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Flashback Friday: Bill Walsh vs Kyle Shanahan & the Giant Turkey

The Washington Voldemorts didn’t stand a chance against the 49ers in 1981.

Crystal Scuor

The Washington Voldemorts didn’t stand a chance against the 49ers in 1981.

Let’s be real, most teams in the NFL kissed the ground in which Joe Cool and crew walked on. Even if it were covered with a baseball diamond.

Heading into Week 5, the 1981 squad—like our current group of studs—were 2-2, too. How’s that for some soothing alliteration to kick off your weekend? It’s like a party in your ear.

And that’s exactly what the team was about to do to the Voldemorts: show up to whatever field they used to play on in Washington (RFK Stadium, I just looked it up) and host their own damn house party.

Now, as per Flashback Friday tradition, I usually watch highlights or the full game from whichever corresponding week I’m paralleling with the 49ers 2020 season. However—and I say this with a very heavy heart—YouTube has failed me, yet again. In fact, last week’s “1981 Week 4” matchup against the Saints was MIA, too. So a simple boxscore will have to suffice. Bear with me during these tough times.

There’s something I’ve realized very quickly about the 80’s team. They were really flippin’ good. Like, Joe Montana would never toss up four fingers and look confused after an incomplete fourth down pass at the end of the fourth quarter. Sorry Tom Brady, but what the hell was that?

I feel for that dude. He’s out there throwing dimes one week and the next week, he’s looking like the starting QB for a nursing home.

The look of confusion that blanketed Brady’s face was basically 2020 in human form. “It’s still fourth down, right guys?”

My heart sank when I watched him stand in the middle of the field, four fingers up in the air. Bill Belichick would’ve been so disappointed. But then I think about the TB12 who was a complete dynasty. Kinda like the 49ers—“The Team of the 80’s.”

Brady is “The Quarterback of More than Half my Life.”

Just because skills sometimes fade and teams don’t always mesh 100% like they used to doesn’t mean the dynasty is gone. When you achieve greatness, you’re held to a higher standard. So, maybe we should cut Brady some slack.

He’s still adjusting without Bill.

Our team, too. We don’t have a Bill Walsh as head coach anymore. We have Kyle Shanahan. Unlike the 80’s, the 49ers have yet to be the team of my time. Ever since I’ve joined the Faithful, I’ve witnessed two Super Bowl losses. My jersey has never soaked up the tears of a championship win.

Rather, I’ve cried myself to sleep in my Colin Kaepernick jersey and most recently, I’ve curled up in bed for days in Jimmy Garoppolo. Ha! I wish...

This year was supposed to be our year. And as much as I try to compare the 1981 team to our current roster, it’s hard to do so when so many people who claim to be part of this fan base tell me that this team isn’t a champion like the heroes of our 49ers past. One of those heroes wore the head coach crown.

I didn’t know much about Walsh. So, I decided to read up on the beauty who built a winning team in an interview posted by the Harvard Business Review. As much as I love Shanny (minus the beard), there’s a lot he can learn from Walsh’s unique ways.

Business in the front & back

When Walsh was with the 49ers, he was both the head coach and the GM. Meaning; he took a very business-like approach. He, in turn, was the dictator of the team. Whatever Walsh said, went.

I sometimes wonder about Shanahan. During certain press conferences, he seems reserved and rehearsed. Like the statements he’s prepared were handed down from someone else, possibly John Lynch. Now, I respect both of these dudes immensely. But being a head coach as a leader and leading your team as a head coach are two completely different things.

Walsh was a leader. Do you think he kept players on the team if they didn’t produce? Heck no! It was more of a cutthroat coaching approach, but it seemed to get the job done.

The reality is Shanahan doesn’t seem to cut players who don’t produce. He works with them. Take Dante Pettis, for example. This hasn’t been the year of the Pettis, let’s be real. However, Shanny must believe in him if he’s still suiting up every Sunday. I love Pettis. He’s a character and that Halloween touchdown celebration had me dancing to Thriller all night long. I’ll never forget that moment.

Maybe Shanahan holds onto the past, too. The moments that made him genuinely smile. I haven’t seen a Shana-smile in a long time. Fair enough. Half the team is banged up…and not in the good way.

“The coach must account for his ego”

Walsh recognized the id in his ego. He had an unconscious level of operating. The winning mentality of a champion. Someone who wakes up and wants to win.

