Kyle Shanahan’s car accident took place on July 14, but the incident broke out to the public on July 25 – 11 days later. Many speculated different reasons for the late breakout. However, Shanahan’s close friend and former college teammate Chris Simms recently chimed in on who may have spearheaded the secrecy.

PFT’s Mike Florio shared his observation on Pro Football Talk, noting that while Shanahan owned his truth, someone in the organization wanted to keep this a secret.

“Whether it’s just standard operating procedure when law enforcement is involved and we know how that goes. The relationship between the head of security and local law enforcement. The head of security is the fixer in all 32 organizations. And it may just be that they’re all wired to constantly slip into fixer mode.

“Even if something doesn’t need to be fixered, it’s just an honest, innocent situation. There’s an explanation for it. Kyle owns it. He talks about it openly, but the head of security/fixer decides that it’s got to be a big secret. We got to hide something because that’s what they ordinarily do.”

While agreeing with Florio’s assessment, Simms noted, “Anybody that’s been in the NFL knows they got connections with law enforcement, FBI, restaurants, everybody in town. Those are the guys that usually find out who the players are that are not acting appropriately in their free time. I heard from this guy that I know that owns this club and, you know, we got two players that are in there all the time till 5 in the morning, even on practice days, right? So yeah, their ear is to the street. They got connections everywhere.

“Most teams have the mantra of we don’t want distractions. Let’s not anybody know our business. So within that, that fix your upper is always like, hey, oh, this happened. Okay. Hey, we want to keep this quiet. We’re trying to keep this a private situation even before maybe he even talks to a Jed York or a Kyle or anybody about it. You’re right. They’re wired that way. And this is one where it worked against them a little bit for sure.”

Jeremy Jones is the Vice President of Security Operations (Chief of Security) for the San Francisco 49ers, a former law enforcement captain who leads, oversees, and manages all facets of physical protection and safety for the franchise.

Simultaneously, a core part of his duty is crisis management and serving as the primary intermediary when team personnel encounter legal, vehicular, or emergency incidents outside of the facility.

So, when the 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan found himself in a head-on car collision with an oncoming SUV, leaving him briefly hospitalised, Simms believes the franchise may have decided to keep the news under wraps, which, of course, fumed many.

As Kyle Shanahan recovers from his injuries, assistant head coach and offensive line coach Chris Foerster has assumed primary on-field control. Whereas the HC still opted to remain physically present at the SAP Performance Facility in Santa Clara, California, to welcome the vets on July 25.

Shanahan also made a brief surprise cameo on the actual practice field. Disguised in heavy sunglasses to hide his 40+ facial stitches, and wearing a hand cast, he stood near John Lynch to watch team drills and greet veterans.

Nearly a week into camp, Shanahan also felt physically good enough to host and run his first official in-person team meeting on August 1. Then, last Saturday, he went to the facility podium to hold his first live media press conference since the collision.

“As far as the important stuff, I feel it’s about 100%,” Shanahan said about his recovery. “The biggest thing I have learned is just when you deal with fatigue and headaches is if I do everything, I pay for it in some ways later. That’s the routine that I have found out. I really tried to eliminate stuff that I would say is just the fake work stuff.”

As things stand, Shanahan is likely to make his sideline return this Thursday, August 13, for the San Francisco 49ers’ preseason opener game against the Tennessee Titans.