With another chance to break through and win his first Lombardi Trophy just a few days away, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan isn't spending any time thinking about what winning or losing Super Bowl LVIII will mean for him or the conversations that have surrounded his first seven seasons in charge, Nick Wagoner of ESPN report.
On Thursday afternoon in the basement of the 49ers' hotel, Shanahan was asked what losing to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday would mean for reinforcing the idea that he -- head coach of the Niners for Super Bowl LIV and two NFC championships, as well as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons' Super Bowl LI run -- can't win the biggest game of all.
"I deal with it the same way if we win," Shanahan said. "I celebrate with our team. I celebrate with my family and I move on with the rest of my life, which is being a father or son and coaching and working and doing all that. Narrative, good or bad, is just a narrative ... I just don't want regrets. I just want to do everything that makes sense to myself, that makes sense for our team. And when you do that, that's what I have found.
"No matter how hard something is or good something is, you always keep perspective of what it really is. If you want your perspective to be someone else's narrative, good luck being happy in life. Or successful."
By now, it's no secret that Shanahan and the Niners have been knocking on the door of a Super Bowl win for the better part of the past five years. In 2017, Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over a downtrodden franchise that won two games the previous year. At the time he was hired, Shanahan was San Francisco's fourth coach in as many years.
After a couple of difficult rebuilding years, the Niners surged to a Super Bowl appearance in year three before coughing up a 10-point fourth quarter lead to the Chiefs at the end of the 2019-20 season. The Niners have been within a game of the Super Bowl the past two years, conceding a late lead to the Los Angeles Rams in the 2021 NFC Championship Game and then falling to the Philadelphia Eagles last year after playing most of the game without a healthy quarterback.
Shanahan, 44, is only wrapping up his seventh season on the job but is widely regarded as one of the league's best coaches. Those that have been around Shanahan and known him the longest, like linebackers coach Johnny Holland, know what it would mean for him to break through Sunday.
"When I think of legacy, I think of my dad," Shanahan said. "I still feel like I'm somewhat young and it just doesn't really work that with me. And I don't think it works that way with a lot of people. You're just trying to win that game and that game is always the next one. Finally, we're in a game where this is the last one of the year. And these are the ones that count. So, you understand that. You're aware of that ... Hopefully when the game is over, you can sit back and think about that stuff and enjoy it."
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