San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur are two of the brightest young minds in the NFL today. They’ve also managed to cultivate a friendship during their time in the league together.
However, Shanahan and LaFleur won’t exactly be on speaking terms this week as their teams prepare to do battle in the NFC divisional round of the playoffs.
The last time the Packers and the 49ers met in Week 3 of the 2021 regular season, the two coaches didn’t appear to be on the best of terms. After Green Bay beat San Francisco 30-28, thanks to some late game heroics from Aaron Rodgers, Shanahan and LaFleur shared a rather abrupt handshake at midfield.
The 49ers head coach assured everyone on Monday that he’s still on good terms with his close friend and that he’s been thrilled to see the Packers’ success. However, he knows he’ll have to put his support for LaFleur aside ahead of this weekend’s game.
“Matt’s my guy. Matt and I are totally good,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “I was pissed after that game because of how the game just ended. That was a tough one. It took a while to get over. But we’re good. I talked to Matt a lot. He’s done a hell of a job this year. I’ve been real happy for him, but that stops this week.”
“I’ve been real happy for [Packers coach Matt LaFleur], but that stops this week.” – #49ers HC Kyle Shanahanhttps://t.co/AzRwCWbkzl
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) January 17, 2022
The two head coaches shared much of their career together prior to landing the top jobs with the 49ers and the Packers. LaFleur was an assistant when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Houston, Washington, and Atlanta earlier in his career.
Since their early days on the same staff, the two coaches have become some of the most successful leaders in all of football. This weekend, one of them will have a chance to make the 2021 NFC Championship game.
Shanahan and LaFlauer will go toe-to-toe when the Packers and 49ers square off on Saturday night.
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