San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke out on rumors he could be making a move to Chicago at the end of the season.
The Chicago Bears will be on the hunt for a new permanent head coach in the offseason after firing Matt Eberflus following a humiliating Thanksgiving day loss.
And with the coaching carousel set to take the NFL by storm, speculation was sparked this week about Shanahan’s future in the Bay Area.
It was heavily speculated that a potential trade between the Niners and the Bears, which would see Shanahan be sent to Chicago, could be on the horizon.
But following his team’s 38-13 thrashing of the Bears, Shanahan shut down the rumor mill with an emphatic endorsement of his stint in San Francisco.
‘I know I don’t want to be any place in the world more than here,’ Shanahan told reporters. ‘My family feels just as strong if not stronger.’
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke out on rumors he could be traded
It had been heavily speculated this week that Shanahan could join the Chicago Bears
49ers general manager previously dismissed the suggestion as ‘rather comical’ when pressed on the situation as ‘rather comical.’
NFL insider Mike Florio first suggested the possibility of a trade earlier this week when he appeared on ‘The Rich Eisen Show.’
‘I feel like Shanahan and the 49ers are getting close to the point where they would benefit mutually from a fresh start…If you can get Shanahan and join him at the hip with Caleb Williams, are you kidding me?,’ Florio said.
‘This year just feels like it’s coming to an end from a standpoint of the nucleus of players that they have there. And you never know what’s happening behind the scenes.
‘I mention the 49ers because it’s been 10 years or so since they had Jim Harbaugh going into what was the fourth year of his tenure there. The first three years had been very successful … We reported at the time that the 49ers were close to trading Harbaugh to the Cleveland Browns.’
Eberflus’s huge mistake during the Bears’ 23-20 defeat to the Detroit Lions sealed his fate with Chicago firing him on Black Friday – just two hours after he was forced to address the media in his usual post-game Zoom call.
He is now the third head coach in the NFL to be fired this season, joining the New York Jets ‘ Robert Saleh and the New Orleans Saints ‘ Dennis Allen. However, he is the first Bears head coach to be fired in season in Chicago’s 100+-year history.
Eberflus made a mess of the final play of the game and allowed time to expire when the Bears still had a chance of making a field goal that would have sent the game to overtime.
The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus following their Thanksgiving loss
The manner of the Lions loss heaped more pressure on Eberflus, with his team last in NFC North
Chicago were 4-8 for the season at the time and Eberflus had overseen a so-far underwhelming first NFL season for quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.
The manner of the loss in Detroit heaped more pressure on Eberflus, with the Bears last in the NFC North, and ultimately proved to be the final nail in the coffin.
Rookie quarterback Williams, meanwhile, completed 20 of 39 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns.
Eberflus appeared to blame quarterback Williams for how the dying moments of the team’s loss to the Lions unfolded, despite refusing to call a timeout that could have saved the game.
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