The San Francisco 49ers may be in jeopardy of their head coach, Kyle Shanahan, being away from the team to start the season due to the recent news of his injuries in a car crash that took place a couple of weeks ago.
Kyle Shanahan reportedly broke a few ribs, his nose, and part of his hand. He has still been around the team in some capacity as 49ers camp has begun, but there’s a chance his recovery time will extend into the 2026 season.
Recently, a 49ers reporter stated that San Francisco could be in ‘danger’ if Shanahan has to miss any games in September or October.
The San Francisco 49ers named assistant head coach and offensive line coach Chris Foerster as acting interim head coach.
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GettyPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 11: Head coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers looks on before the NFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on January 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
San Francisco 49ers reporter and writer Grant Cohn is not pleased with the job Foerster has done in his early going as acting head coach of the 49ers.
He wrote (on July 30): “The 49ers currently have Jim Tomsula 2.0 as their head coach. They can’t afford Kyle Shanahan to miss any games this season.”
Well, I mean, considering Kyle Shanahan is one of the best coaches in the NFL, yeah, the 9ers can’t afford him missing any games, but a Jim Tomsula 2.0 reference just a week into training camp? Is that fair or foul?
The reason Grant Cohn is likely making this statement and comparing Foerster to Tomsula is the fact they were both really good positional coaches, but not necessarily fit for a head coaching position.
Jim Tomsula served as the 49ers’ head coach after Jim Harbaugh, but similarly to Chris Foerster, he had never been an offensive or defensive coordinator before his promotion.
Tomsula was then fired after the 2021 season in favor of Kyle Shanahan.
And during Tomsula’s tenure as head coach, the 49ers’ offense faced a bad regression, which is likely what Cohn is also worried about.
However, 49ers fans might want to be more worried about the stacking injuries/drama surrounding the team in the early going of camp rather than who their interim head coach is, because Foerster will obviously go back to his role as assistant head coach and offensive line coach once Shanahan is clear to return.
NFL.com’s Kevin Patra wrote (about what Chris Foerster’s said about his role as interim head coach):
“Kyle, one of the greatest things he does is how he leads a team meeting and talks football. Teaches the team football, teaches the team everything, you know. That’s going to be more of a group effort than ever. It’s not going to all fall on me. As far as certain things, we’ll all take a piece, and that’s how this thing’s going to be done. Truly, when John said what the release said, that listed my name but then said it’s going to be done by all the assistants.”
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