NFL coach speaks out about car crash that left him with serious injuries

SportsSan Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was involved in a serious car crash July 14. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)Getty ImagesBy Matt Connolly | mconnolly@pennlive.comSan Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has addressed a serious car crash he was involved in on July 14.Shanahan spoke with reporters Tuesday and said that he was responsible for the crash, not the 21-year-old woman who he hit.An error in a report transmitted to a state database incorrectly blamed the woman for the crash.“I hit her,” Shanahan said, according to ESPN. “I don’t know why it was reported that way. The police report doesn’t say that.”Shanahan then detailed what happened that led to the crash.“I was going 20 miles an hour. I was not on my phone, but I dropped my phone and it was stuck in my seats,” he said, according to ESPN. “It’s on my lap, and it slid off. And I went down to look for it and took my eyes off the road for two seconds. And as I was coming up, the airbags hit me in my face, and they broke my nose. And then they said the visor really gashed me.” Shanahan suffered a concussion, a broken left hand, a broken nose, three broken ribs and received 40 stitches above his right eye because of the crash, according to ESPN.“I took my eyes off the road looking for my phone, and my car veered into someone,” he said. “It’s one of those roads where there’s no forgiveness. ... When I hit her, the impact was just so, I’ll just never forget how violent it was.”The woman suffered minor injuries from the crash and did not need to be hospitalized, according to the Associated Press.Shanahan has not been cleared to lead practices following the crash, but he has been around the 49ers facility on a limited basis, according to ESPN. There is no timetable for when he will be able to return to coaching full time.Matt Connolly is a Sports Trending Reporter for PennLive, writing about the NFL, college sports and other topics. He has covered college football and college basketball since 2010 and was on the Clemson beat...