John Elway and the Denver Broncos capitalized on this year’s offseason, bringing in head coach Vance Joseph, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave. Yet, other teams are not following in suit. NFL insider Ian Rapoport has reported that the San Francisco 49ers and recently named head coach Kyle Shanahan, will not be hiring an offensive coordinator.
The plan for #49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is to have QB coach Rich Scangarello, run-game guru Mike McDaniel…and coordinate the offense himself
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 8, 2017
Mike McDaniel and Rich Scangarello are both familiar names to Shanahan, due to the time they spent together on the Atlanta Falcons staff. Yet, the decision to run without an offensive coordinator is rare. For the 2017 season, 30 of the 32 teams are expected to have an offensive coordinator on staff.
Can you guess the other team that plans to not have an offensive coordinator? That’s right, the Cleveland Browns.
Shanahan is coming off an impressive season with the Falcons as offensive coordinator. According to nfl.com, his offense bolstered an average of: 33.8 points, 295.3 passing yards and 120.5 rushing yards. It is understandable with these numbers, that he is confident in his ability to run an offensive scheme. It is worth mentioning however, that his questionable pass-happy play-calling during the second half of the Super Bowl may have cost the Falcons the game.
Shanahan is to be introduced to the media as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers this Thursday, Feb. 9.