HOUSTON — Itap easy to misunderstand Kyle Shanahan. The Falcons’ offensive coordinator is young, intelligent, and confident. He doesn’t make much time for small talk.
He’s coordinating the NFL’s hottest offense going into Sunday’s against New England, just a year after his job appeared in jeopardy after Atlanta’s collapse in the second half of the season, when it lost seven of its last nine games after a 6-1 start.
Now, after Sunday’s Super Bowl, he’s poised to take over as head coach at San Francisco at age 37.
And yet his complicated personality leaves questions whether he’s a “leader of men,” a phrase thrown around when the Broncos recently chose Vance Joseph over Shanahan as their new head coach.
“Some of the smartest people in our profession are not understood. We’re coaching against one this week,” Falcons assistant head coach Raheem Morris said, referring to New England head coach Bill Belichick. “Until you play for the Patriots, until you play for the Falcons, you don’t know how much you’d love Bill Belichick and Dan Quinn. Until you play for a Kyle Shanahan and have some success under him, you (won’t) know how much you’ll love that guy or love to be around that guy.”
Falcons’ players and coaches attribute their remarkable offensive improvement from a year ago — 33.8 points, 415.8 yards per game compared to 21.2 points, 374.4 yards per game in 2015 — to a newfound trust and understanding of Shanahan.
“We didn’t change much up from year one to year two. Itap about continuing to teach,” Shanahan said. “Thatap how you grow. Itap going through those hard times and not completely abandoning what you’re not fully there yet at.”
Lessons learned
Jokes were rampant here Monday night when Shanahan briefly lost his backpack, which carried his Super Bowl game plan, at media night. It wasn’t funny at the time for Shanahan.
He revealed Wednesday the backpack contained his locked iPad, which had plays on it, but it also held his family’s Super Bowl tickets. Shanahan’s backpack would have been a gold mine if it landed in the wrong hands. Instead, a reporter accidentally grabbed the wrong backpack and later returned it.
In that iPad are plays that draw on the brilliance of Shanahan’s system, which often calls for running backs and to be lined up split wide to create mismatches against opposing linebackers. Quarterback Matt Ryan is in the midst of a likely MVP season because of his command of the offense and brilliant use of his many weapons.
The scheme often confuses defenses, including the Broncos, who lost 23-16 to Atlanta in Week 5. In 2015, it confused the Falcons more than it did their opponent.
“It was hard. Itap a difficult system,” Coleman said. “Last year, it was a lot of frustration because there were so many things I had to learn. … It was too much to handle.”
That was a common theme for Falcons players, even a couple of the veterans. Frustration built up internally toward Shanahan as losses mounted. Not a good sign for a coach who had some shaky relationships with players in his two previous coordinator stops (Washington and Cleveland).
Terry Robiskie, Atlanta’s long-time receivers coach, left to become the Titans’ offensive coordinator after the 2015 season. Falcons head coach Dan Quinn moved Morris from coaching defensive backs to receivers for the first time in his career, a move made primarily to use Morris’ ability to handle personalities to create cohesion between the coaching staff and , among other receivers. Quinn knew Morris could help Shanahan grow in that aspect too.
“Kyle has always been a gym rat,” Morris said. “When we were together in Tampa in 2004-05, he spent more time in the defensive room than the offensive room because he wanted to learn, grow and develop. And sometimes it comes across as a guy thatap not interested in some of the other people, but realistically he’s so locked in at the time.”
Players had to first like Shanahan and enjoy playing for him before they could trust him. A few Falcons confirmed they understand him a lot better now than they did a year ago.
“We’re all on the same page now,” Jones said.
Morris added: “If his personality is allowed to come out in meeting rooms and you start to understand him and know what he’s doing, which I think our players have done, itap a match made in heaven.”
Nearly a Bronco
The Falcons are bracing for life without Shanahan next season. He always had aspirations of being a head coach like his father, Mike, and he nearly got his first opportunity with the Broncos.
Shanahan was the second of three candidates to interview with Denver in hopes of replacing the retired .
“I really enjoyed meeting with Denver. I hadn’t been around (CEO) Joe Ellis and (general manager) since high school,” Shanahan said. “It was nice to sit around with guys that I knew when I was younger and see how we’ve all changed. I spent five hours talking with people. I thought it went great and I think they did too. Obviously they went with Vance. I thought that was a great decision too.”
Elway said Joseph was the best fit for the Broncos in large part because of his leadership skills. Shanahan would have been following in his father’s legacy.
“I don’t think that would have been as big of a deal to us as people say,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “I know it would have been talked about, but that really wasn’t what was exciting about the place. It was more their commitment to winning.”
