The 49ers have no excuse not to win the Super Bowl this upcoming season.
They have the no. 1 offense in the NFL according to NFL.com. And they have the no. 2 head coach in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus analyst Sam Monson, who ranks Kyle Shanahan ahead of every head coach except Andy Reid.
“Shanahan has yet to get over the hump and win a Super Bowl despite holding leads in one as the Atlanta Falcons‘ offensive coordinator and two as the San Francisco 49ers‘ head coach,” writes Monson, “but he is the main reason why the 49ers are the favorites to come out of the NFC once again in 2024. They led the NFL in averaging 0.161 EPA per play in 2023 and while they ranked 12th on the defensive side of the ball, Shanahan was bold enough to make the change from Steve Wilks to Nick Sorensen at defensive coordinator heading into this season. That’s good news for Sorensen’s future career prospects, as three of Shanahan’s former coordinators are currently NFL head coaches.”
Monson makes some good points, but it’s hard to say Shanahan “is the main reason why the 49ers are the favorites to come out of the NFC” when their roster has 9 or 10 of the NFL’s top 100 players.
Shanahan certainly is a good head coach, but he also was the main reason the 49ers lost the Super Bowl this past season — he got severely outcoached in the Super Bowl by Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo.
That’s why I’d rank him below John Harbaugh and Sean McVay. Those two are champions. Shanahan isn’t one yet.