When I look at Kyle Shanahan, I see a man who wants to win, too. But I also see one who has lost in the Super Bowl twice in the past four years. And now, his ego is getting in the way of success. It almost looks as though players are scared of Shanahan this year, which to me has made it cold out on that field for the 49ers. I’m sure aggression levels are at an all-time high due to so many uncontrollable factors, like COVID, and social injustices, and heartbreaking injuries. It’s hard to watch our team trot out onto the field without so many familiar faces from last year’s undefeated brotherhood.

Maybe, just maybe, Shanny’s trapped in a negative ego right now. He’s distracted by his own importance to the team. And he’s more important than ever before because a lot of his key players are standing on the sidelines in toques and team apparel. Their helmets are shining from a locker room cubby, not filled with grass from a fresh field on game day.

But this ship can be turned around.

Take it from Walsh:

Set a standard of competence

“You have to exhibit a strong working knowledge of the game. The head coach must be able to function effectively and decisively in the most stressful situations. And the head coach must demonstrate resourcefulness—in particular, he is not responsible for designing a system of football that is not simplistic. The head coach’s system should never reduce the game to the point where he can blame his players for success or failure simply because the did not physically overwhelm the opponents.”

I have no idea what happened in that locker room after the Eagles beat the 49ers. But I can speculate that Kyle was not happy. He was probably disappointed in Nick Mullens. And he might’ve pointed the blame at the O-line, too. A lot of us did.

It takes two to tango, though.

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I’m spending mine with my boyfriend and dog in our tiny Toronto condo. I miss my family more than ever. It’s getting cold in the city. But I’m still thankful for a roof and food, of course.

I don’t really know how to make a delicious turkey on my own. Last year, my mom helped me prepare that big ole bird via FaceTime. And you know what? That was the best damn turkey I’ve ever cooked in my life. Sure, I had a few breakdowns, but my mom—my coach—mentored me through an onslaught of issues that kept arising.

· The turkey neck and giblets fell out at one point and I threw up in my mouth. Was not expecting to hold a turkey heart that day. Yuck.

· I had to use tequila instead of rum (our family recipe) in our special basting sauce. The tequila caught on fire multiple times.

· I didn’t have a proper turkey pan, so my FaceTime Mom helped me craft one out of aluminum foil. The turkey juices overflowed into the oven and all over my favourite socks.

· I bought a 42-pound bird for four people (one of them was Vegan). Rookie mistake. It barely fit in the over to begin with.

Mama Scuor kept her cool. She calmly guided me through the turkey experience from hell. And somehow, I had both eyebrows around the dinner table. Despite so many problems, the turkey was perfect.

Kyle Shanahan needs to be more like my mom. 

He bought a big turkey and with it, a higher level of standard for flavour. Rather than freak out and throw up in his mouth when the turkey neck falls into the sink—or Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas are out for the season—he needs to tap into his id and take control of Thanksgiving.

The 49ers may not be as healthy as we’d like. Just like my mom being on the other side of the country, we had to make do with the situation of being apart. Same goes for the team. Despite the losses, despite the bigger issues off the football field, and despite the injury bug, this team needs to support each other more than ever before.

You want to know the secret to an amazing turkey? Love.

That’s what this 49ers team is missing. The love we saw last year had fizzled. And trust me, after a big loss, it’s pretty hard to put the party pants back on.

But just like in 1981, the team found a way to push through. 2020 has been a turkey neck in the 49ers sink. Thankfully, they’re about to install their handy, dandy garburator.

Yup, Jimmy Garoppolo is back, baby.

Maybe that means the beloved bromance between Jimmy and George Kittle (HBD!) will flourish again, too. And maybe that’s just what Coach Kyle needs from his players. The silly post-game swagger and corny smiles. We witnessed it today. 

Our team was missing a reason to be thankful. And when you’re schlepping around without purpose, it’s hard to love yourself, let alone your team.

Like the falling leaves of autumn in my freezing cold city of Toronto, there’s a change in the air for this team. Kyle's about to get his QB1 back and I guarantee the brotherhood will follow suit. 

Ego et al. 

The t-shirt inception has only just begun. I mean, Garoppolo’s smile jumped off my phone screen when he talked to the press today about Kittle’s birthday shirts.

His smile was filled with love.

And not just the kind you baste onto a turkey. 

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Crystal Scuor
CRYSTAL SCUOR

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