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The San Francisco 49ers were lost after cutting ties with head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2014. The franchise had gone so long without a locker room igniter before the current Michigan program leader arrived and then immediately plunged back into a period of darkness after his exit. A strong but different voice was needed again.
49ers great and retired offensive tackle Joe Staley knew the right man to build this fragmented organization back up after Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly left it in disarray. During the 2017 head coaching search, he had his eyes firmly set on whom he considers one of the game's next innovators, Kyle Shanahan.
“I was like, ‘You have to make this happen,'” Staley said on Mojobreak Meida podcast, per NBC Sports' Angelina Martin, when recalling what he told San Fran CEO Jed York. “‘Everything I’ve heard about from a player’s side, management side, he is the next big thing. He is an unbelievable coach, the way that he sees the game. You need to — whatever you can do — try to make this happen.'”
Regardless of how much sway Staley had with the Niners brass, fans should be elated that his premonition has largely come true. The team has been in the NFC Championship the last two years and has the roster to be right back in the mix next season. Usually beset by quarterback uncertainty and injuries, Shanahan has had to implement creative and effective offensive schemes that best utilizes his versatile athletes like Deebo Samuel and now Christian McCaffrey.
Their present success and seemingly bright future,- assuming they lock down their long-term signal caller situation– might not be possible had the six-time Pro Bowler Joe Staley not advocated for Shanahan to be the next 49ers head coach. Before he retired a lifetime Niner after the 2019-20 season, he got to see all of his faith validated with a Super Bowl trip and near victory against the Kansas City Chiefs.
He believes that this is only the beginning with this current regime manning the ship. “As long as they’re there, [the 49ers are] going to be unbelievable,” Staley said.
