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During the Denver Broncos' joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers this week, a familiar figure made an appearance on the practice fields at Levi's Stadium. Mike Shanahan, the former Broncos head coach, was there to support his son Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers. While the elder Shanahan was there to support his son, he still had his eye on Denver's quarterback, Bo Nix.
“Watching him play and how he handles himself, I'm a big fan of his,” Shanahan, the legendary coach that led the Broncos to two Super Bowl championships, gushed to Mike Klis of 9News Denver. “I met him for the first time yesterday. What a class act, and what a great football player. A lot of accolades have been cast his way and rightfully so.”
Praise for Bo Nix coming from Shanahan coaching tree
For a coach who spent nearly four decades in the NFL and is widely regarded as the best head coach in Broncos history, Shanahan's endorsement of Nix carries some serious weight.
When asked what specifically impresses him about Nix, Shanahan couldn't pick just one thing.
“Everything, really,” Shanahan said. “How he handles himself. You're always hoping a quarterback is going to handle himself in the right way when he's successful. He's been very successful, and how he's played has been very impressive, as well.”
The admiration for Denver's young quarterback extends throughout the Shanahan family. Kyle, who has built his own reputation as one of the NFL's best offensive minds and currently serves as the 49ers' head coach, was equally complimentary of Nix.
According to the younger Shanahan, the Nix impressed the 49ers as a prospect coming out of college.
“Huge fan of him. We loved him coming out of college,” Shanahan said. “And I thought what he did last year was unbelievable, but anytime you’ve got a quarterback with a big arm who's very mobile, made of the right stuff, extremely tough, I mean, they got a real good one.”
Coming from the Shanahan coaching tree, a family often associated with offensive innovation and quarterback development, such glowing reviews bode well for Nix as he pushes to establish himself as Denver's franchise quarterback.
