NFL coaches have the ability to get their hands on any piece of team swag imaginable with a simple request to an equipment manager, and that is why it is so puzzling that Kyle Shanahan chooses to wear a hat that looks like it was designed on some bootleg merchandise website. As it turns out, the San Francisco 49ers head coach has continued to wear the hat out of superstition.
Just not his own.
Shanahan has been wearing a red, flat-brimmed hat all season that has a tiny 49ers logo on it. The hat has been a very popular topic of conversation among fans.
So where do we stand on Kyle Shanahan’s hat? pic.twitter.com/KSSLwK6Uiw
— The Ringer (@ringer) January 12, 2020
Kyle Shanahan's 49ers hat looks like he made it on CustomInk but accidentally uploaded the icon-sized image of the team logo from Google pic.twitter.com/XJqY3Bnxfr
— Tom Dehlin (@tdehlin90) October 8, 2019
Kyle Shanahan's hat looks like it was designed with low resolution clip art from Microsoft Piant. pic.twitter.com/g6GX1UZSCI
— HAT CLUB (@HatClub) January 19, 2020
Shanahan was asked about the hat this week, and he says he liked it originally but has wanted to make a change. However, his wife Mandy believes changing hats now would mess with the Niners’ juju, and Shanahan says he doesn’t want to hear it from the Mrs. if he swaps hats and his team loses.
“I liked it, but I wanted to change,” Shanahan said, per Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle. “And I told my wife I was going to do that, and she freaked out on me. She tells me that was the reason we’re winning. I know it’s not, but if I don’t wear the hat and we lose, I’ll have to deal with that forever. I’ll finish it out this year, there’s only one game left.”
Shanahan is not the first 49ers head coach to have his wardrobe become a topic of discussion, and we don’t blame him for not changing now. Whether he’s superstitious or not, there’s no need to switch hats with one game remaining in the season. With the way the 49ers have dominated their opponents for the majority of the year, why risk it?
