The San Francisco 49ers are on the verge of formally hiring Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to become their next head coach. It has been the worst kept secret for much of the last two weeks, but now that the Super Bowl is over, the two sides are expected to finalize things tonight or on Tuesday.
Earlier this morning, ESPN’s Falcons beat writer, Vaughn McClure reported that Shanahan would become the next 49ers head coach, “once a contract is placed in front of him.” NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport suggested there were still some final details to nail down. On Monday, according to 49ers Webzone, Rapoport said that the two sides were “hammering out final details” of a six-year contract. He said it, “[s]hould be done at some point either tonight or tomorrow then presumably a press conference over the next couple of days.”
Rapoport added some insight into the coaching search process, but it was stuff we have heard the past few days. He did mention that it is possible would hire a quarterbacks coach, and then run the offense himself. It would not be a surprising decision, but given the work he’ll have to do with John Lynch on the roster, it would make sense to have more coaches to whom he can potentially delegate some work.