Kyle Shanahan takes an unexpected break from play calling

The first San Francisco 49ers preseason game of 2024 is in the books, with the 49ers falling 17-13 on the road against the Tennessee Titans in a game where most of the team’s starters did not play.

Following the game, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters about what he saw Saturday night, and why he gave a particularly interesting opportunity to one of his assistant coaches. Other topics of conversation Saturday included the performance of the team’s quarterbacks during the game, as well as some thoughts on rookie safety Malik Mustapha, who made one of the game’s biggest plays on defense. We have a rundown of those items of interest in this edition of 49ers Notebook.

A night off from playcalling

Saturday’s game against the Titans was a chance for a number of 49ers backup players to get extended playing time… and for an assistant coach to get an unprecedented opportunity to take over the play calling on offense.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan let offensive passing game specialist Klay Kubiak call plays on Saturday night, which was a particularly unexpected development given the fact Shanahan had previously not let anyone else call the plays at any point during his time with the team.

“I have a lot of confidence in Klay, but it was one of the more boring things for me personally,” Shanahan said. “That was like my first game in 16 years not calling plays.”

Not surprisingly, Shanahan was at kind of a loss when it came to how he’d occupy his time on the sidelines during the game.

“I didn’t really know what to do with my hands,” Shanahan said. “I got to throw a red flag. I was excited about that. Called a timeout, I think a couple of them, but it is a little different.”

What made Shanahan decide to put Kubiak in the playcalling spotlight? It was simply a matter of giving a deserving coach an opportunity.

“I just wanted to give Klay a chance to do it,” Shanahan said of Kubiak, who has been with the 49ers in different roles since 2021. “It’s not too big of a deal and he’s earned it and he’s been more than ready to do it and does a lot in practice and wanted to give him the opportunity tonight.”

49ers backup quarterback Brandon Allen played the first half of the game and gave Kubiak a thumbs-up for his playcalling decisions.

“It was fun to have Klay calling the plays,” Allen said, via David Lombardi of the Athletic. “I thought he did a great job. He was calling them up in the box. I thought every time a play came in I had a lot of confidence in what he was calling. I thought most of it was going to work.”

Shanahan expects to be back in his playcalling role for next Sunday’s preseason game against the New Orleans Saints.