Golden Nuggets: Ronnie Lott has high praise for 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan

When Kyle Shanahan signed his six-year contract extension to be the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers through 2025, the vast majority of Niners fans celebrated.

Since taking over in 2017, Shanahan has led the 49ers to a 22-26 record in the regular season, one more than the legendary Bill Walsh, who went 21-27 over his first three years.

Hall of Famer, and former Niner Ronnie Lott went on Sirius XMNFL radio, to discuss San Francisco’s Super Bowl chances, adding that he sees the parallels between Shanahan and Lynch:

“To me, they’re there. They’re there on the offense and the reason I think that they’re there on the offense is that, and I’ve said this is, Kyle is our version of Bill Walsh. I think he’s one of the most innovative guys in pro football when it comes to offense. I like where they’re at. I like what they’re doing. I love the way that they built it from the guys up front and now they’re trying to hopefully be able to get the secondary even better.”

Lott won a Super Bowl with the 49ers as a rookie in 1981. He was a pillar during the Niners’ dominance of the 80s, and got to experience Walsh’s greatness firsthand.

Shanahan has turned San Francisco’s offense into one of the best in the league. The similarities between his first three seasons and Walsh’s are striking. Their records are nearly identical, but the obvious advantage Walsh has is that he led the 49ers to a championship in year three.

Lott added that the Niners have all of the tools to win the Super Bowl in 2020. The road will be tougher due to the challenges of dealing with the pandemic, and the NFL adding a seventh team to the playoffs in each conference. Getting the No. 1 seed becomes even more valuable as the top team in each conference will get the all too important bye week, plus home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

What do you think is the biggest similarity between Walsh and Shanahan?

On to some links:

Who has the most team-friendly contract on the Niners? Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski put together his choices from every NFL team, and for the 49ers, he picked a defensive player.

San Francisco’s offensive line will look very different compared to how it did at the start of last season. Fansided’s Peter Panacy says the unit will be better in 2020 than it was in 2019.

Speaking of the offensive line, it will be missing the great Joe Staley next year due to his retirement. He’s still keeping tabs on his former teammates though. Receiver Kendrick Bourne shared a motivational message Staley sent him on his Instagram account. (NBC Bay Area)

Social justice issues have been at the forefront of the country’s mind over the past couple of months. 49ers’ defensive lineman Arik Armstead has a message for anyone who tells him to stick to football. (49ers Web Zone)

The Niners are among the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl next season. You can checkout the latest odds here. (CBS Sports)

The 49ers and New Orleans Saints played the game of the year last season. SI’s Bob Rose broke down the Niners from a Saints perspective, and he’s already looking forward to the monster matchup scheduled for Week 10.