Arthur Blank: losing Atlanta Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan to the San Francisco 49ers unavoidable

Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is probably headed to San Francisco. If all goes according to plan, he will become their head coach right after the Falcons win the Super Bowl. In a less ideal scenario, he could be their head coach by Monday.

Given the offense’s historical season, Shanahan’s departure would definitely sting. Sure, he’s strangely antisocial and may not win a popularity contest anytime soon. But as football minds go, he’s incredibly bright. Arthur Blank addressed the potential loss earlier today. (Credit to Vaughn McClure for the quote.)

"Well, I think Kyle would be a big loss,'' Blank told ESPN in a phone interview Wednesday. "But great coaches and great teams, that's what happens in the National Football League [...] you only have one NFL team. And unless we're going to put Kyle in charge of our soccer team -- and we already have a good coach there -- that's it. We only have one great football coach.”

Blank is spot on here. In short, it is what it is. Would it be nice to keep Shanahan in Atlanta for one more year? Yes, absolutely. But it’s not like he can organize a coup and somehow clean out Dan Quinn’s office under the cover of darkness. Besides, we wouldn’t want him to. All we do now is hope and pray that Shanahan has enough magic left to lead the Falcons to the promised land. We’ll worry about next season when this season is over.