The big talk of the NFL coaching search was where Robert Saleh, defensive coordinator of the SF 49ers, would end up taking a head coaching job. He was a top candidate for many of the vacancies available in the league.
It was also rumored wherever Saleh went, he would likely take one of the offensive assistants from the Niners with him to be his offensive coordinator. One of either passing-game coordinator Mike LaFleur or run-game coordinator Mike McDaniel would go with Saleh.
When Saleh accepted the offer from the New York Jets, he opted to take LaFleur with him to be his offensive coordinator. McDaniel, on the other hand, received a promotion in-house to become the offensive coordinator for San Francisco.
The offensive coordinator duties for the SF 49ers were filled by head coach Kyle Shanahan from 2017 to 2020. But now McDaniel will jump into playcalling duties for the 2021 season and take his first stab at running an offense.
While LaFleur had a well-known name due to his brother, Matt, being the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, McDaniel had a bit more mystique surrounding him. He didn’t have an NFL career prior to coaching like his counterpart, DeMeco Ryans, on the defensive side either.
The 37-year-old Greeley, Colorado native, McDaniel, was one of the more quiet offensive assistants on the team, and not too much was known and circulated about him. So let’s take a look at three things all SF 49ers fans should know about the new offensive coordinator.
No. 3: Friends with Dan Soder
As mentioned, Mike McDaniel is a native of Greeley, Colorado. Due to his upbringing, he was a devoted Denver Broncos fan. And as legend would have it, he attended many Broncos training camps in his youth.
He also happened to grow up with comedian Dan Soder. Although Soder grew up in Colorado, in a complete coincidence to this situation, he is a lifelong SF 49ers fan due to the fact his father is from the Bay Area.
Back in August, Soder was on The Lefkoe Show and he told Adam Lefkoe some great stories about growing up with McDaniel. Most notably that McDaniel was an absolute beast at Tecmo Bowl, and that when staying over at McDaniel’s house on weekends, they’d wake up at 8:00 a.m. on Sundays to watch NFL Primetime.
The best part of that story is hearing how Soder and McDaniel remain friends to this day. And also how excited Soder got in 2017 to know his childhood friend would be coaching his favorite team.
It also serves as quite an inspiration to know how dedicated McDaniel was to football even from a young age, and how and he accomplished his goal of making it to the NFL.
No. 2: 10 Years with SF 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan
Mike McDaniel has coached alongside head coach Kyle Shanahan for the better part of the last decade. They first joined forces in 2008 on the Houston Texans. Shanahan was the offensive coordinator and McDaniel was an offensive assistant.
In the 2008 season, they coached up a potent offense on the Texans. Wide receiver Andre Johnson led the league in yards receiving with 1, 575 yards. The team was the fourth-best passing offense with 4,267 total yards.
The two would again join forces as coordinator and assistant from 2011 to 2013 on the Washington Football Team. In 2012, the two would help lead Washington to the playoffs with another explosive offense. The team would have a league-best 2,709 yards rushing with a majority of that coming from rookie running back Alfred Morris.
Rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III would also end up winning Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Washington would be ranked fourth in the league on offense.
The duo of Shanahan and McDaniel would also make coaching stops on the Cleveland Browns in 2014 and the Atlanta Falcons from 2015 to 2016. In 2016 they would coach the Falcons to the league’s best offense, quarterback Matt Ryan to an MVP award and make it to the Super Bowl.
In 2017 they would make their way to the SF 49ers together, and the rest is history.
No. 1: Started in Denver
As discussed, Mike McDaniel is a native of Colorado, and his childhood team was the Broncos. That franchise also happened to be the team that gave him his start in coaching in 2005.
McDaniel attended Yale University where he played wide receiver and upon completing his college career, got hired as an intern by Kyle Shanahan’s father, and then head coach for the Broncos, Mike Shanahan.
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He must’ve made a massive impact in that one season on Gary Kubiak, the offensive coordinator of the Broncos at the time. Because when Kubiak got hired as Houston’s head coach in 2006, he took McDaniel along with him as an offensive assistant.
The journey has been a long and winding one for McDaniel. From Colorado to the Ivy Leagues to the Bay Area. He’s had many stops in between and seen all the ups and the downs. He has seen losing seasons, playoff runs and multiple trips to the Super Bowl.
The next step for him as a coach is to win a Super Bowl, which he will hopefully be able to achieve as the new offensive coordinator of the SF 49ers.
Then, of course, the pinnacle for him would be receiving a head coaching position down the road, which he is certainly on track for.