Kyle Shanahan’s stellar track record of developing coaches on his staff

Inevitable turnover on the coaching staff has become an annual tradition under the Kyle Shanahan regime in San Francisco. In nearly each of Shanahan’s six seasons with the 49ers, there has been a notable shakeup among the staff as a result of said coach having an opportunity to advance their own career with a promotion.

While the bigger names like Robert Saleh, Mike McDaniel, and most recently DeMeco Ryans get most of the attention, but there has been a steady pipeline of assistants that have worked their way up through Shanahan’s staff and on to bigger and better jobs both in house and with other organizations as well.

With Ryans departure to Houston, the Texans newest head coach also brought with him Bobby Slowik, who had been with the 49ers since 2017 when he started as a defensive quality control coach, before ascending to the role of passing game coordinator in San Francisco during the 2022 season.

Slowik is now on his way to Houston to take the role of offensive coordinator under Ryans, joining a long list of 49ers coaches who have left the Bay Area for better opportunities elsewhere after spending time on Shanahan’s staff.

Let’s take a look at Shanahan’s initial staff during his first year with the 49ers back in 2017.

Three of those coaches are now in a head coaching role with another NFL team. Four of them got promoted to a role of coordinator. Nine of them were promoted to a bigger role in some capacity, whether it was with the 49ers or another team.

Keep in mind that is just the coaches from the first staff that Shanahan put together in his first-ever year as an NFL head coach. There have been more names added to the list in recent years, like Joe Woods who went on to be the defensive coordinator in Cleveland, and Stephen Adegoke who is on his way to Houston with Ryans where he is going to be coaching the safeties after spending a year in San Francisco as a quality control coach.

Part of success are the consequences that come with it, and for the 49ers it has been the yearly ritual of having their staff picked apart by other teams looking to poach some of the talent that has helped guide Shanahan turn the 49ers into a consistent winner.

At a certain point, the losses will be felt, guys like McDaniel or Ryans are not easy to find. However, the ability Shanahan has displayed to identify and develop coaches at every level of his staff invites a certain level of confidence as the 49ers attempt to replace those who they have lost to jobs elsewhere.