Kyle Shanahan addressed the mystery that has surrounded his departure from the Cleveland Browns with two years left on his contract by saying he simply talked to former head coach Mike Pettine.

"I was just very honest with the head coach," Shanahan said Thursday in Houston during Super Bowl interviews. "I told him why I wanted to."

Shanahan referred to wanting to work for Dan Quinn in Atlanta. Quinn had been hired to coach the Falcons prior to the 2015 season. Shanahan said he and Quinn had a relationship, and the two had talked previously about working together if Quinn ever became a head coach.

Kyle Shanahan asked out of Cleveland after the 2014 season and credits Mike Pettine for seeing his way clear to allowing the coordinator out of his contract to join Dan Quinn in Atlanta. Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports

"I had a commitment to Dan Quinn for a while, especially from a couple years before that when he was thinking about getting interviews and stuff and I got let go in Washington," Shanahan said. "If he had gone somewhere that first year, I was going to go with him.

"So when I got out of my contract in Cleveland, Dan was the guy I wanted to be with."

To hear Shanahan, the split from offensive coordinator with the Browns to offensive coordinator with the Falcons was not complicated. But the public circumstances around it did become messy.

Shortly after the Browns' 7-9 season had ended, Pettine went on vacation, a typical break for a head coach when a season ends. While he was gone, word leaked about former general manager Ray Farmer texting the Browns sideline during games -- the implication being that those texts were in favor of playing Johnny Manziel, which could have undermined the coaching staff.

At that point the public situation grew more inflamed, and that was the situation Pettine returned to when he returned from vacation.

Shanahan and Pettine then talked, and Pettine agreed to let him out of the final two years of his contract.

"Everyone handles it differently," Shanahan said. "A lot of people are going to keep you and make you stay. A lot of people aren't going to keep someone there who doesn't want to be there. And Coach Pettine was awesome. He told me he would never keep someone there who didn't want to be there. I really respected him for sticking with that. He gave me the opportunity to leave, and I couldn't be more grateful for that."

Pettine's stance always matched Shanahan's statement. He always said if a coach didn't want to be with a team it wasn't wise to keep him. He let Shanahan go and hired John DeFilippo.

"I loved Cleveland," Shanahan said. "I really did. My wife and I loved the people there. I loved the fans. I thought they were as good a fans as there is. They were very appreciative. I loved the Haslams. They were great. There's a lot of chance for success in that building."

Shanahan told ESPN Cleveland that the infamous 32-point presentation he made was not a PowerPoint to the owner but was given to Pettine in writing. Shanahan summed it up this way: "It's tough to win when you're not on the same page."

Much of the negativity surrounding Shanahan's departure has been pointed to the Browns for letting him go; little has been given to Shanahan for not staying through his contract. He talked about his commitment to Quinn without mentioning the commitment he had to the Browns.

The relationship between Shanahan and Quinn was well-known and was a big factor in his decision. But the thinking in league circles also was that Shanahan had head-coaching goals, and the path to becoming a head coach was better in Atlanta with Matt Ryan at quarterback than it was in Cleveland with Johnny Manziel (the Browns had made it clear as the 2014 season ended they would move on from Brian Hoyer).

That has proved to be true. Shanahan will coach in the Super Bowl on Sunday, then be hired shortly after the game to coach the San Francisco 49ers.

There have been reports that Shanahan also spoke with Jimmy Haslam and gave him a 32-point presentation for why he wanted to leave. Shanahan has never discussed whether that happened, and when he was asked about leaving Cleveland he simply said he talked to Pettine.

He also said that he believes the Browns will be successful, but the key is finding a quarterback.

"That usually is for everybody," Shanahan said. "But they don't just grow on trees. You have to get one."

There's one final "six degrees" of the Cleveland Browns world in this situation (doesn't it seem like there always is?). When the Browns hired Pettine, the other coach they were considering was Quinn. Had Quinn gotten the job, he and Shanahan would have worked together for the Browns.