If Troy Aikman exits broadcasting after this season (last month, he put the chance at “50-50”) and if Aikman lands a key position in a front office, the name at the top of his head-coaching wishlist will already be known.

Via Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing, Aikman said during a Thursday appearance on 96.7 The Ticket in Dallas that, if he were running an NFL team, he would try to hire 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.

“I’ve been asked a lot of questions here, certainly over the last several weeks, about any aspirations that I may have of going in a front office,” Aikman said. “Or ‘Who would you hire as your head coach?’ If I was in a position to hire someone as a head coach, [the] first call I’d make is to the 49ers and say, ‘How much is it going to take to get Kyle Shanahan? Because I think he’s that good. And yes, I’ve always believed this, but coaching matters and it has an impact on an organization.”

It’s not tampering because Aikman currently isn’t running a team. (It could technically be “tampering light” if he’s still working for the Dolphins.) And the information gives Shanahan plenty of leverage in his dealings with the 49ers, if Aikman joins the likes of Matt Millen, John Lynch, and John Elway as former players with little or no front-office experience who find themselves working in high-level jobs with a team.

Aikman has previously made similar comments about Shanahan, in the context of the Bears’ latest coaching vacancy.

“There has been discussion about, ‘Do you give up some picks and see if you can maybe make a deal for a guy like Kyle Shanahan?’” Aikman said during a game in 2024. “I would be all in on that. Because he would develop a quarterback, and he’s a hell of a head coach. But can you pull that off? That’s a better question. And who might you hire that has no head-coaching experience as an offensive guy? You never know the answer to that, as to how good they’re gonna be.”

While it seems to be working out pretty well for the Bears and their head coach who had no head-coaching experience, the point remains that Aikman would try to hire Shanahan, if Aikman is ever in a position to hire a coach.

And there’s one last twist to this story that currently isn’t known. When Aikman was consulting with the Dolphins during their latest search for a G.M. and head coach, did Aikman advise Miami to call about Shanahan? If so, did they?

Shanahan is in his 10th season with the 49ers. He’s taken the team to two Super Bowls. Barring the franchise’s first championship since 1994 (which could come this year), there could be a point where Shanahan reaches an Andy Reid-style mutual expiration date.

If that ever happens, Shanahan will have options. Especially if Aikman ends up getting hired to be someone’s G.M.