On Sunday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan will begin his fifth NFL playoffs with hopes of finally winning his first Super Bowl. He almost won them in 2019 and 2023, but both times, Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs made him suffer.
As the 49ers play their wild-card round game against the Philadelphia Eagles, let’s take a look at Shanahan’s family, particularly his father, Mike Shanahan.
Who is Kyle Shanahan’s Dad?
Kyle Shanahan was born on December 14, 1979, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At that time, his father, Mike Shanahan, was serving as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator. Before the current 49ers head coach was born, Mike started as gradute assistant at Oklahoma in 1975. Then, he joined Northern Arizona as offensive backfield coach in 1977. He served as Eastern Illinois’ offensive coordinator for the 1978 season.
After a one-year stint with Minnesota and then another year as Florida’s offensive coordinator, Mike’s coaching trajectory reached the NFL, becoming the Denver Broncos’ wide receivers coach in 1984. He was promoted to the role of offensive coordinator, where he stayed until the 1987 season.
In 1988, the Las Vegas Riders hired him as their head coach. In his first season, he went 7-9 and after another poor beginning to the season, Mike was fired after four games. He rejoined the Broncos, taking on different coaching roles on offense. He served as the offensive coordinator for the 49ers from 1992-94 before becoming the head coach of the Broncos from 1995-2008 and later the Washington Redskins from 2010-13.
With the Broncos, Mike won back-to-back Super Bowls (XXXII and XXXIII). He finished his career, going 170-138 in the regular season and 8-6 in the playoffs.
Kyle Shanahan has publicly spoken about how much he learned from Mike.
“Being a coach’s son, I was very fortunate to just be around it so much, and especially at the NFL level,” Shanahan said in Feb. 2024. “My dad went to the NFL when I was four years old, so being around it almost my whole life, you don’t realize how much it helps you until you get in it. You realize a lot of the stuff you’ve been around makes it a little easier.”
Together, they are the first father-son duo in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl. Apart from his father, Shanahan has been married to his high school sweetheart, Mandy, since 2005 and they share three children.
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