Right after the Shanahan and Lynch introductory press conference (Lynch did have a phone conference beforehand, but this one counts more because it introduces them together), Shanahan had a 1-on-1 with Joe Fann. You can see the video here:

At the 1:13 mark, Shanahan talks about how he started sitting in on meetings with the defensive staff when he worked under Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay. This is the quote that was really intriguing:



"I really got to understand fronts and coverages, and that's when it really clicked for me on offense. I had a knowledge of all these plays, but I didn't know actually why we were running all these plays. That's what, I feel, changed my whole career in terms of not just running plays to run them, but knowing why you're running them, and why you gotta change things depending on the front you're going against."



I feel like a lot of guys who are strong on one side of the ball just stick to what they know best and sort of ignore the other side, but Shanahan seems to have a more macro view of football. It's like a chess player seeing the whole board and not just knowing how to move his own pieces but anticipating how his opponent will move as well.



Also, according to reports, while Shanahan is definitely involved with the offense, he's been making the rounds to coach defense and special teams. There was that funny anecdote Brian Hoyer shared, where Shanahan was giving him some pointers, and the next thing Hoyer knew Shanahan had disappeared. He was already heading over to check out how the defense was doing.



Yes, it's still way too early to tell how this new regime will turn out, but the early signs are that Shanahan and Lynch have not only surrounded themselves with good experience (Bobby Turner will play a huge role as a mentor), they're willing to learn. So far they've been pretty spotless, but eventually they'll slip up. Happens to the best of us. But even when they inevitably make a mistake they seem at least willing to learn from them and accept responsibility, which is more than someone from the previous regime did.