Head coach Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers may not have won the NFC West at 2025's conclusion.
But that doesn't mean Shanahan failed to dominate the division in other ways.
Now one of the league's longest-tenured coaches, Shanahan's coaching tree has long been extending across the NFL ever since the Niners' first Super Bowl appearance under his guidance.
And that tree now includes all four teams within the NFC West, thanks to the rival Arizona Cardinals ensuring Shanahan's influence spreads even further.
Cardinals' Mike LaFleur hire means Kyle Shanahan's fingerprints are all over NFC West
Shanahan and Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, who coached together back in Washington prior to 2014, already stem from the same offensive mindset. And McVay just lost his offensive coordinator, Mike LaFleur, to Arizona's head-coaching vacancy after it fired Jonathan Gannon at the conclusion of the regular season.
LaFleur, whose brother Matt LaFleur is the Green Bay Packers' head coach, got his start in the NFL under Shanahan in 2014 with the Cleveland Browns as an offensive assistant.
When Shanahan departed for the Atlanta Falcons in 2015, the younger LaFleur brother followed suit and then again followed Shanahan to the Bay Area when the latter took over as San Francisco's new head coach in 2017. LaFleur stayed with the 49ers until defensive coordinator Robert Saleh took him back east after being named the New York Jets' head coach in 2021.
With LaFleur now the Cardinals head coach, and McVay likely seeking a replacement who fits a Shanahan-like mold, the focus now shifts to what the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks will do, if and when offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak departs for his own head-coaching opportunity, likely with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Of note, Kubiak served as Shanahan's pass-game coordinantor in 2023, another year in which the Niners went to the Super Bowl. Kubiak's brother, Klay Kubiak, is Shanahan's current offensive coordinator.
Notice the trend? The NFC West is wholly infiltrated by Shanahan's coaching tree.