San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, this year's Dwight Clark Award recipient, spoke with NBC Sports Bay Area's Laura Britt on Wednesday at the Dwight Clark Legacy Series event and offered insight into head coach Kyle Shanahan's growth since arriving in San Francisco.

Juszczyk joined the 49ers in 2017, the same year Shanahan became head coach. Over nearly a decade together, the veteran fullback has had a front-row seat to Shanahan's development as a leader.


"I've seen so much development," Juszczyk said. "I mean, over 10 years, honestly, I could say he's probably developed in every phase, as improved, but I think the one that really stands out is just his comfortability standing in front of the team, and in addressing the team, and speaking to a group of men, and doing it confidently.

"He was an offense coordinator before he came here, so there wasn't as much of that. But now, he commands the room, and he knows exactly what he's doing up there, and he's just such a great leader of men."

Shanahan's ability to keep his messaging fresh and effective has also stood out to Juszczyk. It's something that can be challenging for some coaches year after year.

The fullback explained that Shanahan's preparation is somewhat unique.

"If it's the first day of training camp, he'll go back and watch last year's meeting of the first day of training camp to see what he said," Juszczyk revealed. "And I think part of that is not to just keep saying the same thing, and to keep it fresh. That's another thing that he's so great at doing, is adapting to the roster that he does have.


"Sometimes a different message needs to be given to a different group, whether that's we're a more experienced team, a less experienced team, what kind of success we had the year before, or at the moment, all that type of thing. He's very good at being in the moment and being able to adjust what he says."

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