49ers Jumped the Gun Giving Kyle Shanahan 6-Year Extension
By Michael Luciano
The San Francisco 49ers went from NFC West bottom feeder to NFC champion under Kyle Shanahan's watch, and John Lynch decided to lock up his savant of a head coach with a nice new deal.
The 49ers rewarded Shanahan's magical run to the Super Bowl with a six-year contract that replaces his old one, keeping him a 49er until the 2025 season.
More on San Francisco giving HC Kyle Shanahan a six-year contract extension:https://t.co/ePHnPb60xQ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 15, 2020
As good as he is, they MIGHT be jumping the gun just a tad on this one.
Even if you take 28-3 and 20-10 out of the equation, as hard as that is given how woven into the legacy of Shanahan those blown leads have become, there's cause for concern. While Shanahan didn't have a ton to work with early in his 49ers career, he was in charge of a 6-10 team and a 4-12 team before everything came together and they made it to the Super Bowl.
San Francisco should have waited to see one more deep run in the playoffs before giving Shanahan the big bucks, as doing so would prove that his success wasn't the product of one season where everything happened to click. After all, a lot of changes are coming next year and we can expect more in 2021 and 2022.
Niners are giving Kyle Shanahan a six-year extension that replaces the three years left on his deal, per @AdamSchefter.
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) June 15, 2020
The contract makes him one of the NFL’s top-five highest-paid coaches. pic.twitter.com/cbFUuOrMAn
Jeff Fisher, Bill Callahan, and Ken Whisenhunt have all coached in Super Bowls, with the latter two riding a perfect storm of players hitting their stride at the right time as well as good old-fashioned luck to within inches of a Lombardi Trophy. While Shanahan has more staying power than either of them, giving him six-year deal at this juncture is a bit risky.