“Walking down the aisle to get married, he’s probably thinking about his feet and how to do routes,” Shanahan told reporters on Thursday. “No offense to Olivia.”

Anna Lazarus Caplan is a writer-reporter for PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Her work previously appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Dallas Morning News, Eater and other publications.

Published on August 23, 2024 04:01PM EDTKyle Shanahan; Christian McCaffrey and Olivia Culpo. Credit :

Chris Unger/Getty; Stefanie Keenan/Getty

Kyle Shanahan has some high praise for Christian McCaffrey.

The San Francisco 49ers head coach credits his star running back’s “obsessive” mentality for his success, even as McCaffrey has dealt with a calf injury that has kept him sidelined during the preseason.

So much so that Shanahan, 44, ventured that the NFL star was likely thinking about football during his recent wedding to Olivia Culpo.

“Walking down the aisle to get married, he’s probably thinking about his feet and how to do routes,” Shanahan told reporters. “No offense to Olivia.”

The veteran coach then added, “He’s obsessed with it. And so when you do get in these situations where you do get hurt and you can’t go do all that stuff, at least he’s put the work in before.”

As last season’s NFL rushing champion, McCaffrey helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl.

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Despite the team’s heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the final moments of the game last February, McCaffrey made good use of his offseason, marrying his longtime love in June.

The model, 32, and the NFL star, 28, tied the knot in her home state of Rhode Island on Saturday, June 29.

And when it came time to walk down the aisle, it was important for CMC to do so at a church, Culpo told Vogue. “That was our number one priority,” she said of his preference for the location.

The former Miss Universe wore a custom Dolce & Gabbana dress as the athlete mulled his fiancée’s route down the aisle.

And while McCaffrey’s status is still in question — he’s aiming to return to the field in time for the first game of the season — his coach is sure of one thing.

“He understands what it takes to play in this game, especially at the level he does,” Shanahan said. “And not many people play at that level unless they are like that.”