Jimmy Garoppolo reportedly began studying Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers playbook nearly as soon as he learned he had been traded to San Francisco. Apparently he began learning it on an iPad during his flight from New England to the Bay.
However, such a complex playbook takes time to master, as his coach admitted this morning to Murph & Mac on his weekly hit the guys, adding that while he (Shanahan) is doing his best to simplify the book for Garoppolo in the short term, it’ll takes two seasons to fully grasp all the complexities of the high-octane schemes.
“Yeah, of course [I’m trying to simplify it]. I mean, you have to. You have no other option, and we’ll get as much as we can through these eight weeks, but you still won’t have it down throughout just these eight weeks. That’s something that takes an entire offseason, and even working with quarterbacks in the past, going through my first year with Matt Ryan, we worked all offseason together, and he had a lot down in the offseason, you go through a season, and then you get to that second year, and you feel so much more comfortable the second year going through it, so to give a guy kind of a crash course who has no experience in your verbiage and what you’re doing, to give him a crash course in the middle of the year, it’s a very uphill battle. So you’re definitely not going to get all of it, you have to be able to piece something together for them that gives them a chance to go out and function when the time happens.”
There are many reasons to expect Garoppolo to sign a long-term contract that will keep him in the Bay for years to come. The Niners’ abundance of cap space and Garoppolo’s stated desire to be a franchise quarterback are just two.
Shanahan certainly thinks that second year will be crucial to Garoppolo’s mastery of the offense, and has good reason to think so. Matt Ryan’s first year under Shanahan in 2015 led to a disappointing 8-8 season, but in 2016, Ryan earned MVP honors while leading his team to the Super Bowl, an 11-5 record, and the highest-scoring offense in the NFL.
Listen to the interview below. To hear Shanahan’s comments on Garoppolo and the playbook, skip to the 2:28 mark.