Super Bowl-Winning Exec Defends 49ers' Kyle Shanahan from Critics, Calls for Firing

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan faced a wave of criticism and calls for him to be fired after the team went 6-11 this year and failed to make it back to the playoffs, but it sounds like many around the NFL are giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Despite failing to get the 49ers a championship in two career trips to the Super Bowl and the down year in 2024, Shanahan's perception has not taken a hit among his peers.

"Within the coaches in the league, no one thinks any less of Kyle Shanahan," a former Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots assistant told Jeff Howe of The Athletic. "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?"

As the assistant pointed out, before Reid became head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, he developed a reputation for not being able to get his team over the hump. Now, Reid has three championship rings and will be trying to help the Chiefs achieve the first three-peat in modern NFL history.

The assistant went on to add that he believes Shanahan will have a similar trajectory to Reid, so it would be a major mistake if the 49ers listen to the outside noise and part ways with him.

"If you throw rocks at Kyle Shanahan and want him fired, he's going to have a job in 30 seconds," the assistant said. "Reid, it was that he couldn't win the big one, and now he's on the verge of winning three in a row. 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."