Once upon a time in 2010, McVay was hired as the assistant tight ends coach in Washington under Kyle’s father, Mike Shanahan. Kyle was the team’s offensive coordinator at the time.

Some time later, both were also considered candidates for the Rams‘ head coaching vacancy back in 2017. Per ESPN, Kyle Shanahan, the Falcons‘ offensive coordinator at the time, was “heavily linked” to the Los Angeles job, but ultimately focused more on Atlanta’s upcoming playoff run instead of interviewing.

Of course, it wasn’t too long after that the Rams hired McVay. But Shanahan didn’t go without a new job that offseason as well — shortly after the Falcons lost the Super Bowl, he was hired in San Fransisco.

Since then, they’ve gone head-to-head as division rivals 16 times, including an NFC Championship matchup.

As McVay and Shanahan face off once again in Rams vs. 49ers on “Thursday Night Football,” here’s an updated look at their head-to-head coaching history.

Sean McVay vs. Kyle Shanahan head-to-head record

Both McVay and Shanahan didn’t have prior head coaching experience when hired in 2017, so they’ve only met in the rivalry between the Rams and 49ers.

Shanahan has the advantage over McVay with a 10-6 all-time record in meetings between Los Angeles and San Fransisco.

However, McVay has the upper hand in playoff success, having led the Rams to an NFC Championship victory over Shanahan’s 49ers in 2022. Los Angeles went on to win the Super Bowl over the Bengals that year, and while San Fransisco has gone to the big game twice under Shanahan (both times facing Kansas City), it has yet to win a title with the head coach.

Here’s a game-by-game breakdown of the history between McVay’s Rams and Shanahan’s 49ers.