Former Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan will get the chance to coach his San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl this weekend, as they face the Kansas City Chiefs.
For Shanahan, it has been a meteoric rise since he was fired by the Redskins in 2013. After a number of OC jobs across the league, he now is at the top of the coaching pyramid in San Francisco, getting the job done with his own players that he wanted. However, a recent report came out that showed Shanahan may have desired a different quarterback to lead his team, one that he spent some time with in Washington.
Shanahan said this week that he was always interested in getting Kirk Cousins to come to play for him with the 49ers.
“It’s pretty well documented the relationship I had with Kirk,” Shanahan said, via NBC Sports Washington. “Just being in Washington and everything, I felt confident he wasn’t going to stay there.”
Shanahan and Cousins spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons together with the Redskins, where they were able to work closely together. The question arose after many asked Shanahan why he didn’t draft Patrick Mahomes with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The answer was partly because of Cousins’ upcoming availability.
“Any time you go into a season and know a franchise quarterback is going to be available the next year, it made me a lot more picky with what we were looking at,” Shanahan said.
Instead of getting Mahomes, the 49ers traded back to select DL Soloman Thomas and traded for Jimmy Garoppolo the following year. Cousins went on to sign a deal with the Minnesota Vikings after being franchised tagged for his final two seasons in Washington.
All in all, the decision seemed to work out pretty well for Shanahan and his team, as he’s vying for a Super Bowl title. If he could do it all over again, my guess is that he wouldn’t change a thing.
