San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has been on the Super Bowl stage before. It didn't end well.
Shanahan's first taste of the Super Bowl spotlight came as the Atlanta Falcons' offensive coordinator in Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots. Everyone knows the story from there: the Falcons jump out to a massive 28-3 lead only for Shanahan's offense to fall apart as the Patriots Empire struck back to win in overtime, completing the most-infamous collapse in NFL history.
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That was Shanahan's final game in Atlanta, and the way he went out still leaves a bitter taste in some Falcons fans' mouths. It didn't take long for him to get back to the game's biggest stage, though, as just three years later, his 49ers took on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. In a sense of Déjà vu, Shanahan's team led 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter, only for the Chiefs to score 21 unanswered points in a 49ers collapse.
Shanahan is hoping that third time's the charm, as his 49ers face those very same Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday. The former Falcons coach is aware of the narrative that he can't get over the Super Bowl hump, but he's not paying it any mind ahead of the biggest game of his life.
"I deal with it the same way if we win," Shanahan said earlier this week, per ESPN. "I celebrate with our team. I celebrate with my family and I move on with the rest of my life, which is being a father or son and coaching and working and doing all that. Narrative, good or bad, is just a narrative ... I just don't want regrets. I just want to do everything that makes sense to myself, that makes sense for our team. And when you do that, that's what I have found.
"No matter how hard something is or good something is, you always keep perspective of what it really is. If you want your perspective to be someone else's narrative, good luck being happy in life. Or successful."
If there was ever a chance for Shanahan to prove that narrative wrong, this is it.
His 49ers are slight favorites heading into the game, unlike the previous matchup where the Chiefs held that title. San Francisco has also been one of the most-dominant teams in the league this season, and coming away empty-handed simply wouldn't do. Preventing the Chiefs from winning their third Super Bowl in five years and becoming a dynasty won't be easy, but the 49ers have the ability to do so.
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Super Bowl LVIII will kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+, NFL+) from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.