Kyle Shanahan's 9-Year Transformation Shocks 49ers' Fred Warner: 'Looks 60 Now'
The stress that comes with being an NFL head coach has to be on a level of its own, and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner admitted as much about Kyle Shanahan. Since becoming the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, Shanahan has posted an 82-67 record, including numerous high-stress games and moments, including two Super Bowl losses. Not surprisingly, Shanahan looks quite a bit different in 2026 than he did when first becoming the 49ers' head coach in 2017, and a side-by-side image of him put the stress that comes with his job on full display.
Fred Warner's Reaction to Kyle Shanahan's Dramatic Transformation
As Shanahan, the 49ers and the rest of the NFL gear up for the offseason after Super Bowl 60, Warner spoke about his head coach on Amon-Ra St. Brown's podcast, the St. Brown Podcast. A video showing Shanahan's side-by-side image from nine years ago, next to one of him from January 2025 quickly made the rounds, and Warner was asked about it, giving a brutally honest answer.
"Yeah. That’s what the game will do to you," Warner said. "I can’t even imagine what he’s gone through. Oh my gosh, he looked like a little kid at the combine, and all of a sudden, he looks like he’s 60 with all that gray hair."
Fred Warner was asked if he saw the video of Kyle Shanahan at the Combine 9 years ago and how young he looked compared to now:
— Coach Yac ???? (@Coach_Yac) January 28, 2026
“Yeah. That’s what the game will do to you. I can’t even imagine what he’s gone through. Oh my gosh, he looked like a little kid at the combine and all… pic.twitter.com/lANwEymQAX
The transformation is incredible, as Warner's not wrong about the photo on the left, taken when Shanahan was 38, showing the coach looking extremely young. Obviously, the day-to-day grind that effectively runs year-round for a head football coach is bound to bring an unreal amount of stress, and the photo on the right shows the 49ers coach at age 46.
How NFL Coaching Stress Has Aged Kyle Shanahan Since 2017
When Shanahan took over the job as the 49ers' head coach in 2017, it came after spending nine years as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, working for four different teams. He spent two years with the Houston Texans, four with the Washington Commanders, one with the Cleveland Browns and two with the Atlanta Falcons. Before that, he was the quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach for the Texans (2007 and 2006), along with a role as an offensive quality control coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005.
Working in any of those roles is no walk in the park in terms of stress, considering the constant pressure that comes with leading an NFL offense or a specific position. But since becoming the 49ers' head coach, he helped turn around a team that went 2-14 the year before Shanahan was hired.
After taking the job with San Francisco in 2017, Shanahan and company needed two years to turn things around, posting 6-10 and 4-12 records, but that turnaround came immediately after with the 49ers' first trip to the Super Bowl since 2012 in 2019. In the seven years from Shanahan's first Super Bowl appearance as a head coach to 2025, his teams have finished with 10 or more wins in five of seven seasons.
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