Second Coming Of Shanahan

New head coach returns home to lead 49ers at birthplace of his offensive innovation.

- Craig Massei

Growing up with the 49ers can have its advantages. Huge advantages. Lifelong advantages. And as Kyle Shanahan embarks on the next exhilarating, adrenaline-charged stage of his relatively young life, he’ll be able to look back at where he came from to know where he’s going as the new guiding light of the wobbling San Francisco franchise.

The 49ers might be looking a little shaky these days, but their footing just got a lot more solid in early February when an offensive virtuoso the team helped mold as a young teenager opted to come full circle and return to the impressionable surroundings of some of his most formative years in football.

Shanahan remembers them well. How could he ever forget them?

Living with the team through the summers of 1992-1994 as a training camp ball boy, Shanahan hung out with future Hall of Famers such as Steve Young and Jerry Rice, among other legendary 49ers. He was connecting roommates with iconic offensive line coach Bobb McKittrick. He had late-night, every night, ping-pong battles with Pro Bowl wide receiver John Taylor.

And all the while, he watched his father create one of the greatest runs of spectacular offense the NFL ever has seen while helping lead the 49ers to the last of their five Super Bowl championships.

“It’s always been a special part of my heart,” Shanahan said. “I had three good years here, and I have a very high expectation of what I’ve always thought this franchise is and that it was the best franchise in sports.”

The 49ers no longer can be considered the best franchise in sports. Far from of it, as of today. But Shanahan knows it can be different, because he was part of it when it was different.