One staple of a Kyle Shanahan-led practice is the music blaring over the loudspeakers. Around the holidays, however, it comes with a twist that rarely lives up to the 49ers coach's expectations.
"I actually dig the practice before Christmas, which was last Friday. I want Christmas music the whole time," Shanahan said Friday morning on KNBR. "And literally for six years in a row, our DJ [Austin Moss] has failed at it.
"After like four songs, he puts everyone to sleep. So I really challenged him hard this year. He made it about seven songs before [49ers left tackle] Trent Williams was complaining and asking me if we could put something else on. … We kept the Christmas music going, and it ended up hurting practice because again, he failed. There was only like five exciting songs, and everything else put us to sleep."
Putting together the perfect Christmas playlist for an NFL practice comes with its challenges. It needs to be upbeat the entire time, heavily leaning on songs such as "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and avoiding tunes such as "The Christmas Shoes."
Even Shanahan admits it's difficult.
"It’s actually harder than people think, too," Shanahan jokingly said. "I complained about it to [Moss] all the time. And then we’ve got Christmas at home Sunday, and I was in charge of our mix. About a half hour into it, I felt the pressure because I ran out of good songs. It’s a lot harder, I feel like, once you have to do it."
Shanahan has played music at 49ers practice since he arrived in the Bay Area in 2017. It's something he picked up while serving as the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator from 2015 to 2016, although Shanahan complained that head coach Dan Quinn played the music "twice as loud" as the 49ers do these days.
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"There's something about music that keeps you going, keeps you fresh," Shanahan said.
As long as it's a Christmas playlist constructed to his high standards.