4 head coaches 49ers ‘could’ want to replace Kyle Shanahan

It’s not going to happen. But in the hypothetical world of the 49ers firing Kyle Shanahan this season, these four replacements make some sense.

Please, repeat after me: “The San Francisco 49ers aren’t going to fire head coach Kyle Shanahan.”

Now, say it again. And again. Do this a few times before you scroll onward to the comments section and say, “this will never happen.”

CEO Jed York would be silly to pull the trigger. Especially after all the strife following his “mutual” dismissal of former head coach Jim Harbaugh following 2014 and the back-to-back embarrassment years in 2015 and 2016 between coaches Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly, respectively.

If York wants that reputation of a quick-trigger executive when it comes to his coaching staff again, fine, pull the plug on Shanahan.

That said, yes, Shanahan deserves a good deal of criticism for how the 2021 season has panned out. There’s a quarterback controversy between Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance that hasn’t been handled well, Shanahan has made some questionable draft and roster decisions, and San Francisco’s 2-3 start to the year amid a disjointed offense has been frustrating to watch.

So, it’s understandable why a vocal minority of the fanbase is calling for Shanahan to be dismissed. And the chorus could easily grow louder over the remainder of the year depending on how things transpire from this point onward.

Again, it’s not going to happen. But, given the inevitable fatality of uphill struggles and pointless arguments, which replacement head-coaching candidates would the 49ers aggressively pursue in 2022 if Shanahan got the ax?

Here are four possible names.