SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers gave coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch multi-year contract extensions on Friday.
The duo joined the 49ers together in 2017 and by their third season built up a team that had won just two games the year before they arrived into a consistent contender.
The Niners made it to the Super Bowl in the 2019 season before losing to Kansas City and the NFC title game in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022. San Francisco is off to a 3-0 start this season after beating the New York Giants 30-12 on Thursday night for their second 3-0 start in the past 25 seasons.
San Francisco is 55-46 in six-plus seasons under Shanahan and Lynch with six playoff wins. The Niners are 45-25 since the start of the 2019 season and rank fifth in scoring (26.4 ppg) and second in yards per play (5.94). Shanahan’s innovative offensive schemes have helped overcome the lack of a top quarterback on the roster.
The 49ers have done a good job amassing talent under this regime, drafting George Kittle, Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk who have developed into some of the top players at their positions.
San Francisco has also pulled off big trades, acquiring All Pro left tackle Trent Williams from Washington in 2020 and star running back Christian McCaffrey from Carolina in the middle of last season.
There have been some glaring misses as well. San Francisco passed up an opportunity to draft Patrick Mahomes in 2017 and then traded three first-round picks to draft quarterback Trey Lance third overall in 2021. Lance started just four games in his first two seasons and was sent to Dallas for a fourth-round pick last month.
That move didn’t prove to be a major setback because San Francisco found starting quarterback Brock Purdy with the final pick of the 2022 draft. Purdy has significantly outplayed his draft position and has been an ideal quarterback for Shanahan’s system since taking over as starter last December.
Purdy has won all eight of his regular season starts and two more in the playoffs, with his only loss as a starter coming in the NFC title game at Philadelphia last season when he injured his elbow on the opening drive.
Purdy is back healthy this season playing at a highly efficient level as San Francisco has scored 30 points in each game.
Now all that’s left for Shanahan and Lynch to do is get over the hump in the postseason and win the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl and first since the 1994 season.
