Is Indiana OC Mike Shanahan related to Kyle Shanahan?

The Indiana Hoosiers had a magical first season under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. They suffered just one regular-season loss (at Ohio State) but still ran away to 11-1 and earned a berth in the College Football Playoff. Cignetti, of course, came to Bloomington after a stellar tenure with the James Madison Dukes, bringing along much of his coaching staff, including co-offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, along with Tino Sunseri.

Make no mistake, Indiana was humming in just about every facet in the 2024 season under Cignetti. But the offense with Ohio Bobcats transfer Kurtis Rourke under center was absolutely electric with weapons all over the field. Moreover, Shanahan earned deserved and tremendous acclaim for his play design and how he calls a game.

But, of course, the name Shanahan when it comes to football makes you think of the Shanahan tree in the NFL, namely current San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his father, Mike Shanahan, the longtime coach of the Denver Broncos. That fact, however, had college football fans wondering if the Indiana OC is any relation to the NFL Shanahan tree.

Is Indiana OC Mike Shanahan related to 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan, NFL legend Mike Shanahan?

While both Mike Shanahan and Kyle Shanahan are tremendous coaches, they share no relation, only the same last name. That, of course, is quite confusing considering he holds the same name as Kyle's dad but that is merely a coincidence, one that could be quite confusing if you didn't know that the Indiana coordinator isn't related at all.

Kyle Shanahan, meanwhile, is the only son of the legendary NFL head coach, Mike. So if you're hearing about other Shanahans around the game of football.

Indiana OC Mike Shanahan career path to Hoosiers sidelines

Indiana's offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan, has been around the game of football for most of his life, though. The 34-year-old Pennsylvania native played five seasons in college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers from 2008-12 before a brief cup of coffee in the NFL where he was only on practice squads for one year. The following year, he went back to Pitt, this time as a volunteer and then a graduate assistant on the football team's coaching staff.

It was in 2015 when he first hooked up with Cignetti, though. He joined Coach Cig's staff at IUPUI before soon following to Elon and then James Madison after. Shanahan was promoted to offensive coordinator in his third season with the Dukes back in 2021 and then, as mentioned, joined Cignetti in the move to the Indiana Hoosiers ahead of the 2024 season.