Why Shanahan won’t dial up Hail Mary play before halftime

Why Shanahan won’t dial up Hail Mary play before halftime originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

There’s a reason 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan rarely calls for a Hail Mary on the final play before halftime.

“My dad [Mike Shanahan] would get mad at me every second quarter when I’d call a Hail Mary from the 50-yard line,” Shanahan told The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue on “The Playcallers” podcast [h/t Niners Wire].

Shanahan, who first became an offensive coordinator in 2008 with the Houston Texans, would often call for the play in the closing seconds of the second quarter as a young coach.

His father always would let him hear about it.

“I’ve called plays long enough,” Mike said to Kyle early in his career. “Do you know what it does to a quarterback when he comes out in the third quarter and he has two picks up on that scoreboard instead of one?”

Kyle Shanahan initially rejected that thought process, responding that quarterbacks shouldn’t care so much about their individual stats. But then he learned his dad’s lesson the hard way.

“Five years later, I’m not calling that Hail Mary,” Shanahan said. “‘That just messed up my quarterback. He had two picks that weren’t his fault, then he threw a third on a Hail Mary and now I can’t get him to throw the ball in the second half.

“‘Oh man, my dad was right. He knew what he was talking about.’ “

If 49ers Faithful ever has grievances about Shanahan’s conservative play-calling late in the first half, they can point to this lesson learned to explain his tendencies.

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast