The San Francisco 49ers are headed to Houston for a pair of joint practices, but before they left Santa Clara, head coach Kyle Shanahan took some time for a fun interview. The Pardon My Take podcast has been making the rounds of training camp, and they sat down with Shanahan.
If you don’t know Pardon My Take and PFT Commenter, it’s a part of Barstool Sports. I have my issues with Barstool, but PFT Commenter and the Pardon My Take podcast have tried to separate themselves in some ways from the trash at Barstool. It’s a complicated situation, but PFT has entertained me for a long time.
The interview was a solid mix of fun and useful information. I enjoyed hearing Shanahan talk about the questions of nepotism and working with his dad. He also talked extensively about the read option and how things worked in Washington. They went into Jimmy Garoppolo, Shanahan being labeled a genius, and the value of a fullback and the versatility it creates. He even offered more background on the “Chris Simms tattoo” story that he may never live down.
The whole interview is worth a listen, but here are a few of my favorite quotations:
On Jimmy G being so handsome: “I am reminded about it a lot. I’m over the shock value now. I’m not gonna lie, he’s a good looking guy. Everybody knows that, but that shock value’s over.”
On being labeled a genius: “If you don’t wanna react to people hating on you, you can’t react to them loving you. If it makes you feel that good, it’s gonna make you feel that bad, too.” “It’s like heroin.” “No doubt. So stay away from it, for that reason.”
On not being that smart outside of football: “My wife’s an English major and she will tell you I’m not the smartest person. I forget everything, except football plays.”
Pat time-stamped the podcast, with Shanahan’s segment running 27 minutes.
41:27 - interview starts
42:13 - If it’s a physical camp
42:41 - Balance between being a player’s coach and being all about football
43:33 - Changes this offseason and the future of the ping-pong table
44:30 - How to keep the high expectations from getting to the team’s head
46:30 - On the nepotism and his success due to being Mike Shanahan’s son
49:00 - Evolving the read option
52:39 - The strengths Shanahan is trying to bring out of Jimmy Garoppolo
53:37 - Does Garoppolo’s good looks catch him?
54:00 - A negative on Garoppolo
54:45 - The assessments that he (Shanahan) is a genius
55:45 - Last book he read
56:15 - Thoughts on the current state of the fullback position
57:39 - How pissed he was the Patriots benched Malcom Butler a Super Bowl after he coached the Falcons/regrets from Super Bowl LI
1:02:00 - Thoughts on Johnny Manziel got drafted in Cleveland
1:03:37 - ‘The’ Chris Simms tattoo
1:06:45 - The worst decision of all time in football
1:08:31 - Mantra in 2018