The San Francisco 49ers seem likely to hire Klay Kubiak as their offensive coordinator even though they have to go through an interview process first. Even with the likely Kubiak hire, head coach Kyle Shanahan will still call plays on offense.
Should he?
The fact that Shanahan will remain the play caller on offense does not come as a huge shock. From his time before being the Niners' head coach, as an offensive coordinator and then through his tenure with San Francisco, he has been the guy calling plays and he has had some pretty great success.
Shanahan is clearly one of the brightest offensive minds in all of football and he has turned the 49ers into one of the best offensive teams in the NFL. Even in 2024, a down year for the team, the Niners had the fourth-most yards per game.
However, San Francisco ranked 14th in points per game last season.
A big part of this had to do with the drop in the 49ers' performance in the red zone where they scored a touchdown just over 57 percent of the time compared to their 68-percent rate in 2023. They improved on this as the year wore on, and part of it surely had to do with the fact they were missing offensive weapons like Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk because of injuries. But it is still an area where the team can improve.
Would shaking up who calls the plays make a meaningful difference? An argument could be made that a fresher voice like Kubiak's could benefit the offense. He may have his own ideas and own tendencies that may be different from Shanahan's and may be less predictable for opposing defenses.
There is also something to be said for the fact that, at times, Shanahan can seem to overthink things as a play caller. Sometimes he goes away from the run-first, play-action pass "bread and butter" that has worked so well for San Francisco over the years.
However, transferring play-calling duties to Kubiak may not mean the 49ers will return to being an offensive juggernaut. Getting McCaffrey back would probably have a lot more to do with any sort of return to form that may occur in 2025.
Yet, it is not a bad thing to have a different voice play a more prominent role in calling plays on offense.
It is clear that Kubiak is someone who Shanahan trusts. He let Kubiak call plays during the preseason and let him call plays in Week 18 against the Arizona Cardinals. This could embolden Kubiak to have more confidence in crafting plays or making suggestions to Shanahan, which may have a positive impact on the offense as a whole.
Shanahan is an offensive genius, but adding a bit more collaboration to the mix could be a very good thing as the 49ers look to get back on track next season.
Ultimately, yes, Shanahan should continue to be the offensive play caller. He has had too much success to strip him of that duty at this juncture. He even seemed to get his mojo back in the Week 17 game against the Detroit Lions where the offense was humming, albeit against a depleted defense.
But Kubiak's likely promotion is a good sign that perhaps Shanahan is willing to listen to other voices more in order to make the offense better.