MOBILE, Ala. — One day after the San Francisco 49ers‘ 2018 season came to an end, coach Kyle Shanahan was asked whether he anticipated changes to his coaching staff.
Pleased with what he had in place and aware that nothing is set in stone when it comes to the NFL, Shanahan said he did not expect any changes but didn’t rule out the possibility.
“I mean, if Bill Belichick became available two weeks from now and said he wants to come here, and I was told I had to let someone go to bring him in, that would probably be a smart decision to do that,” Shanahan said. “I’m not going to ever say that everyone is just totally safe forever.”
It’s been exactly a month since Shanahan made those statements, and his staff has undergone a variety of changes.
To date, Shanahan’s staff has subtracted defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley, defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina, quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello, assistant offensive line coach Adam Stenavich and offensive assistant T.C. McCartney. Hafley departed to become the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State, Zgonina was let go, Scangarello is the Broncos’ new offensive coordinator and took McCartney along as quarterbacks coach, and Stenavich is now offensive line coach in Green Bay.
The 49ers hired Joe Woods to replace Hafley (and assume the role of defensive passing game coordinator), Kris Kocurek to replace Zgonina and Shane Day to step in for Scangarello. They’re still in the process of replacing Stenavich and McCartney, with former NFL receiver Wes Welker having interviewed for an unspecified position.
An offseason that once appeared to be quiet and stable has seen much more change than was initially expected.
“I think building a coaching staff is just like building a football team,” Shanahan said. “You don’t always get the No. 1 at each position. It’s how do all these guys blend together? What’s the fit for everyone? Knowledge-wise. Personality-wise. The areas of expertise. Where they’ve been. Who they’ve been with. What they bring to the table. What they’re willing to learn. So there’s a lot that goes into that.”
And while the Niners are excited about new additions such as Woods, who got his NFL start with Shanahan with Tampa Bay, and Kocurek, who is highly regarded around the league, they were equally excited to hang on to some of their bright, young offensive minds.
In an offseason in which well-thought-of offensive coaches have been all the rage, Shanahan managed to hang on to two of his top lieutenants because he was proactive about it last offseason. Quietly, Shanahan promoted Mike McDaniel to run game coordinator and Mike LaFleur to passing game coordinator in 2018. Those moves didn’t make many headlines, but they proved vital this year when other teams came calling for them.
According to NFL rules, teams must allow assistants to interview for head-coaching jobs, but they have the right to deny permission for teams to speak to assistants who are under contract for other assistant jobs. As a general courtesy, most teams grant assistants the opportunity to interview for other jobs if that job is a promotion over their current gig.
On paper, Arizona’s interest in hiring McDaniel as offensive coordinator and Green Bay’s and Minnesota’s desire to interview LaFleur for the same position appeared to be a promotion. But out of that group, only the Vikings job might have come with any sort of playcalling duties. With McDaniel and LaFleur already working in coordinator positions, Shanahan didn’t view either job as an obvious step up, which is why he denied those teams permission to speak to them. Shanahan also wanted to guard against other teams simply using an interview as a means to gather information on other systems.
LaFleur’s case, in particular, was interesting because his brother Matt had just been hired as the Packers’ head coach and the family ties were strong. Still, Shanahan did not see it as a step up for LaFleur.
“I listen to everyone and stuff, but I would not feel guilty or bad because I know the situation that we’re in here, what we’ve done together for a long time,” Shanahan said. “I know how important they are here and how much they do here and why would I let them go do that for someone else? That’s very important to the Niners, and I would feel very irresponsible making a decision like that.
“I know you always want to help out family just like I wanted to go help out my dad, but there’s pluses and minuses to that. I do have a heart and I think about all that stuff strongly, but I also know my No. 1 job is being the head coach of the Niners and I can’t hurt the Niners and that would be too much of a loss.”
While Shanahan and the Niners were able to retain the two Mikes, they couldn’t keep Scangarello despite initially denying Denver’s request for an interview. In that situation, Shanahan said the denial was simply an effort to get more information about what the Broncos had in mind for Scangarello.
Shanahan talked to Broncos coach Vic Fangio, general manager John Elway and others to get an idea of what they had in mind. Once he was certain it was a step up, he relented and Scangarello was on his way to Denver, where he will run the Broncos’ offense.
“It’s kind of a tough position that we’re in because I want to do right for people always, but my No. 1 job is to do what’s best for the 49ers,” Shanahan said. “And that’s what you have got to always think about.”