Kyle Shanahan has had a few bad seasons during his eight-year tenure as 49ers coach, but the expectations those years weren't as high as they were entering the 2024 campaign.
The 49ers are coming off a Super Bowl LVIII appearance, and most analysts projected them to contend for another NFC crown.
But San Francisco is 5-6 following a 38-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday and the team is clinging to its playoff hopes, leading former NFL linebacker and current FOX Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho to criticize Shanahan for the job he has done this season.
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"It's the most disappointing season in the Kyle Shanahan era," Acho said Monday on FS1's "The Facility" show. "Kyle Shanahan looks like he's mismanaged the staff, he's mismanaged the roster and he's mismanaged the offense. I'll first start with the staff. You fired Steve Wilks because there was a lack of a personality and personnel fit. OK. You fired Steve Wilks but he had the No. 3 defense in football and now [Nick] Sorensen has like the 25th best defense in football. Yesterday, the Niners allowed 38 points in a regular-season game [for] the first time in 37 games since the Kansas City Chiefs did so [on] October 23rd of 2022. So you mismanage the staff."
“This is the worst season under the Kyle Shanahan era.”@EmmanuelAcho keeps it real about the 49ers struggles pic.twitter.com/dODwg1Ma8A
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) November 25, 2024
The 49ers hired Wilks as the defensive coordinator before the 2023 season after DeMeco Ryans left to become the Houston Texans' head coach.
Wilks had the pedigree, but his style didn't mesh with Shanahan and the players, leading to the 49ers parting ways with the veteran coach after just one season. Sorensen, who had been on San Francisco's staff, was promoted to defensive coordinator.
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The 49ers' defense had great success under former coordinators Robert Saleh and Ryans, but they haven't been able to recreate those gains since.
But Acho didn't stop with Shanahan's handling of the coaching staff.
"Now let's talk about the players," Acho said. "You and Brandon Aiyuk have this tension, so much so that we see him taking off his shorts at practice because he's wearing different colored shorts. He wants to get paid, he doesn't get paid. Deebo Samuel, he's choking snappers during the game and nothing is spoken of about it. So you mismanage the staff, you mismanage the roster and lastly the offense.
"This offense, this prolific offense, in a world where the Detroit Lions are running up [scores], running a ton of trick plays, in a world where offenses are changing protections, in a world where quarterbacks and players are being protected, this offense looks stagnant.
"Kyle Shanahan has mismanaged the staff. That's abundantly clear. I believe he has mismanaged the roster. I believe he's mismanaged the offense. This is the most disappointing season considering expectations of the Kyle Shanahan era and I don't believe it's close. I don't believe it's close."
The 49ers are 13th in scoring offense through Week 12, a year after they finished third in the NFL and two years removed from finishing sixth in the league.
Injuries can be to blame for the lack of offensive production, as 2023 Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey missed the first eight games of the season with bilateral Achilles tendinitis. Samuel has missed one game. Tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Jauan Jennings have missed two games each.
But Shanahan would be the first to admit that his offense still should be able to thrive with quarterback Brock Purdy running the show and that injuries aren't an excuse.
Ultimately, the 49ers must go on an extraordinary run over the season's final six weeks to make the NFC playoffs.
Shanahan and the 49ers have been in this position before, though. After reaching the Super Bowl during the 2019 season, they finished 6-10 in 2020, only to make the playoffs each of the next three seasons.
But if the 49ers can't turn things around this season, Shanahan will shoulder most of the blame, and that comes with the territory of being an NFL head coach.