Kyle Shanahan wants 49ers to emulate Warriors in key way

The San Francisco 49ers have become a Super Bowl favorite, and it appears that they’ve done it the way coach Kyle Shanahan wanted them to.

Shanahan said Wednesday that he wanted his team to emulate the Golden State Warriors with the mentality that anyone can be the team’s star player in any given game on any side of the ball.

#49ers Kyle Shanahan has long hoped his players would emulate the #Warriors in terms of any one can emerge as a star
"You've got an mvp, a defensive mvp, guys who don't care how it gets done, they just go out there and ball."

— Cam Inman (@CamInman) January 15, 2020

Shanahan’s wish seems to be coming true. On Monday, he relayed how cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon volunteered to take on Emmanuel Moseley’s special teams reps after Moseley replaced him at corner during the Divisional game against Minnesota.

After getting benched, #49ers CB Ahkello Witherspoon approached ST coach Richard Hightower and told him he was fine and was ready to take all of Emmanuel Moseley's reps on special teams. Kyle Shanahan said that spoke to way this team is built.

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) January 13, 2020

Shanahan’s coaching style clearly appears to be working. He’s not afraid to criticize some of his guys in public, but he’s also fostering a team ethos that everyone appears to have bought into. It’s no wonder they’re doing so well with that in mind, but they’ll have to win a championship to really seal the Warriors comparisons.