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Is it really Super Bowl-or-bust for the San Francisco 49ers?
According to Mike Florio's interpretations of Kyle Shanahan's comments during the State of the Franchise event, the answer was yes. The 49ers head coach, however, fired back to set the record straight.
Speaking on the Chris Simms Unbottoned podcast (per 49ers Webzone), Shanahan commented directly to Floria's criticism, while at the same time understanding that sports personalities need things to talk about.
For what it's worth, the 40-year-old head coach also joked about how long it's been since he's been on Simms' show.
Article Continues Below“That's why it's taken you 167 podcasts to get me back on because I know Florio is going to find something on here,” Shanahan half-joked with Simms. “And he's going to be like, ‘Oh, Kyle is only worried about this.' Whatever. I don't get mad at anyone because you guys need content. But that's just why it's hard to talk. Man, we were a couple of plays short of the Super Bowl (win). What do people expect our expectations to be? That's what it is. No, I don't want to say that because someone like Florio might make a headline that makes me look like a d—chebag for [saying] something like that.”
Shanahan paused before mentioning that, while yes the 49ers ideally want to get back to the Super Bowl, he understands that the road is a long one, especially for them.
“Hell yeah, we feel like that,” the 49ers coach added. “But if we just think like that, and think we're just going to show up, we won't get to the playoffs. This league is too hard. No one has an easy way. The hardest years of my life, coaching, I feel have been the two years I've gone to a Super Bowl because you know you have a good team, and how much harder it gets each week the way teams are playing you. And how intense it is because you don't want to mess that up. This year will be so much harder. We can have a better team, and still not do what we did last year. And no one's more aware of that than myself. I've been around this sport way too long. But every time I answer a question, I'm not going to cover all that.”
Shanahan understands he can't please everyone, but he tried to clear up the controversy as best as he could. Yes, he feels like his team is good enough to get back to the Super Bowl; however, he also knows that nothing is given to you in the NFL and it will be a fight the whole season once again.
Whether or not the 49ers are able to win that fight again this season is still to be determined.
