Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers reacts in the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game at SoFi Stadium on Jan. 30, 2022.
Kyle Shanahan gave a cryptic update ahead of his 49ers team's preseason opener on Friday.
Speaking on KNBR on Tuesday, Shanahan shared that the situation regarding his headwear for this upcoming season was one of genuine concern. But the most interesting tidbit of this reveal was that he never specified who his direct antagonist is for this problem.
“I have such beef with them right now,” Shanahan said about an unknown entity controlling his hats. “... It's a tough issue going on. They won't let me pick out my own one. They won't let me wear any one that's from a [previous] year, so I can't wear like an older one. I've got to wear the new ones that they give this year. Unfortunately, there's none I like wearing. So hopefully, we can figure it out or wait till Salute to Service.”
It’s not clear who exactly the “they” Shanahan is referring to are, and not even host Brian Murphy could recognize who the coach was referring to. Doing his journalistic due diligence, he followed up with Shanahan, asking specifically if the Niners coach meant that the NFL was the problem. Shanahan clarified that it wasn’t the league, and somehow gave an even more vague answer.
“It's just deals. I don't want to go too hard and get fined or anything but trust me, trust me, I'm upset about it,” he said.
Shanahan’s headwear has been a subject of serious focus during his tenure in San Francisco. In 2019, during the team’s Super Bowl run, he famously wore a large red flat-brimmed hat that had a hilariously small version of the Niners logo on it. The success of that year, along with superstitions from his wife, got him to wear the cap constantly on the sideline. But after a subpar 2020 season, he announced that he wouldn’t be wearing that famous hat — and the team nearly made the Super Bowl last year.
Somehow this saga has gained a new wrinkle, as an unnamed power is now making this issue one of actual concern for Shanahan. If you know the entity stifling Shanahan's hat expression, please get in touch.
Gabe Fernandez is a sports reporter for SFGATE. You can reach him at gabe.fernandez@sfgate.com.