Like any coach trying to win a Super Bowl, Kyle Shanahan has had to deal with the repercussions of losing with the 49ers -- relieving defensive coordinator Steve Wilks of his duties Wednesday afternoon.
If anyone knows the struggle coaches experience when going for it all, it’s Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors.
Across the Bay, the 10-year coach is all too familiar with the highs and lows of championship pursuits. Kerr chimed in on Shanahan and the 49ers’ rough end to their season when talking to 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” on Wednesday.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"Coaching, to me, is all about doing the best you can to put your team in a position to succeed,” Kerr told Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “Kyle has done that and more his entire run [with San Francisco]. This team has been so good. I feel so bad for them because they're so close. But this is the gig. When things go wrong, as the coach, you're going to take a lot of heat. That's part of it, but Kyle's a brilliant coach.
“I feel for the Niners, but they're crushing it. Year after year, they're putting together such great teams. They're so well-coached. I feel for those guys. I want them to get over the hump."
Kerr knows what Shanahan is going through after the 49ers' 25-22 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII, as the Warriors coach has lost two NBA championships with Golden State.
San Francisco 49ers
But unlike Shanahan, Kerr has made it “over the hump,” winning four titles with the Warriors since taking over for Mark Jackson in 2014.
Kerr was the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 2015-16 and is a seven-time Coach of the Month award winner. He’s a crucial part of the living Warriors dynasty featuring future Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame selections Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Unfortunately for Shanahan, he cannot rival Kerr's success as a coach yet -- mainly due to the overwhelming stardom of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes -- winner of two Super Bowls over the 49ers.
“Right now, [the 49ers] got a Patrick Mahomes problem,” Kerr declared. “That seems like what the whole [NFL] has right now, they're running into one of the great QBs of all time.”
Like Shanahan, Kerr has had many run-ins with Hall of Fame talents, such as current Los Angeles Lakers forward Lebron James, whom Kerr has faced in the NBA Finals across four straight years (2015-2018) when James was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
If Shanahan wants to bring San Francisco its sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy in franchise history, the 49ers likely must go through Mahomes.