Diving Into Sean McVay's Unique Rivalry with 49ers' Kyle Shanahan

The Los Angeles Rams are traveling up North to face off against their NFC West long-time rival, the San Francisco 49ers. These two teams are playing good football this season, and both are looking for a huge win to stay afloat in the NFC West. The NFC West this season is the best division in the National Football League. The Rams are looking for some payback after the 49ers got the best of them in the first meeting this season.

These two teams always deliver a classic when they meet up, and it will be not different in Week 10. That is because of two head coaches who know each other very well. Rams head coach Sean McVay has a unique rivalry with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

Sep 17, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan meets with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay following the victory at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

McVay vs Shanahan

"Both McVay and Shanahan grew up living and breathing football," said Tyler Lauletta of Sports Illustrated.

McVay’s grandfather John coached the New York Giants in the 1970s and served as the general manager of the 49ers during their run of championships spanning the ’80s and early ‘90s. Shanahan entered the top job in San Francisco as the son of the legendary coach Mike Shanahan, a football lifer who could be a Hall of Famer by the time the next vote comes around.

njuh — Nov 2, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay reacts after a touchdown by his team against the New Orleans Saints during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

When Mike Shanahan was let go by Washington ahead of the 2014 season, Kyle left the team as well, and McVay was promoted to offensive coordinator. While Mike was officially out of coaching, Kyle went on to serve as OC for the Browns for one year and then jumped to the Falcons, where he helped turn Matt Ryan and the Atlanta offense into Super Bowl contenders.

Sean McVay was hired as the coach of the Rams in January of 2017 at the age of 30, making him the youngest head coach in the history of the NFL. He was taking over for Jeff Fisher, who had overseen the franchise’s relocation from St. Louis back to Los Angeles and had a reputation for going 7–9 so solid that it became a meme. When that classic 7–9 season looked out of reach, with L.A. at just 4–9 through 13 games in 2016, Fisher was finally given the boot.

fvv — Nov 2, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan on the sideline during the first half of a game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Two weeks later, just a day after he stood on the losing sideline of Super Bowl LI, the 49ers named Kyle Shanahan as their next coach, taking over after a disastrous one-year run led by Chip Kelly that saw San Francisco go 2–14 in 2016. Making the run all the more embarrassing is the fact that they opened the year with a 28–0 win over the Rams before proceeding to lose all of those games. Shanahan was hired to pick up the pieces and reestablish San Francisco as one of the premier franchises in the NFL.

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