The San Francisco 49ers have hired Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as their NFL head coach, more than a month after Chip Kelly was dumped following one season in charge.
The 49ers settled on Shanahan a couple weeks ago but had to wait until after the Falcons played in the Super Bowl to sign him to a contract.
Shanahan will be formally introduced at a news conference later this week.
He is the son of two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Mike Shanahan, who also won a title as offensive coordinator in San Francisco in 1994.
The younger Shanahan served as a ball boy then but now will be tasked along with new general manager John Lynch with rebuilding a team that just matched the worst record in franchise history with a 2-14 mark, leading to the dismissal of Kelly and general manager Trent Baalke.
Shanahan won the AP award as the top assistant coach in the NFL this season when he helped the Falcons post a league-high 33.8 points per game in the regular season and return to the Super Bowl for the second time in franchise history.
That ended in disappointment after Atlanta blew a 28-3 lead to New England and lost 34-28 in overtime.
Shanahan came under criticism for his play-calling in the fourth quarter.
Share
