Jim Harbaugh fell short in each of his four seasons at the helm until his "mutual" breakup with the team, and both Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly were nowhere near being up for the task. Kyle Shanahan, however, has injected life back into the 49ers.
In the eight seasons that he has been the team's head coach, he has led the 49ers to the playoffs on four occasions. He also made two Super Bowl runs, and despite falling short against the Chiefs in each of them, many consider Shanahan to be one of the NFL's premier coaches.
Kyle Shanahan ranks below Jim Harbaugh in PFF coach rankings
However, Shanahan still somehow lives in the shadow of Harbaugh in the general scope of the NFL. Pro Football Focus' Dalton Wasserman proved this sentiment on Tuesday when he ranked the league's head coaches and he slotted Shanahan in at No. 7, just one spot behind Harbaugh at No. 6.
"Shanahan is still one of the game’s greatest offensive minds and best head coaches. After appearing in their second Super Bowl in five seasons in 2023, the 49ers took a big step back last season," Wasserman wrote. "However, they started 5-4 before losing seven of their final eight games. Those shortcomings came about more due to injuries to star players and a lack of run defense than anything within Shanahan’s control."
If there were factors outside of Shanahan's control that led to the team's demise in 2024, then it feels a bit baseless to slide him down a list that he would have been near the top of a year ago. There is just some sort of psychological reason that folks cannot place Shanahan above Harbaugh yet.
When looking at the numbers, they do tilt slightly in Harbaugh's favor, however. Harbaugh's 69.5% win percentage dwarfs Shanahan's 53.0%, and Harbaugh averaged more than one playoff win per season, whereas Shanahan has contributed an average of one.
Neither of these coaches won a championship, but both of them have lost one Super Bowl for every four years that they were at the helm in San Francisco. The debate about which of these two coaches is superior will live on forever unless Shanahan wins a ring at some point in his tenure.
Shanahan still largely has the support of the fan base and the organization, but the clock is ticking a bit for the now veteran coach. If he wants to finally prove himself and escape Jim Harbaugh's shadow, he needs to do it quickly, or it may never happen.
