Does Kyle Shanahan still need an offensive coordinator?

Last week, an announcement came out from the New England Patriots that Bill Belichick would be calling the defensive plays in 2019. It’s still moot on if they will hire a “defensive coordinator” or if Belichick will be the DC himself. In any case, Hoodie is calling the plays in New England.

The Patriots just won a Super Bowl, so they can pretty much do whatever the hell they want. When the 49ers drafted a punter in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, it was easy to point out the Patriots did the same thing in the fifth, except the 49ers aren’t exactly where the Patriots are.

Just calling plays isn’t the job title in and of itself, but brings up the narrative that Kyle Shanahan needs to hire an offensive coordinator. First of all, the idea in and of itself wouldn’t make much sense. Why take the brightest offensive mind in football and shelf it for someone else’s philosophy? Of course if Shanahan promoted an offensive coordinator from within, just like Andy Reid does and Bill Walsh did. It’d be apparent Kyle Shanahan was running the offense anyways.

The Belichick-play-calling narrative doesn’t make me point to the Patriots and say, “But the Patriots are doing it,” it instead lets me make a remark, “Yeah, other teams have done it,” and the Patriots join the list.

There’s been some criticism to Shanahan for biting of a bit more than he can chew being a head coach and offensive coordinator. For a time, I thought Rich Scangarello would fill that role after a year or two under Shanahan’s tutelage. It was similar to a chef opening up a restaurant. Before he hires his “head chef” he wants everyone to know how his recipes are done and picks the best line cook to take over his menu. The owner/chef is still calling the shots, but he has a chef that knows every way he wants his food prepared. Same thing with Shanahan, he would have someone who knows every reason and way he wants his plays called/executed.

Two years later and Scangarello is an offensive coordinator, but with the Denver Broncos.

When Scangarello left, who could get that promotion is a mystery. There’s options, sure, but nothing screaming as a possible offensive coordinator in a year. This could change after 2019, but Shanahan is going to be his own offensive coordinator for the foreseeable future. Given what you’ve seen with the 49ers in the past and going forward do you think this is a wise decision or should he promote someone to offensive coordinator in a 1A type role?

Or are you convinced Shanahan’s offense is terrible and he should make an external hire (though why someone would think that is a bit perplexing).