Steve Young, a Hall of Fame quarterback, recently spoke with Bay Area radio station KNBR about the San Francisco 49ers. Young indicated that head coach Kyle Shanahan may need to reinvent himself after a disastrous 2024 season. Young’s comments focused on how defenders have reacted to Shanahan’s offensive ideas, suggesting that the coach look into new ways to negate opponents’ modifications to his play-calling.
Shanahan responded to this storyline in a lengthy statement during his media availability on Friday. “That’s what you try to do every week,” Shanahan explained. “That’s what you try to do all the time, but you don’t just say, ‘Hey, today I’m going to try the wishbone offense and stuff.'” What are your players, what do you believe in, and what provides them the best chance of success? “For a brief period of time, we considered using Trey [Lance] as the running quarterback. You noticed a different offensive when he got out there. You see several things. “You have to adjust to your players.”
The coach then added some humor to his response. “I know what I want to do,” Shanahan added. “I believe we have the players here to do such stuff. But, as you ask, I did some self-reinvention by growing a mustache during the winter. That’s how I would look at it. “And I’m completely joking, but when it comes to football, I believe coaches get a bit too much credit, too, because a truly strong strategy puts the players you have in the best position to max out and perform their best. And it is what we will always strive toward, and the system will evolve accordingly.”
Shanahan also understood the NFL’s ever-changing landscape and the need for coaches to adapt. “I 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,” according to Shanahan.
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