The San Francisco 49ers have been through some great highs and deep lows under head coach Kyle Shanahan, reaching the Super Bowl twice, the NFC Championship four times, while winning six games or fewer
three times.
Usually, with such trends, a coach will have been a Coach of the Year candidate, especially with seasons of 12 and 13 wins. But, when the 49ers went 13-3 in 2019 after a 4-12 season in 2018, Shanahan was second in Coach of the Year voting behind John Harbaugh, whose Baltimore Ravens went 14-2 after a 10-6 season the year prior.
Then, after leading the 49ers to 13 wins in 2022, despite dealing with two separate quarterback injuries, Shanahan once again came second in the award voting, this time losing to New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll. Daboll had taken the Giants to the playoffs with nine wins in his first season at the helm.
The 49ers remained a top contender in 2023, winning 12 games en route to the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but Shanahan was an afterthought in the Coach of the Year conversation, placing fifth in the voting, with Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski winning his second Coach of the Year award.
Now, in 2025, Shanahan could have another opportunity to finally win the award, with his team coming off a 6-11 season. Thus far, the 49ers are 4-1, despite facing a plethora of injuries to starters, including quarterback Brock Purdy. And yet, they’ve found a way to win close games, with all five of their outcomes being one-score games so far.
Will Shanahan finally win a Coach of the Year award?
Last week, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell did his NFL quarter-season awards, listing a Top 3 for every NFL award. At the time, the 49ers were 3-1 heading into the Thursday Night game with the Los Angeles Rams. And interestingly, Shanahan’s name did not crack the list for the coaching award.
Instead, the top three were Los Angeles’s Sean McVay (No. 3), Indianapolis’s Shane Steichen, and Detroit’s Dan Campbell.
What did Barnwell use to grade the coaches?
“Coach of the Year often becomes the award honoring the guy whose team most exceeds the preseason expectations, which is why we end up with situations where Brian Daboll and Matt Nagy have as many Coach of the Year awards as Andy Reid — and more than Mike Tomlin,” Barnwell wrote. “There’s real merit in taking a bad team to the postseason, but Daboll’s Giants were built on their performance in one-score games, which didn’t stick. Nagy’s Bears thrived because of their dominant defense, which was overseen by Vic Fangio; once the vaunted defensive coordinator left, Nagy suddenly wasn’t the best coach in football.
“I try to lean toward sustainability and coaches who are doing great work on their preferred side of the ball as part of this award. Take Liam Coen, who will be a candidate for this after going 3-1. Coen has done great work rebuilding Jacksonville’s run game, but the Jags have been wildly inconsistent on offense, ranking 20th in EPA per play. They’ve struggled to line up, leading to unnecessary timeouts and delay of game calls, and lead the league with 23 offensive penalties. The driving force for the Jags has been their defense, which should be credited more to Anthony Campanile than the coach.
“Likewise, can we feel great about the two undefeated coaches? Sean McDermott’s Bills have played an easy schedule after the Ravens game and been driven by the Josh Allen-led offense. Their defense, which is McDermott’s focus, ranks 18th in EPA per play. And Nick Sirianni’s Eagles keep winning, which has to mean something, but it feels as though even Eagles fans don’t want to credit their coach for what has been a remarkable run of sustained success.”
Steichen certainly deserves to be in the voting for how the Colts have started with quarterback Daniel Jones at the helm. But, with Week 4 in mind, Shanahan now absolutely has to be a top candidate for the award, finding a way to win games that his team should not be winning. He’s having another elite year as a playcaller for both of his quarterbacks, and the 49ers are tied for the best record in the NFL one year after going 6-11.
Will Shanahan ultimately win the award? I’m not sure this early in the season. But, all the ingredients are there for him to pick up his first Coach of the Year award in 2025.
