PHOENIX — Kyle Shanahan has heard the comparisons between his newest receiver on the San Francisco 49ers, Mike Evans, and his old favorite, the great Julio Jones, back when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons.
Two low-maintenance guys who catch everything and never complain when the ball doesn’t come their way. Here’s the thing, though: That would have been impossible for Jones.
“There wasn’t ever one time that we didn’t give Julio the ball,” Shanahan said Monday, smiling.
Shanahan is in great spirits these days, entering his 10th season as the head coach of the 49ers. His team won a playoff game last season despite a rash of injuries, and now Shanahan gets all those players back, plus Evans, receiver Christian Kirk and linebacker Dre Greenlaw, whom he calls one of his favorite players ever.
And Shanahan’s having a fun offseason, too, having coached a bunch of NFL players in a flag-football tournament 10 days ago, after serving as a TV analyst at the Super Bowl before that. He wouldn’t mind trying the TV thing again, but not for a while.
“I’m good coaching,” Shanahan said at the NFL owners’ meetings at the Biltmore Resort. “I love coaching. Even though I look like I’ve aged 10 years … because
I physically have aged 10 years, I still feel good.
“My family still loves it. I think they would kill me if I was home a lot more.”
With the 2026 season, Shanahan will tie Bill Walsh for the longest tenure as 49ers coach at 10 seasons.
“I knew I was getting up there,” Shanahan said. “Mariucci is ahead of me, right?”
No, he passed Steve Mariucci two years ago. He’s tied with Buck Shaw for second.
And he might put Walsh way back in the rearview mirror, as 49ers owner Jed York said Monday that he hopes Shanahan sticks around forever.
“I think Kyle’s got three years left (on his contract),” York said. “I want Kyle to be here for a long time. He’s been here for a long time. I want him to be here even longer.”
Known as one of the game’s best play callers, Shanahan didn’t deal with pressure as well while he was sitting at the broadcast table on Super Bowl Sunday.
“I think I’d enjoy it more the second time,” he said. “I was a little out of my element, so I had some anxiety about it. … They kept asking questions, and I want to answer them, but I’m like, Man, I still work in this league, and I have to play against these people. I couldn’t just talk.
“You have to be so strategic. You want to say something that actually makes sense, but you don’t want to say something that helps anybody.”
As for the flag-football tournament, Shanahan knew the NFL players were in trouble the first time he turned on the game film of Team USA.
“I thought it was going to be like a seven-on-seven tournament,” Shanahan said of the format, which is actually five-on-five. “You never like showing up and realizing you’re walking into a situation you’re going to get embarrassed in.”
The NFL players were outscored 106-44 by Team USA over the three games. At least the dinners and parties were cool, Shanahan said.
He was worried about NFL quarterbacks Joe Burrow, Jayden Daniels and Jalen Hurts going against “YouTubers” like Logan Paul in some of the games. Shanahan’s guy, Brock Purdy, was far from the tournament, enjoying a healthy offseason after dealing with a turf toe injury last year.
Shanahan shared the offseason plan he typically gives Purdy.
“It always starts with the cut-ups with Brock,” Shanahan said. “We go pretty hard on him on every bad clip. You give him soft compliments on the good clips, and he’s really good at taking (them). And we give him a plan when he comes in based on the film.”
Shanahan and his staff usually give Purdy five things to work on.
“That depends on how many things we see, and then he starts in Phase 1,” Shanahan said. “And Brock is really fun that way because he’s fun to coach, because he’s always humble and never takes it personally. And he usually fixes that stuff by training camp.”
By which point, Purdy will be throwing to Evans. Early and often, all season long.
“Mike’s the man,” Shanahan said. “To me, he is definitely a Hall of Famer. He’s as good as it gets in the way he plays, as a competitor and (with) his talent.”
Evans said he left the Buccaneers after 12 seasons — despite a richer contract offer — because he wanted to play for Shanahan and with Purdy.
“That he chose to come to us shows how important football is to this guy,” Shanahan said. “We have a number of veterans, and I love the thought of pairing him up with some of these guys that are playing for one reason.
“And that’s to try to get to the Super Bowl.”