What Is Kyle Shanahan’s Record vs. Sean McVay? A Look at the 49ers-Rams Head Coaches’ Rivalry
After an epic overtime thriller last month, a pair of division rivals, the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, will play it out again this Sunday. Besides the match on the field, a battle of the minds will be happening on the sidelines between the two head coaches, Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. It will be the 19th all-time meeting between the two, but one coach has fared much better throughout the California rivalry.
However, until the last matchup a month ago, McVay and the Rams had claimed the previous three wins in the rivalry. McVay and the Rams also won the only playoff game played between the two– the NFC Championship game in 2022, when Los Angeles went on to win the Super Bowl.
Who Has the Better Head Coaching Career- Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan?
Since 2017, when their respective teams hired them, coach Shanahan holds the advantage with an 11-7 record. For their careers, McVay edges Shanahan with an 86-54 record compared to Shanahan’s 76-65. McVay’s win percentage ranks at the 35th best all-time, while Shanahan’s sits at 76th. Still, despite some lean years for each coach, three of the last four NFC Championship games have featured one or both coaches.
Both Shanahan and McVay are considered two of the best in the NFL, and either the Rams or 49ers have won the division seven of the last eight seasons. It’s no surprise, as McVay and Shanahan were born holding a football.
Shanahan is the son of longtime NFL head coach Mike Shanahan, and McVay’s grandfather, John McVay, coached the New York Giants and also served as the general manager of the 49ers. McVay also made history as the youngest head coach in NFL history when he was hired at just 30 years old.
McVay and Shanahan were both employed in Washington at the same time and advanced their careers in the East before relocating to the West Coast for their head coaching positions. The two were named head coaches within two weeks of each other and have kept the Rams and 49ers as perennial contenders every year.
The duo will forever be intertwined, dating back to their days together in Washington, and one more chapter will be written this weekend. The Rams and the 49ers have been one of the best rivalries in football since 2017. Now, with both the coaches under 45 years old, there’s going to be plenty more to this story.
