SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Standing before his team at its end-of-season meeting in January, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan's message struck a different tone than the one he had delivered after they fell short in Super Bowl LVIII the year before.
After a disappointing 6-11 finish, Shanahan knew that plenty of roster turnover was coming. He also knew that his team, which had advanced to at least the NFC Championship Game in four of the previous five seasons, was about to embark on an offseason with plenty of time to recover from the grind of the year, and fatigue would be no excuse when it reconvened.
Shanahan understood why his players were fatigued when they returned to work for the 2025 season after a short layoff. This time, however, there would be no such allowance for a team that missed the postseason for the first time since 2020.
"I talked about how the season ended the year before and how when I felt them all come back, I felt guys weren't ready to come back," Shanahan said. "But I told them how I won't really understand it this year. Not that that was right or wrong, but I couldn't comprehend it. We're off five weeks earlier."
As the 49ers prepare to wrap up the final piece of their offseason program this week -- a mandatory minicamp Tuesday and Wednesday -- it's been clear that Shanahan's message was received loud and clear.
When the Niners reported for the start of the offseason program on April 22, the vast majority of players on the roster were in attendance.
Within the first two weeks of Phase 1, every player had been present for at least one session. That included players involved in high-stakes contract negotiations such as tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner and quarterback Brock Purdy. Left tackle Trent Williams and defensive end Nick Bosa, star veterans who haven't always been present for the early part of the program, were also present. The same was true for key players coming off injury such as running back Christian McCaffrey and receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
Shanahan's message resonated enough that team leaders didn't feel the need to reach out to one another to see if they could rally teammates to show up. The sting of last season's finish and the drama that both preceded it and defined it had left enough of a bad taste that the 49ers were eager to return to work.
As for Kittle, who called missing the playoffs "absolutely terrible" and noted he "wouldn't suggest it for anybody," it was especially important to return to work to begin paving the way for a roster that will lean heavily on a youth movement that has been the theme of the offseason.
"When all your best players are here, kind of setting the tone, setting an example specifically because we have so many new guys, whether it's free agents, whether it's young guys, rookies, we're trying to get them in that same mindset that we have established," Kittle said. "And it's something that we have to reestablish every single year. The vibes are high. I would say they're immaculate and guys are practicing well, guys are competing."
While there's no official measurement for vibes, one of the most notable differences the Niners have enjoyed this spring that they didn't last year is that they've already made like Michael Corleone in the final scenes of "The Godfather" and settled all family business.
Starting with a four-year, $76.4 million extension for Kittle on April 29, the team finalized deals for him, Purdy (five years, $265 million) and Warner (three years, $63 million) worth more than $404 million in the span of 20 days.
It was a far cry from previous seasons when Bosa missed all of 2023 training camp before signing his extension a few days before the start of the regular season. And it means the Niners won't face the drama they dealt with last offseason when, even after signing McCaffrey and receiver Jauan Jennings to extensions in the spring, they didn't reach agreements for Aiyuk and Williams until the end of August and early September, respectively.
Asked about the value in having Kittle, Warner and Purdy signed, Shanahan initially suggested that there wasn't a "big impact" on the team by getting the deals done early. But as he fielded more, similar questions on the topic, he made it clear that removing any possible distractions should be a good thing for these 49ers.
"It's always annoying when it goes into camp and especially when you're going into a first week and stuff like that, but that's not something that really affects the team right now," Shanahan said. "It's cool that we don't have any of those on the horizon though, so, there'll be no hiccups in the future."
Indeed, the more pressing need right now is getting the young players up to speed as soon as possible. After saying goodbye to 16 veterans in free agency and trading wideout Deebo Samuel Sr., the 90-man roster has 36 players with fewer than two years of NFL experience.
From that group, it's not hard to envision as many as 18 of those players either starting or playing a significant depth role in 2025. That's a major departure from previous seasons where there sometimes weren't even enough spots for the drafted rookies to make the 53-man roster, let alone the undrafted free agents.
This year, though, 49ers training camp figures to be a land of opportunity and the offseason program offers a chance for some of that young talent to put its best foot forward.
It's why Bosa and defensive line coach Kris Kocurek have already praised first-round rookie Mykel Williams' willingness to learn and chase the ball even when plays have gone away from him.
Warner has been a willing mentor to third-round rookie Nick Martin, who has made a good early impression, and fourth-round wideout Jordan Watkins has taken advantage of his chances with Aiyuk (knee) and second-year receiver Ricky Pearsall (hamstring) missing chunks of organized team activities.
"We knew what we were going to be getting ourselves into going in this year with a whole new group, a lot of young players, the importance of guys being back," Warner said.
Having the majority of the roster in one place has also been good for team building. Bosa, who has long had a strict offseason training regimen in Florida, said it was a priority for him to be around more, especially given the turnover in the defensive line room.
"It's a very different looking team this year, so I think that was important, and it's just been cool to be out here during a time where I can kind of relax and have some fun on the weekends and hang out with the guys a little bit," Bosa said.
That's also opened the door to more team-building opportunities at the team facility and away from it. In late May, Shanahan and the Niners welcomed members of the Navy SEALS training team to spend four days with the team.
Those sessions included presentations on how to set a standard and build culture as well as some physical challenges focused on working together. It's the third time since Shanahan took over as coach in 2017 that the SEALS have visited the club.
Away from the facility, there have been many rounds of golf played, dinners had and general bonding. It all matters as the Niners aim to bounce back from a lost 2024 season with a team that will look drastically different from so many previous squads.
"It's just so important that we're just around each other a lot doing little different activities and continuing to build chemistry," Purdy said. "That's the kind of stuff that matters when you get late in the season and things get tough and you go through some tough things as a team; you want to be able to know the guy next to you and what he's about and that he's going to have your back."