San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has taken responsibility for the car crash that left him with a series of significant injuries.
Shanahan addressed the incident Tuesday while speaking with a small group of 49ers beat reporters inside his office at the team’s facility, offering new details about the July 14 collision in northern California.
The 46-year-old coach said he was involved in a crash with an SUV near his home in Palo Alto. He suffered a broken nose, three broken ribs, a broken hand, more than 40 facial stitches and a serious concussion.
Paramedics transported Shanahan to a nearby hospital, though he was discharged later that same day. ESPN reported that the other driver was unharmed and that neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the crash.
Shanahan, who has three children — son Carter and daughters Stella and Lexi — with his wife, Mandy, told reporters the accident happened after his cell phone slipped off his lap and dropped between the seats while he was driving. As he reached down to retrieve it, his vehicle drifted into the opposite lane and collided with an oncoming SUV.
The coach said he wanted to clarify the circumstances after a clerical mistake in a local law enforcement database incorrectly listed the female SUV driver as the person responsible for the crash.
Kyle Shanahan has acknowledged that he caused the car crash that left him injured last week
Shanahan added that he was traveling about 20 mph at the time of impact. He said the airbag deployed and broke his nose, but he remembered the collision clearly and did not lose consciousness.
The California Post obtained a short clip of the dispatch audio from the crash and one officer can be heard saying to the first responders that one driver is ‘bleeding from the head.’
On Monday’s episode of Pro Football Talk Live, NFL insider Chris Simms revealed he had seen pictures of Shanahan’s grisly injuries and he was lucky to still have his eyesight.
‘I get a text from Kyle’s wife, Mandy. She texts myself and my wife, and it’s like, “Oh no, Kyle’s been a part of some horrible accident”,’ Simms said.
‘And she sent us some pictures right off the bat, and it was like, “Oh my gosh.” So just to let you know, paint the picture, you’ve seen the injury report, the broken ribs, 40 stitches in the face, the broken nose, broken left hand. Of course, the bad concussion.
‘But when you first see it, and it’s fresh, and some of the cuts are still wide open, I mean, it’s jarring. It’s jarring.
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‘He was this close to maybe losing his right eye, right? The scar is so big right here. And so all that stuff was just crazy to see. And, of course, I was thinking of my friend, but yeah, it’s tough. And he’s still battling with this concussion. . . . He’s healing.
‘His face looks a whole lot better, but this concussion, of course, being a part of that kind of accident is lingering and it’s giving him issues, and he’s certainly still dealing with that.’
The San Francisco 49ers head coach pictured with wife Mandy before this year’s Super Bowl
Shanahan and Mandy share three children together, son Carter and daughters Stella and Lexi
As a result of his injuries, Shanahan will be limited in what he can do during 49ers training camp although he was pictured watching practice on Sunday in a major sign he’s on the road to recovery.
His longtime ally Chris Foerster, who serves as assistant head coach, has taken on a bigger role in training camp with help from new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
The 49ers’ general manager, John Lynch, told reporters on Saturday that he expects Shanahan to be healthy enough to coach the team in their opening game against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne on September 10.
‘The timeline kind of takes care of itself. He’s got to meet certain markers,’ Lynch told reporters on Saturday. ‘But I think the expectation is that long before that he’ll be better.’
Shanahan, the son of legendary NFL head coach and two-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan, has been in charge of the 49ers since 2017.
He was poached after his Falcons offense led the league in points scored and helped the team reach the Super Bowl in 2016, when Atlanta infamously let a 28–3 lead slip to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
The 49ers are once again considered among the contenders to win the NFC and reach the Super Bowl this season with a star-studded roster that includes Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Nick Bosa and Brock Purdy.
