Is Kyle Shanahan a Leader of Men?

His players all seem to respect him. The star players even seem to like him and socialize with him.

Kyle Shanahan is an elite offensive coach, one of the top three or four in the NFL, but is he a leader of men?

His players all seem to respect him. The star players even seem to like him and socialize with him -- you might catch them together lounging on a beach in Cabo or throwing footballs into outdoor pizza ovens in San Diego. Shanahan certainly relates well to young, professional athletes. Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams and Nick Bosa all call him their friend.

But is Shanahan a leader of men?

Jim Harbaugh is a leader of men. So is John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin and Dan Campbell. They don't call plays -- they delegate the play calling and galvanize the players. They oversee the entire operation.

Shanahan is completely focused on his offense, and most of the time that's OK, because he's such a good play caller. But football is an emotional sport, which means there's an emotional element to being a head coach and a leader of men, and Shanahan lacks that emotional element.

He can't galvanize anyone. He's dour, gloomy and hyper-critical. He needs a defensive coordinator who's the opposite -- cheerful, energetic and positive. Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans are cheerful, energetic and positive -- that's why they were so successful on the 49ers. 

Steve Wilks is dour and gloomy like Shanahan, so they were a bad pairing, and all season the players struggled to give their full effort because they were missing an emotional leader of men. Now Wilks is fired, and the 49ers have brought in Brandon Staley as an assistant, but not as a coordinator, because he can't lead.

That's why the 49ers promoted Nick Sorensen. He's a former NFL player who seems to connect with the players.

It's up to Sorensen to galvanize the 49ers next season. 

No one else will.