Shanahan named 49ers head coach, a day after Super Bowl loss

(The Sports Xchange) – The San Francisco 49ers officially named Kyle Shanahan as the 20th head coach in franchise history on Monday.

The move came just hours after Shanahan watched as the Atlanta Falcons squandered a late 25-point lead to fall to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

The 37-year-old Shanahan, who completed his second season as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, becomes the second youngest coach in the NFL behind Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams.

“It is truly an honor to be named head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, one of the marquee franchises in all of sports,” Shanahan said, while also thanking the Falcons for their support.

“As a young man, I had the unique benefit of being exposed to the storied history of the San Francisco 49ers firsthand. From that exposure, I developed great respect for those who created a world-class, championship standard.”

Shanahan, who saw his Falcons average an NFL-best 33.8 points per contest this season, also was offensive coordinator with the Washington Redskins (2010-13) and Cleveland Browns (2014). He will now take over an offense that finished 31st in yards per game this past season.

Shanahan is the son of longtime NFL coach Mike Shanahan and becomes the third head coach in as many seasons for San Francisco. Chip Kelly was fired after the team’s dismal 2-14 campaign.

“This is a very exciting day for the San Francisco 49ers and our fans,” said 49ers CEO Jed York.

“Throughout this process, we learned many things about Kyle that convinced us he is the perfect coach to lead this team. Over the years, he has proven to be one of the brightest minds in the game of football and his recent success speaks for itself. Kyle’s leadership has brought the best out of his players at every phase of his career and we look forward to watching him build a talented staff to accomplish the same with our players.”

(Editing by Andrew Both)