John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan put out a wildfire in early December.
Pro Football Hall of Famer and ESPN broadcaster Troy Aikman is trying to reignite the blaze.
Roughly 10 days after both the 49ers' president of football operations/general manager and head coach denounced the idea that San Francisco might entertain trading Shanahan to the Chicago Bears, Aikman brought the topic up again while discussing quarterback Caleb Williams during ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcast.
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"There has been discussion about, 'Do you give up some picks and see if you can maybe make a deal for a guy like Kyle Shanahan?' I would be all in on that because he would develop a quarterback and he's a hell of a head coach.
"But can you pull that off? That's a better question. And who might you hire that has no head coaching experience as an offensive guy? You never know the answer to that as to how good they're going to be."
Troy Aikman weighs in on the possibility...
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 17, 2024
"There has been discussion about, 'Do you give up some picks and see if you can maybe make a deal for a guy like Kyle Shanahan?' I would be all in on that. Because he would develop a quarterback and is a hell of a head coach." https://t.co/iEZ4agFIZk pic.twitter.com/ngs66LoR40
The subject, first broached by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio on Dec. 3, was quickly shot down by Lynch during a Dec. 6 appearance on KNBR 680.
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"I've found the whole discussion on Kyle rather comical," Lynch told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. "We have won four of the last five division championships. We've been in two Super Bowls. The standard here is to win championships and we've fallen short of that, I understand that. But we have an excellent head coach and the fact people are talking about that I do find it comical.
"We're 100 percent behind Kyle and what he brings to our organization. Like I said, our focus is on the [Chicago] Bears and doing everything we can. That's where Kyle's focus is and that's where all our focus is."
Two days later, after the 49ers crushed the Bears at Levi's Stadium, Shanahan forcefully squashed all speculation that he is interested in leaving San Francisco.
“I don’t want to be any place in the world more than here,” Shanahan told reporters on Dec. “And my family feels just as strong — if not a lot stronger. You guys are going to have to kick me out of here, so there’s no way I’m making that decision.”
Despite all the chatter and speculation, Lynch and Shanahan have made it crystal clear: The eight-year NFL coach isn't going anywhere.