Hours after Super Bowl loss, Shanahan joins 49ers

Hours after his team lost Super Bowl 51, Atlanta Falcons offensive co-ordinator Kyle Shanahan was named Monday as the new coach of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.Shanahan, who masterminded the league’s most prolific scoring attack this season, watched the Falcons seize a 25-point lead only to watch the New England Patriots make the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history for a 34-28 overtime victory.At 37, Shanahan becomes the NFL’s second-youngest head coach after his Los Angeles Rams counterpart, Sean McVay. Shanahan, the son of long-time NFL coach Mike Shanahan, is the 20th coach in 49ers history but their third in three seasons, replacing the fired Chip Kelly after a dismal 2-14 campaign.“It is truly an honour to be named head coach of the San Francisco 49ers,” Shanahan said. “As this team begins the task of reestablishing that standard, I could not ask for a better partner than (general manager) John Lynch. I look forward to establishing a strong culture that will serve as our foundation for constructing this team.”Shanahan’s Falcons averaged an NFL-best 33.8 points a game this season, his second in the post with Atlanta after one season in the same job with Cleveland and three seasons as Washington’s offensive co-ordinator.But he takes over an offensive unit that finished next-to-last in the NFL in yards per game this past season.