Kyle Shanahan probably didn’t like the narratives building around his recent car accident. In fact, the head coach had to invite the media members to admit that the authorities had made a clerical error, as the car crash was the San Francisco 49ers head coach’s fault rather than being an accident. Now, the 49ers reporter Eric Branch has chimed in to take us through that meeting, where Shanahan became emotional and felt guilty for his fault.

“In thinking about that, it really was surreal, just in that, obviously increasingly in modern-day professional sports, everything, if not staged, all the major principals are at a podium; they have their talking points,” Branch said. “And this was not that. It was Kyle Shanahan behind his desk, you know, seven beat writers kind of circled around. And there’s a PR person in the back, John Lynch in the back, but it was really Kyle Shanahan, raw and very emotional, just talking, you know, initially spoke off the record.”

Kyle Shanahan’s recent car crash dominated headlines for several days, not only because the 2026 season is approaching but also because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the incident. For starters, news of the accident didn’t become public until 11 days after it occurred. The crash took place on July 14 at 6:12 p.m. near the intersection of Alma Street and Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto, California.

The situation became even more intriguing as the 49ers remained silent about the incident, while reporters also refrained from reporting it. However, Shanahan was ultimately forced to address the media for the first time since the crash because of a reported clerical error made by the authorities.

According to reports, authorities initially assigned responsibility for the crash to a 21-year-old woman who was driving an SUV at the time of the collision. The accident left the 49ers’ head coach with multiple injuries, including a concussion, a broken left hand, a broken nose, three broken ribs, and 40 stitches above his right eye. However, during a 30-minute media session, Shanahan explained how the crash happened while acknowledging his fault.

“I was going 20 miles an hour,” Shanahan said. “I was not on my phone, but I dropped my phone and it was stuck in my seats. It’s on my lap, and it slid off. And I went down to look for it and took my eyes off the road for two seconds. And as I was coming up, the airbags hit me in my face, and they broke my nose. And then they said the visor really gashed me. … I took my eyes off the road looking for my phone, and my car veered into someone.”

Branch, on the other hand, revealed that Shanahan’s confession wasn’t the result of an off-the-record conversation. Instead, the head coach chose to set the record straight after the clerical error.

“I think he just wanted to be able to speak clearly, kind of more man-to-man,” Branch added. “There were plenty of F words that you didn’t get at the podium, but it was just speaking and, you know, from his heart. And so, yeah, it was obviously, it’s a unique situation with the car accident and then everything that is followed.”

The accident forced Kyle Shanahan to miss the initial part of the Niners’ training camp. And while he’s all set for his 10th season as the 49ers head coach, Shanahan doesn’t have a clear timeline for his expected return to coaching. For now, the head coach is healing.