The 49ers made it official Monday. They named Kyle Shanahan as their new liberator and emancipator. Oh, and head coach. Shanahan will be introduced to the Bay Area at a public ceremony later this week. Everybody will want to ask him about his last game.
It’s the wrong line of questioning.
No one can dispute that Shanahan, as the Atlanta Falcons’ play caller, turned into an inept offensive uncoordinator during the final quarter of Sunday’s Super Bowl. It was a strange and miserable performance by a supposedly brilliant young assistant coach. But that’s already old news. If Shanahan or the 49ers or the team’s followers allow his Sunday meltdown to dominate their thoughts for more than five minutes, this is already a bad hire.