Kyle Shanahan held court for about 30 minutes on Tuesday ahead of the first practice at the 2019 Senior Bowl. The first half of that time was spent at a formal press conference with the second 15 minutes taking place in a more private chat with the team's beat reporters who made the trip to Mobile, Ala.
Here's what you need to know from the San Francisco 49ers head coach.
1. "Head Coach of Training"
Shanahan said that the 49ers are creating a new position that will be in charge of both athletic training and strength and conditioning. His working title is "head coach of training," but admitted that he's not sure what the official title will be. Once that position is filled, the team will then go ahead and hire a new head strength (formerly Ray Wright) and conditioning coach and head athletic trainer (formerly Jeff Ferguson).
The idea came from researching how other sports teams handle the two departments. Shanahan, in tandem with John Lynch and Jed York, found that some basketball and soccer teams have found ways to streamline how things operate in the medical side of an organization.
"That person can help us mold those two places and put them together so you're not always dealing with separate parts of the building. We can make it more collaborative.
"It's stuff that we've researched a lot, and we're trying to go that direction."
2. Finding a Quarterbacks Coach
The 49ers have several in-house candidates to replace Rich Scangarello as the team's quarterbacks coach, who has moved on to become the Denver Broncos offensive coordinator. Shanahan added that the team will be in no rush to fill that vacancy as well as the assistant offensive line coach role that opened up in the wake of Adam Stenavich's departure.
3. Who Stays and Who Goes?
Shanahan blocked run game coordinator Mike McDaniel and pass game coordinator Mike LaFleur from interviewing for offensive coordinator jobs around the NFL. The reason behind that decision was because Shanahan felt like they were lateral moves. Shanahan wants to help his coaches grow, but suggested it would have to be a clear vertical move in the coaching ranks.
"I don't want to lose good coaches at all, and you don't have to," Shanahan said. "It's very tough to keep a coach back when they're getting a huge promotion. It's a tough position that we're in because I want to do right for people always, but my No. 1 job is to do what's best for the 49ers. That's what you always have to think about."
Shanahan initially blocked Scangarello's interview with the Broncos. He then went back and talked with everyone involved to make sure that one, Scangarello was a serious candidate for the job and two, he'd have play calling responsibility as Denver's OC.
"This was something (Rich) earned and he deserved," Shanahan said. "I wanted to give him that opportunity."
4. Being "The Heckler"
It will be McDaniel and LaFleur trading off play calling duties on Saturday during the Senior Bowl on Saturday. Shanahan joked that he looks forward to giving both of them a bad time when they make a bad play call during the game.
"I'm going to be the heckler the whole game," Shanahan joked.
