One of the most irritating things about the discourse surrounding the San Francisco 49ers this season has been the constant bashing of head coach Kyle Shanahan by a loud minority.
Despite building the team from the ground up, going 70-62 in the regular season and 8-4 in the playoffs and making two Super Bowl appearances, it seems there are still some out there who believe the Niners could do better elsewhere.
That's not to say that Shanahan is above criticism. After a season like the one the 49ers have just endured, no one should be. But at this point, the sanest takes seem to be coming from outside the 49ers fanbase and inner circle.
Meanwhile, across the NFL...
That brings us to comments made in Jeff Howe's recent piece in The Athletic where he analysed the impact of the Kansas City Chiefs' continued success on various franchises. The 49ers were, of course, prominent in this, given they and Shanahan have been denied two Super Bowls by KC's presence as their opposition.
A person identified as a "former Super Bowl winning Patriots assistant" said the following:
"It's ludicrous to think they should get rid of him. (Andy) Reid had these same criticisms early in his career, and now he's clearly in the conversation for best coach ever. Kyle Shanahan's criticisms are that he's lost a couple of Super Bowls? OK, do you know how hard it is to get to the Super Bowl?"Patriots Super Bowl winning staffer
There's probably no better way to put it than that. Now Kansas City head coach Andy Reid suffered terribly towards the end of his Philadelphia Eagles tenure, taking consistent abuse from his fanbase for "failing to win the big one," blowing leads, and poor game management despite going 130-93-1, and having nine winning seasons, all of which led to playoff appearances, and one close Super Bowl loss.
Sound familiar?
The Eagles would replace him in 2012, first with Chip Kelly and then Doug Pederson. While Pederson was able to ride the "Philly Special" to a Super Bowl win, a series of head-scratching on-field and front-office decisions kept the Eagles from being a consistent force, something they've arguably only recovered in the latter years of their current head coach, Nick Sirianni.
Reid, meanwhile, would largely repeat his Philadelphia pattern initially with the Chiefs, some thrilling playoff victories aside, before his marriage to quarterback Patrick Mahomes -- and perhaps more importantly, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo from 2019 onwards -- led to the fairytale run they're currently on.
What does it all mean?
The point? Winning Super Bowls is hard.
Of course, if you're a head coach like Bill Walsh or Bill Belichick (who knows what it is about the name Bill), you might be better at it than most. But generally, it requires an alchemy of a number of different factors: the playing squad, the coaching staff, and the level of your competition going your way.
Shanahan's compatriot, Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams, is a great example of this, currently, as he rode a hot and expensively assembled LA team through the playoffs in 2021 and needed a ton of luck to get past Shanahan's Niners before arguably benefitting from facing an equally Cinderella-story Cincinnati Bengals in the big game.
Does anyone honestly think the 2021 Niners wouldn't have beaten that Bengals team? Instead, both of the best versions of Shanahan's 49ers ran into Reid's Chiefs, and the rest is history.
More reasons for optimism
Let's look at two other quotes from the Patriots staffer, both of which should ring in 49ers fans ears:
"If you throw rocks at Kyle Shanahan and want him fired, he's going to have a job in 30 seconds."Patriots staffer, The Athletic
It's not hard to see the truth in this statement when you consider the paucity of quality head-coaching candidates out there right now. The fact that Kliff Kingsbury(!) is a hot name on the coaching carousel speaks volumes. Teams are turning up their noses at recently dismissed Mike McCarthy, who has been infinitely more successful, too. If Shanahan landed on the coaching market, his diary would be full of interviews until mid-February before he had time to clear out his office in Santa Clara.
That's what 49ers fans should think about.
Yes, there's been ups and downs under Shanahan, and this season was incredibly frustrating, and the Super Bowl losses were heartbreaking. But roughly 95 percent of the NFL landscape would rather be like the 49ers than themselves. That's the strength of Shanahan's coaching, and in fairness, an ode to general manager John Lynch's roster-building as well.
Let's look at the last part of the quote, and perhaps something to keep all Niners fans warm during the offseason:
"Kyle is going to be coaching for a long time. He's going to have another chapter in his career where he's going for three (Super Bowls) in a row."Patriots staffer, The Athletic
Here's hoping he's right.