In one year, the San Francisco 49ers were able to turn their team around, with third-year head coach Kyle Shanahan leading the NFC West club to a 13-3 record during the 2019 NFL regular season—good for the No. 1 seed in the conference. After defeating the vaunted Green Bay Packers at home on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game, the 49ers won a berth to Super Bowl LIV in Miami, Florida, two weeks from now. Should the Niners win the big game, miraculously, Shanahan would have a winning record as a head coach, including both regular season and playoff games.
Shanahan first arrived on the scene in the Bay Area during the 2017 season for the 49ers, going 6-10 as a rookie head coach. The team regressed the following year with franchise quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo sidelined for much of the season after tearing his ACL in Week 3. San Francisco finished 4-12 that year.
With two postseason victories in 2019-20, Shanahan's head-coaching record stands at 25-25 (.500), and winning the Super Bowl would mean more than a championship ring on his finger, it would make him a winning head coach heading into the bright future with the 49ers, too (h/t Reddit u/Not_Evil_).
The 49ers trounced the Minnesota Vikings during the NFC Divisional Round last week before cruising to a relatively drama-free victory over Aaron Rodgers and the No. 2 Packers yesterday, clinching a spot to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl two weeks from now. While the 49ers have had success in the big game over their franchise history, reaching the Super Bowl as recently as seven years ago under then-head coach Jim Harbaugh, the Kansas City Chiefs, their AFC opponent, will only be making their second appearance at this stage.
The Chiefs won the pre-merger Super Bowl IV fifty years ago—and Shanahan and the 49ers are trying to prevent Patrick Mahomes and company from winning a title along with getting Shanahan over .500.
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