Troy Aikman names Kyle Shanahan as coach he would hire first if he were a GM

by: Nick Geddes 42 minutes ago NickGeddesNews

There are a lot of great coaches in the NFL . But one sticks out to Troy Aikman , the three-time Super Bowl champion and Monday Night Football announcer: Kyle Shanahan .

The San Francisco 49ers is on that shortlist of best coaches in the league. If Aikman were a general manager and could hire anyone, Shanahan would be his first call, he said on “Monday Night Countdown” ahead of the 49ers’ Week 16 road game against the Indianapolis Colts.

“He won’t get it because there’s other candidates that have had great years, but he’s certainly in the conversation for coach of the year. If I was a GM and could hire anybody, it would be Kyle Shanahan, and I’ve been saying that for a number of years,” Aikman said. “You watch his offense, you watch his defense — there’s an urgency and a purpose in everything they do and even in spite of the injuries that they’ve had, let’s look at the defensive side of the ball and what Robert Saleh has done.

“When you put on the film and watch them, they’re still playing to the 49er standard that we’re accustomed to seeing when Fred Warner and Nick Bosa were playing and that doesn’t happen. You can count on one hand the number of teams in this league that play with the urgency and the intensity that the 49ers do.”

Troy Aikman: “If I was a GM and could hire anybody, it would be Kyle Shanahan.” #NFL #MNF pic.twitter.com/VaHBEL9NXV

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 23, 2025

Kyle Shanahan has 49ers in good position heading into Week 16 vs. Colts

Shanahan, 46, is in his ninth season as head coach of the 49ers. He is 80-66 overall and has led San Francisco to three NFC West titles and a pair of Super Bowl appearances (2019, 2023).

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