Terrell Davis: ‘[Kyle Shanahan] is the next Bill Belichick’

It would not be the offseason without someone making an overly zealous comment about a player or coach! The latest comes courtesy of former Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis. He was on NFL Total Access talking about the greatness of Bill Belichick, and said that while nobody would reach Belichick’s level, Kyle Shanahan is the guy who could come closest to it.

“There won’t be another six ring coach. But let me say, the guy that would be closest to that, is Kyle Shanahan, the Niners coach right now. I know he’s 10-22 as a coach right now, but he’s really doing a lot with less than any coach in the league. He’s young, he’s innovative, he’s a leader. So, he’ll be there for a long time, and he’ll get that team turned around and he’ll win some rings. It won’t be six, and it won’t be eight, but he’s the next Bill Belichick.”

That’s certainly a bold sentiment from TD. There is an argument to be made about Shanahan’s offensive genius compare to Belichick’s defensive genius. Given what Shanahan did with Nick Mullens, and the scheming that helped George Kittle get so much YAC this past season, it’s hard not to see brilliance there.

That being said, taking that brilliance and turning it into multiple Lombardi Trophies is a whole other question entirely. Belichick was the same defensive genius as Cleveland Browns head coach, and yet he ended up getting fired. There was talk he lacked some of the people skills in Cleveland, and that was something people said about Shanahan as well earlier in his career. By all accounts, that is not an issue in Santa Clara, and he seems to have a great relationship with general manager John Lynch. Whether that’s enough to turn this thing into a Super Bowl victory, let alone multiple victories is a touch more difficult.

Shanahan deserves praise for his offensive mind, but we’ll see if that translates to greater success. For now, we’ll enjoy it for what it is, talk.

Here’s the full video.