It's crazy to think about but the 2026 season will be Kyle Shanahan's 10th year as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Since Shanahan took over as the Niners' head coach, the team has reached two Super Bowls and appeared in four NFC Championship games.
In other words, Shanahan has been pretty dang good at his job.
Sure, he and the Niners have yet to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, but they've come close on two separate occasions with one of those Super Bowls being decided in overtime. The 49ers have also cemented themselves as Super Bowl threats nearly every season, and Shanahan is a massive part of that.
Even with that being the case, NFL insider Jason La Canfora recently unveiled his bold predictions for the upcoming season. In those predictions, La Canfora said that he thinks this could be Shanahan's final year as the Niners head coach:
Nothing lasts forever, his deal is up after 2027, there are whispers about ownership unrest and will he re-up for a long-term deal if indeed Deebo and George Kittle and Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey are all at the end after this and if Nick Bosa can’t stay healthy, man, what would he be signing on for? Bad vibes around this team and a brutal travel schedule. A return to Washington to work with Jayden Daniels would be something.
Kyle Shanahan's 49ers future gets a bold prediction that feels unlikely
As La Canfora noted, Shanahan has two years remaining on his contract. So, if his prediction were to come true and this ended up being Shanahan's final year with San Francisco, would the front office have axed him or would he have decided to step away before the end of his deal?
It'd have to take a really poor season from the 49ers for Shanahan to get fired. He's clearly one of the best in the league at his job, as evidenced by the two Super Bowl appearances. And while the team hasn't gotten over the hump, it's incredibly difficult to win championships. Shanahan almost always puts this team in a position to succeed, and that'd be hard to move on from.
On the other side of this equation, though, if Shanahan decides that he doesn't feel comfortable leading a rebuild, then that's his decision. He probably wouldn't leave until his contract is officially up, though, and who knows, maybe by then, the Niners have added enough promising talent to make him feel better about committing to the team past 2027.
It's been frustrating seeing both the Rams and Seahawks reach a Super Bowl and win a title, but hey, that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Shanahan has proven that he has what it takes to get the 49ers to the big game, and that's not something fans or the front office should take for granted.
Maybe Shanahan doesn't re-sign with the 49ers past his current contract, but it feels unlikely this year will be it for him. If San Francisco performs poorly and he totally loses control of the locker room, perhaps that could be his fate, but again, who else is better out there? Who can take these teams and do what Shanahan has been able to do but better?
If Shanahan were to be fired or left on his own, teams would be chomping at the bit to snatch him up. That right there is a sign that he's good at what he does and shouldn't be kicked to the curb anytime soon.
Hopefully, he wants to stick around, and hopefully, general manager John Lynch does a good job loading the roster with enough talent to keep this thing rolling.
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