That’s one way to keep yourself involved in football.
One of the takeaways from Kyle Shanahan’s breakfast chat with the media Tuesday was the status of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. He’s been rehabbing the best he can, but he’s also been talking to Shanahan. No, not Kyle, the elder Shanahan. Mike Shanahan.
If there’s anyone besides Kyle Shanahan that can keep Garoppolo sharp and be a person to bounce ideas off while watching film, it’s his dad. In fact, I wouldn’t surprised if Mike Shanahan was putting Garoppolo through his own quarterback school.
Steve Young’s autobiography goes into great depth on just how detail-oriented Mike Shanahan is with film work. Given that one would have to guess a lot of Kyle’s scheme is descended from his dad, it would translate over well.
But the film room. Well, this is what Young said in his autobiography about the film room when he first met Shanahan in 1992:
In the spring, I [Young] flew out to meet [Mike] Shanahan. It didn’t take long to see he was fanatical about preparation. During the offseason we spent some time in the film room. He showed me film of every instance when I scrambled in 1991. I scrambled 66 times. He knew every play. He knew exactly what I’d done. And he noticed something. Every time I pulled the ball down and scrambled, I was determined to gain yardage. He wanted to change that. He was not opposed to me running the ball, but he wanted me to maintain the option of passing right up until the moment I crossed the line of scrimmage. “I just want you to take a peek before you reach the line of scrimmage,” he told me. “It will make you more of a run-pass threat.”
To start the 1992 season, the 49ers were playing the New York Giants and this shows you how meticulous Mike Shanahan was:
I’ve gone over the playbook so many times that I have it memorized cover to cover. A couple of hours before kickoff, Mike Shanahan approaches me and says: “Let’s go over it one more time.”
“Mike, I’ve memorized it.”
“Yeah, let’s just do it one more time.”
I have never worked with anyone who is so relentless about preparation. He has never coached anyone so willing to be pushed to get better and better. I nickname him “Let’s Go Over It One More Time Shanahan”
That’s what Garoppolo is getting with Mike Shanahan.
The offseason quarterback schools that Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers went through with their respective coaches isn’t possible with the CBA. I’m not sure if even Mike Shanahan is allowed to do much in the offseason, but if he can work with Garoppolo and Kyle can’t, Garoppolo has a hell of a tutor. Because if anyone know’s Kyle Shanahan’s system or his playcalling tendencies, it’s his old man.
And if Steve Young became what he was from the elder Shanahan, just think what Garoppolo can do.
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