.

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49ers may have new starting safety duo after All-Pro returns

The 49ers rolled out a new starting safeties combination on Sunday.

The San Francisco 49ers throttled the Chicago Bears on Sunday, 38-13.

After back-to-back forgettable defensive performances in losses at the Green Bay Packers and at the Buffalo Bills, the 49ers returned home to Levi’s Stadium and put together a first-half performance for the ages.

San Francisco limited Chicago to four yards of total offense and one first down in the first half. Chicago’s four yards of offense were the fewest by any NFL team in a first half this season, while San Francisco’s 319 yards of offense were the most of any NFL team in a first half this season.

The 315-yard margin was the highest by a 49ers team in any half over the past 40 seasons.

Part of the recipe to create that level of dominance was San Francisco’s new combination of starting safeties in fourth-year pro Talanoa Hufanga and in rookie Malik Mustapha.

After missing the past seven games with a right wrist injury, Hufanga returned against the Bears and registered five tackles. Meanwhile, Mustapha tallied five tackles of his own.

According to Pro Football Focus, Mustapha registered 45 defensive snaps and Hufanga totaled 39. Former starting safety Ji’Ayir Brown tallied 15 defensive snaps.

On Monday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan shared why he opted in favor of Mustapha over Brown.

“Just how Malik’s been playing. I think he’s been playing at a high level. He’s been one of the better players on our defense, I think, here over the last month or so. So it’s nothing against Tig. We still want Tig to be out there, but when we had to make a decision, we kept Mustapha out there,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan was also pleased with the way Hufanga jumped right back into the fold for the 49ers.

“I thought he did a real good job. Loved having Huf back. Even the first play of the game, for him to get in on that tackle. His communication, everything, just helping the defense get lined up and stuff is extremely good and it was a real good first game for him,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan made it clear that the decision to pair Hufanga and Mustapha wasn’t an indictment on Brown’s production.

“No, I think it’s the same as last year. I think Tig’s playing like a good starting safety. We just, Huf’s been our guy there and has done some big things when he’s been healthy, as everyone knows with Huf.

“And Huf had a great week of practice and we wanted to get him on the field and we had to choose one guy to come off. So, we thought Mustapha had earned that over his play the last month to stay out there and we’re good with our decision,” Shanahan said.

As San Francisco (6-7) navigates a short week before its Thursday night date versus the Los Angeles Rams (7-6), the 49ers are hoping for good injury news with the aforementioned Mustapha.

Mustapha was a limited participant with a chest and shoulder ailment in San Francisco’s initial injury report versus the Rams.

Kickoff against Los Angeles is set for 5:15 p.m. PT in Santa Clara, Calif., with the game set to air on Prime Video.

49ers still unsure if rookie RB can play vs. Rams after foot injury

Kyle Shanahan provided an injury update for the 49ers breakout rookie running back.

After a breakout performance in his first career start with the San Francisco 49ers, rookie running back Isaac Guerendo finished Sunday’s blowout win over the Chicago Bears on the sideline.

Guerendo exited the game with a foot injury. Guerendo went into the blue medical tent before heading back to the locker room at Levi’s Stadium. Guerendo was later listed as questionable to return with a foot injury.

On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan provided an update to the rookie’s injury on a conference call with members of the media. Shanahan told reporters that Guerendo suffered a foot sprain on Sunday against the Bears. Shanahan did not provide a status update on his availability for Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams. Shanahan said Guerendo will continue to be evaluated as the week goes on.

With both Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason on the injured reserve, Guerendo served as the starting rusher in the backfield alongside Brock Purdy on Sunday against the Bears.

Guerendo impressed, rushing for 78 yards on 15 carries. The former Louisville Cardinal grabbed a pair of catches for 50 yards, including an impressive 30-yard reception to set up a touchdown run. Guerendo added two touchdowns against the Bears.

The 49ers will now have a short week before welcoming the division rival Los Angeles Rams to the Bay Area on Thursday night in a key game for the NFC West playoff race.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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