49ers TE George Kittle says Lions HC Dan Campbell seems Easy to Play for

Dan Campbell and Kyle Shanahan couldn't be any different.

Dec 8, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images / Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Dan Campbell and Kyle Shanahan couldn't be any different.

They face each other Monday night. And technically, they're both offensive coaches. But Shanahan is a play-caller -- you always will see his face buried in his playsheet when he's coaching during games. Campbell does not call plays. He delegates that responsibility. Instead, Campbell motivates the players and upholds a standard of performance and effort. Campbell is all passion and emotion while Shanahan is neither of those things.

George Kittle has played for Shanahan for his entire eight-season career -- no one knows Shanahan better. And no one on the 49ers has a more interesting perspective on the team and the rest of the league than Kittle. He's the most perceptive person in the organization.

So in the locker room on Friday, I asked Kittle for his impression of Campbell's coaching style.

"When you have a head coach who has played, and the way that he played was very gritty and nasty but beloved by all his teammates, I think it's really easy to play for guys like that," Kittle said. "You can see all the clips from his original press conference about biting kneecaps and stuff like that. To people on the outside, that might look funny, but once you get to know him and find out that's who he is, I think people love that. He seems like a really easy guy to play for. They have hard practices, he makes them grind, makes them earn every second but you want people like that to hold you to a standard. And that's a standard that they've created and he has created since they've been there. It's awesome to see that the Lions have gotten to that, but it's our job to take them down a little bit."

I can't help but notice that Shanahan hasn't been able to hold the 49ers to their standard this season. Maybe his coaching style wears on players after eight years.

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