49ers make the news official: Kyle Shanahan is new head coach

The Atlanta Falcons’ epic collapse in Super Bowl LI wasn’t enough to shake the 49ers’ trust in Kyle Shanahan. At 4:15 p.m. on Monday, the team tweeted what everyone had assumed for several weeks - that Shanahan will be the 20th head coach in 49ers history.

The team said he will be formally introduced at a press conference later his week at Levi’s Stadium.

“As an offensive mind, I think he stands alone in the National Football League, as evidenced by the explosive and record-setting offense in Atlanta,” new San Francisco general manager John Lynch said in a press release. “Though he grew up around coaching, what has most impressed me about Kyle is that he’s become his own man in the profession. Our philosophies on football and our visions for leading the 49ers back to being a championship team align in every way.”

Shanahan had this to say in the release: “As a young man, I had the unique benefit of being exposed to the storied history of the San Francisco 49ers firsthand. From that exposure, I developed great respect for those who created a world-class, championship standard. … John and I look forward to establishing a strong culture that will serve as our foundation for constructing this team.”

ESPN reported that the 49ers gave Shanahan a six-year contract, just as they had with Lynch.

What a difference a day made for Shanahan. Sunday night, he was widely vilified for his play calling in a 34-28 overtime loss to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Shanahan looked like a genius for much of the game as Atlanta took a commanding 28-3 lead, keeping the Patriots defense off-balance with motion and misdirection, and with an effective run-pass balance. But it all fell apart as New England stormed back to tie the game with 57 seconds left in regulation, then win it in overtime without the Falcons running a single offensive play.

The problems started after the Patriots had trimmed their deficit to 28-12.

With 8:31 remaining, the Falcons faced third-and-1 from their own 36. They had been highly effective running the ball against New England for most of the day, but Shanahan dialed up a pass and quarterback Matt Ryan coughed up the ball while getting sacked by Dont’a Hightower. Alan Branch recovered for the AFC team, and it took Tom Brady and the Patriots just five plays to score a touchdown, and another to add a 2-point conversion.

The Falcons quickly moved deep into New England territory on their next possession. But after Devonta Freeman lost a yard on a run play, Shanahan went back to the air. Ryan was sacked again (by Trey Flowers) on a deep drop, left tackle Jake Matthews was called for holding on the next snap and Atlanta was forced to punt. A field goal there would have all but sewn up the Falcons’ first NFL championship. Instead, the battle-tested Patriots came back to win their fifth title under Bill Belichick.

Among Shanahan’s postgame detractors were two former 49ers quarterbacks working ESPN’s postgame show.

“I can’t tell you how inexcusable that is,” Steve Young, who led San Francisco to victory in Super Bowl XXIX, said of the deep drop on second-and-11. “That cannot happen. The ball has got to come out. The play-calling cannot put it into a deep drop. Those are things that lose Super Bowls.”

“They relied on that mantra of ‘just stay aggressive, just stay aggressive,’ ” Trent Dilfer said. “When actually wisdom, and discernment, and calmness and being conservative is what would have won them the game.”

Vinny Cerrato was even tougher on Shanahan. Speaking on KNBR 1050’s “The Audible” on Monday morning, the former 49ers director of player personnel said: “All you gotta do is run the ball three times, eat up their timeouts, their defense is exhausted. (The Falcons) kick a field goal, you’re up 11 with like three minutes to go and the game is basically over. Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

Shanahan attempted to defend his aggressive play calls after the game.

“It’s not really the run-pass ratio that I look at,” he said. “It’s you stay on the field, and you run your offense. We went three-and-out two times, which was huge. I think we had second-and-1 on both of those. To not convert on second-and-1 and then third, it was tough. That’s why we let them get back into the game.”

But Shanahan may have been more candid away from the microphones. Zach Klein, sports director at WSB, the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, tweeted early Monday morning: “Those who spoke with Kyle Shanahan last night at Falcons team hotel tell me he said ‘I blew it’ #SB51.”

Regardless of how badly Shanahan might have blown his chance at a Super Bowl ring, he remained all but a foregone conclusion to replace Chip Kelly and become the 49ers’ fourth head coach in four years. The Niners first interviewed Shanahan on Jan. 6, but had to wait until after the Super Bowl to finalize any deal with him.

The 37-year-old coach was the architect of an offense that led the NFL with 540 points (81 more than any other team) and finished in the top five in both rushing and passing in 2016. The Associated Press named him NFL assistant coach of the year and his quarterback, Ryan, was NFL most valuable player.

It was probably those results that spurred wide receiver Torrey Smith, who has been woefully underused in two seasons with the 49ers, to tweet an emoji of a hand making the “OK” sign in response to Shanahan’s hiring.

Before his two seasons in Atlanta, Shanahan previously was offensive coordinator for Houston (2008-09), Washington (2010-13) and Cleveland (2014). He learned the game at the side of his father, Mike Shanahan, who was 49ers offensive coordinator from 1992 to 1994 and later won 178 games as an NFL head coach, including a pair of Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos.

Kyle Shanahan was a 49ers ball boy as a kid, and spent his freshman year at Saratoga High School when his dad was still with the team.

Shanahan’s path to an NFL head-coaching job seemed almost preordained, and even a ruinous Super Bowl outcome wasn’t enough to derail him.

You can reach staff writer Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.