SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Chris Foerster had spent nearly two decades as an assistant in the NFL when he first crossed paths with Kyle Shanahan long before he became one of the NFL's most-accomplished play-callers.
Shanahan was in his third year as an offensive coordinator in the NFL when Foerster joined head coach Mike Shanahan's staff in Washington as offensive line coach in 2010 and immediately was impressed by the knowledge, creativity and teaching ability of the precocious Shanahan.
That only grew during their four years together in Washington and the past four in San Francisco where Foerster has been an assistant on Shanahan's staff.