Should 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Attend the Combine?

INDIANAPOLIS -- Six head coaches decided not to come to the NFL Scouting Combine this year -- Sean McVay, Mike Tomlin, Matt LaFleur, Jim Harbaugh, Kellen Moore and Kyle Shanahan.

In Shanahan's nine-year tenure as the 49ers' head coach, he never has spoken at the Combine. He generally stays at home instead of making the yearly trek to the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium. Clearly, he feels the Combine would be a waste of his time.

But 26 head coaches feel it's an important part of the drafting process. And one of those head coaches is Mike McDaniel, who coached with Shanahan for more than 10 years. On Tuesday, I asked McDaniel why it's important for him to come to the Combine each year as the Dolphins head coach.

"I can't replace that face-to-face energy and human element that is so important in this game," McDaniel said. "It is for us a little innefficient in terms of time, there is some down time in the middle of the day. But for me, I'm hardpressed with how important the decisions are for the fabric of your team when it comes to the NFL Draft. Everybody can do it a different way. I need to see people in person for me to complete the whole picture of what I'm seeing on film."

McDaniel's answer is great and it applies to Shanahan. Shanahan is a control freak who wants to make the final decision on which players the 49ers should take with their top draft picks. If he wants that much control, he should come to the Combine and get to know the players in person like Andy Reid, Nick Sirianni and McDaniel do.

Just a thought.

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