George Kittle explains what Kyle Shanahan's separating factor is as an NFL head coach

Over the last seven years, George Kittle has done extraordinary things as an integral part of Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers offense. Kittle played his college football at traditional power Iowa, but never achieved this type of pass-catching success with Kirk Ferentz in Iowa City. While he usually lets his great play do the talking for him, I had the opportunity to speak with Kittle earlier in the week.

I caught up with Kittle the day after the 49ers' blowout victory over the division rival Arizona Cardinals in Glendale in Week 14. Although the Cardinals kept it close for a while, the defense made a few big plays and Kittle took over the game with many great, downfield catches off the confident right hand of San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy. It was a lot of fun to watch, and Kittle had a lot of fun, too.

It may have been a cold, overcast day in Atlanta, Georgia, but it was even earlier on the West Coast. Kittle spoke to FanSided on behalf of Alka-Seltzer, encouraging fans to SAY YES to going big on game day without any lingering affects. Work hard, play hard, I dig it, sir. As the 11-3 49ers make their move to getting home-field advantage, I was awestruck with how well Shanahan manages the game.

I know he was the brilliant offensive mind behind the world's worst Super Bowl collapse, one I may never fully recover from, but the manner in which Shanahan is able to call plays without ever seeming to miss a big moment in a game had my intrigue. Naturally, I asked Kittle what the proverbial secret sauce was with Shanahan, as he is one of the players on the 49ers offense who knows him the best.

"You know what I'll say, yeah, some people struggle with it. I think what Kyle does a great job of is planning throughout the week, and the coaches that are helping him call plays are doing a great job of helping him set up. Like, he knows in every situation, here are the five to 10 play calls. 'I wanna call in second-and-7 from the 37-yard line going in.' He is very prepared for it."

Kittle proceeded to rattle off a series of position coaches who help set up Shanahan for success.

"Our run game coordinators from Coach (Chris) Foerster to Brian Fluery, my tight ends coach, who does some of the run game stuff, our passing coordinators like the Kubiak brothers (Klint and Klay), they're all helping Kyle kind of build this game plan."

Shanahan may have a good staff backing him up, but even Kittle realizes his head coach's wizardry.

"And Kyle, he's orchestrating it. He's calling the plays. He goes to the beat of his own drum sometimes, but they've kind of just got into this routine and rhythm of getting our best players the ball in space and the way that he's calling these games."

Kittle then reiterated that Shanahan does a fantastic job of empowering his coaches to help him out.

"Does Kyle have a lot going on? Yeah, sure. He's managing the entire game. When the defense is up, I guess, pay attention a little bit in case he needs to argue with the ref or throw a challenge flag or something like that. But our coaches have just done such a great job of feeding him all the information that he possibly needs."

Finally, how Kittle feels about Shanahan calling plays says everything you need to know about all that.

"He's ready to make those calls. There is no one I'd rather call plays than Kyle just because he's so dialed into it every single second."

That is one helluva statement from Kittle, one that is going to keep him on a hall-of-fame trajectory.

George Kittle explains how Kyle Shanahan manages the game for 49ers

What I have always loved about the Shanahan offense is everybody is working together to make plays in space. The running game is innovative and very much front-and-center in the whole operation. Shanahan learned this from his father Mike during his hall-of-fame-level coaching career with the Denver Broncos and later Washington. He has also worked many places away from his father.

It is a very selfless offense, as anyone can be the hero on any given day. While there are certainly guys like Kittle, Purdy, running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk who make the most of their opportunities, opportunities are bountiful in this scheme. Just ask fans of any team that Shanahan had been the offensive coordinator prior to, including me!

After speaking with Kittle, you can understand why the 49ers are such a fun team to watch. They are having fun, kicking the tail of pretty much every team they face. The best part is they are doing this together, hoping to achieve something great. The complimentary nature of this football team leads me to believe they will be Super Bowl champions soon, possibly this February over in Las Vegas...

Kittle's unique insight into the Shanahan offense was a breath of fresh air to listen to and react to.

George Kittle spoke to FanSided on behalf of Alka-Seltzer.

Kittle is partnering with Alka-Seltzer to help fans SAY YES to going big on game day without any unwanted symptoms taking them down.

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This season, George is encouraging fans to FIZZ and FLEX on game day knowing that Alka-Seltzer has their back and will help them tackle any symptoms that could get in the way of their game day celebrations.

To celebrate saying YES all season long, Alka-Seltzer is running a sweepstakes from now until January 7th calling on fans to share a photo or video on Instagram of how they #FizzAndFlex on game days for a chance to win $30,000 for the ultimate game day celebration. Additional prizes will be awarded weekly, helping fans celebrate the season to the fullest.