There has been a lot of talk over the past few days about what kind of control Kyle Shanahan might require to become the next head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. He has a tremendous amount of leverage now that he is the only candidate remaining, but how much will he push on it?
A source close to Shanahan told Maiocco that, “Shanahan is not insisting on full control over personnel and is fine working together with a general manager, on whom he would lean, to execute the plan with free agency, trades, the draft and determining the 53-man roster.”
That would suggest he is not going to be pushing to be president of football operations, but I also don’t think this precludes him from wanting some kind of control of the 53-man roster. It talks about working with a GM to execute a plan to figure out the roster, and he would lean on that GM in executing that plan. Given the use of the verb lean, it reads to some extent like, I’m going to play well with others to make this work, but it also does not remove the notion that he will ask for, or has already asked for control in determining the 53-man roster.
However this plays out, we’ll find out in the next couple weeks. I imagine some anonymous folks will talk to the media as the coming week progresses and the process plays out. And when hopefully Shanahan and the GM are holding their introductory press conference, they will clarify who has control of what.