Kyle Shanahan Credits Super Bowl Preparation to Dan Quinn
Coaching in the Super Bowl will not be entirely new to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who was the offensive coordinator with the Falcons three years ago in Super Bowl LI against the Patriots.
The only difference is that Shanahan is entering a Super Bowl as a head coach. While there are some things that will be new to him in this role, the fact that he participated in one recently will benefit him and the 49ers. Shanahan learned a ton from his experience in Super Bowl LI with preparation being one of the main takeaways.
Preparation is half the battle when going into any football game. With two weeks to prepare for the Super Bowl, the emphasis on it grows exponentially. Coaches have to ensure that they are scheduling everything optimally so that they do not squander any of the time they have. That is why Shanahan is approaching this week of preparation as if they are playing on Sunday.
“Yes, we try to do everything before." He said. "We definitely know that we have the whole week when we get there, but there’s different media obligations that get you out of your routine and everything."
The week before the Super Bowl is the most time that the 49ers will have in terms of preparing for the game. Next week a good deal of the 49ers and Chiefs' time will be used for media sessions. There just isn't a ton of time for practice and to sit down to gameplan. This is something Shanahan learned and credits Falcons head coach Dan Quinn on how to prepare for the Super Bowl.
He is mirroring what the Falcons did leading up to Super Bowl LI to ensure that the time for preparation is used to its fullest.
"You don’t want to play catch up at the end of a Super Bowl week." Shanahan said. "You want to do that now. That was cool with Dan Quinn being at Seattle and going through it. That was something he stressed to us hard. After we won the NFC Championship, would love to take a couple days to relax and stuff and then get at it knowing you have two weeks away, but Dan put us on it right away and man was I thankful when we got there. You have the time to work when you get out there and stuff but there are more distractions and stuff. I hope the players aren’t trying to learn anything and having to study as much. You hope you can get all that done this week and next week we’re just going through the motions again and just locking it all up.”
This entire week of practice will solely be game planning for the Chiefs and implementing that plan. It is like paving the way for a new road to be driven on. This week will be the breakdown to set up the roads and pour the cement. Next week will to be ensure that the cement is solidified and ready to be driven on.
Implementing the plan for this week and embedding it into the heads of the players next week. The thought process is so that the 49ers will be mentally ready and disciplined. They will have to be if they want to stake their claim as Super Bowl champions when they take on the Chiefs at Hard Rock Stadium.
