Truth be told, I'm going to miss speculating about the Bears' next head coach. In a few weeks – or maybe more, depending on how far the Lions get in the playoffs – the Bears will have their guy, and the only thing that's kept Bears fans sane over the last few months will be gone.
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And while no one really knows what direction that Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren will go in, there are more than a few educated guesses at this point. Up until now, one of those guesses has been 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, who somehow got wrapped up in Bears rumors for ... reasons? The idea was, apparently, that Shanahan needed a change of scenery to really live up to his full potential, and that, apparently, going to work for the McCaskey family was the right way to do that? I dunno.
But according to a new report(ish) out of the Bay Area, that dream is dead. Before the Niners' Monday Night Football game against the Lions, team owner Jed York squashed any and all speculation that Shanahan would be traded this offseason.
49ers owner Jed York shuts down Kyle Shanahan-Bears speculation
"You can write that, for sure," York told the San Francisco Standard. "They're not going anywhere."
Ah! Well, nevertheless. It was fun while it lasted, I guess. The Shanahan speculation always felt less like a reality and more like some rumor that a Bears Twitter account with 15 followers started, but it was fun while it lasted. It was a lot better to daydream about than, say, a certain Very Serious Sports Writer suggesting that they hire his personal friend Ron Rivera.
[/puts on tinfoil hat] But maybe this is exactly what York wants us to think. Maybe this is all just a bluff. Maybe it's actually an invitation for the Bears to call SF up and offer a godfather package for Shanahan. Maybe the dream's not dead after all. No one can be sure. A recently-hired Ben Johnson for Kyle Shanahan? Who says no?!!?