Ian Ransom/Reuters US Sports Picture Service
Kyle Shanahan doesn't understand how time zones are possible
Kyle Shanahan is widely regarded as being one of the best minds in the National Football League. The concept of time zones, however, appears to be doing an absolute number on the San Francisco 49ers’ head coach.
The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams have taken drastically different approaches when it comes to their preparation for their season-opening game in Melbourne on Wednesday, September 9.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is having his brain scrambled by time zones, says he doesn’t understand how they’re possible
While the 49ers arrived in Australia over a week before the game, the Los Angeles Rams aren’t flying to the land down under until the night of Tuesday, September 9, in an effort to minimize the time players spend acclimating to the time difference.
Based on how scrambled Kyle Shanahan’s brain appears to be by the concept of time zones, the early returns suggest the Rams might be onto something.
If you want to be left completely confused, listen to #49ers HC Kyle Shanahan try to explain what day it is now that he’s in Australia 🤣 https://t.co/SZNH5m1e46 pic.twitter.com/RgZqBvgCSv
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 7, 2026
“We’re a little confused with when I look at my clock and it says a time. And then I try to see my family’s time and it says the time, but it says yesterday,” Shanahan said. “I don’t even get how that’s possible. So I feel like I’m in the future.”
“So I call today Tuesday. No, wait. Sorry, I call today Wednesday, which is the first day we put in a game plan, but I think it’s Monday. However, though, it’s Sunday in the present.”
If the concept of time zones befuddles you as much as it does Shanahan, a quick explainer:
Time zones exist because the Earth rotates 360 degrees every 24 hours, meaning the sun can only be directly overhead one place at a time. To account for this, the world is divided into 24 time zones of roughly 15 degrees each — as you move west, you subtract an hour; as you move east, you add one. The International Date Line — in the Pacific Ocean between California and Australia — is where the count resets entirely, jumping a full calendar day.
Shanahan’s 49ers will take on their NFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, in Melbourne at on Thursday, September 10 at 8:35 p.m. EST, 5:35 p.m. EST, and at 10:35 a.m. Australia time, albeit the data there will be Friday, September 11.