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Where Kyle Shanahan Ranks Among 49ers Head Coaches

Shanahan is one of the longest-tenured head coaches in franchise history.
Grant Cohn|
Where Kyle Shanahan Ranks Among 49ers Head Coaches
Where Kyle Shanahan Ranks Among 49ers Head Coaches

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San Francisco 49ers

Kyle Shanahan has taken the 49ers to three of the past four NFC Championship Games, but hasn't won a Super Bowl yet. Where does he rank among the best 49ers head coaches ever? Let's find out.

1. Bill Walsh

Regular season record: 92-51-1

Playoff record: 10-4

Super Bowl victories: 3

Analysis: Took over a team that was coming off a 2-14 season, went 8-24 in his first two years as a head coach and then went 84-35 the rest of his career. Invented the West Coast Offense. Revolutionized offensive football. Developed two of the greatest quarterbacks ever -- Joe Montana and Steve Young. Never lost a Super Bowl. Retired after his third championship.

2. George Seifert

Record: 98-30

Playoff record: 10-5

Super Bowl victories: 2

Took over a team that was coming off a Super Bowl championship and immediately won another one. Never won fewer than 10 games in a season. Clearly one of the greatest defensive coaches of all time. Won Super Bowls with two quarterbacks, and never lost that game. Got fired two years after winning his second one.

3. Jim Harbaugh

Record: 44-19-1

Playoff record: 5-3

Super Bowl victories: 0

Analysis: Took over a team that was hovering around .500 for three years under Mike Singletary and immediately led the 49ers to three consequtive NFC Championship games. Lost the Super Bowl to his brother. Revived Alex Smith's career and turned Colin Kaepernick into one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the NFL for a few seasons. Never had a losing year. Got pushed out after going 8-8.

4. Kyle Shanahan

Record: 52-46

Playoff record: 6-3

Super Bowl victories: 0

Analysis: Took over a team that was coming off a 2-14 season, went 10-22 in his first two years as a head coach and since then has gone 42-24. Updated his father's outside zone system. Has not developed or acquired a great quarterback. Blew a 10-point lead in the Super Bowl.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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