The 49ers' roster is a far cry from what it was when they went to the Super Bowl less than two years ago. But the team still has hope because of Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy.
In three seasons together, those two are 23-13 in the regular season with two NFC Championship appearances and a Super Bowl appearance. That's why Sports Illustrated ranks Shanahan and Purdy as the NFL's seventh-best head coach-quarterback duo.
"The Niners showed their faith in Purdy this offseason, signing him to a massive five-year extension worth $265 million." writes Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame. "While he doesn’t have quite the same dominant cast around him, Purdy still has an abundance of weapons in George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and others. Meanwhile, Shanahan is an excellent coach and one of the brilliant modern-day offensive gurus. All that’s missing is a Super Bowl ring."
The 49ers certainly did show their faith in Purdy by extending him after a miserable six-win season. They did not extend Shanahan, which makes you wonder how much faith they have left in him after he lost his second Super Bowl as a head coach.
Even though the 49ers had injuries last season, they still had Purdy, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings, Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and Deommodore Lenoir. They should have won more than 6 games. But they were a disorganized mess from the beginning of training camp. One of the worst-coached teams in the league last year.
Now, the pressure is on Shanahan to take this team back to the playoffs. And it's unlikely that Aiyuk will return to form before 2026. And it's unclear if Christian McCaffrey ever will be a dominant player again. He was not good last season.
Meanwhile, Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts just won a Super Bowl and they rank 10th on this list.
That seems wrong.