Anna Hall can remember her first “catastrophic failure” at sports, at least in her eyes. She was 12.

The reigning world champion at heptathlon comes from a family of athletes. Her father, David Hall, was a quarterback at Michigan. He also ran track and played basketball at the school in the early-to-mid-1980s.

Her older sisters, Kathryn and Julia, were athletes at Michigan, too.

“We grew up competing with each other, literally over everything: grades, who could learn how to ride a bike first,” Anna Hall tells USA TODAY Sports. “So I always knew I wanted to do sports just because I saw my sisters in it. I was constantly chasing them down, being three years behind. I was not as fast, but I was determined to catch up to them.”

Along with her sisters, Hall had qualified for a USA Track & Field junior national meet.

“To me, that was like the end of the world,” she says, “and I went just for high jump and I was so nervous, I didn’t even make a bar.”

She thought her dad was disappointed, but he took her to In-N-Out Burger after it was over, she says, “like it was a normal Wednesday.”

Looking back, she felt propelled forward.

“I know it’s not the end of the world,” says Hall, now 24. “No matter how this goes, I’m going to In-N-Out with my dad.

‘I’ve failed a lot. I think anybody that’s gone far in anything has.”

We feel we are in control of success and how it affects our lives. But what about failure?

Why, especially as young athletes and parents, do we usually dislike it so much? We spoke with Dinin (also a father of two) and Hall to gather 10 perspectives on failure you might not think about:

1. Let’s come out and say it: Failure (like losing) stinks. But that’s the point.

Dinin has become known as the ‘TikTok Professor’ for his bite-sized lessons about the importance of failure.

He has based his life on it as an English Ph. D-turned-software engineer who built venture-backed tech companies.

“One of the things I had to learn is, like, 98% of what’s gonna happen is not gonna to work the way you intended,” he says, “and it was a lesson that I didn’t (know) because I was a Duke undergrad way back when. And so I still had that mindset of everything has to be perfect. …  

“You wind up with these kind of weird phrases like, ‘Fail fast’ and ‘embrace failure.’ And I’m like, ‘No, failure stinks. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.’ It’s not good to fail. It’s just also not bad to fail. It’s just natural.”

Dinin was speaking with USA TODAY Sports in a video interview earlier this week from a symposium hosted by TrueSport and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It focused on mental wellness and supportive sports systems.

TrueSport is a learning and teaching organization that operates with the understanding that sports is a lab for life, where athletes have unlimited opportunities for success and failure.

At the event, Dinin asked questions the way he dangles what he calls ‘failure challenges’ to his students.

Could you sell a Jolly Rancher for $100?

He told his class they had one hour to do it.

“Some of the students are gonna run around, they’re gonna embrace it, they’re gonna be trying to sell, they’re gonna be failing,” he says. “Some of them are gonna walk over to the coffee shop on campus and get themselves a croissant and a cappuccino and just sit there for an hour. And you might go, ‘Well, that kid didn’t do their work.’ No, actually, the only thing that matters isn’t what you did. It’s, ‘What does it teach you about yourself? And how can you use that information to put yourself in a position to be more successful in the future?’ ”

2. Sports are something we grow into, and they become self-motivating when we fall short

We can’t be scared to be wrong in venture capitalism. Doesn’t sports work the same way?

It’s a process we may not realize as we’re going through it – taking failures and losses really hard – but we do in time.

Hall goes back to the burger stop after she bombed that big meet.

“I remember years later when I started to become one of those athletes that loves pressure and thrived under pressure, I was like, ‘Oh, I needed that first experience of going to a meet that you perceive as the biggest deal ever and crashing out at it to learn how to be like, ‘OK, the next time I go, I know what the pressure is like, I know I’m ready for it,’ ” she says.

“It definitely needs to come from you. The expectations from my parents (David and Ronette) were always just mostly surrounding morals, saying thank you to my coach when I left practice and doing the drill they asked me to do as hard as I can do it.”

3. Education, and getting better at sports, means failure, or at least an A-

Dinin says Duke students are products of an education system managed through grades.

“If you don’t get that checkpoint, the worst thing that can happen is you fail the grade, you get held back,” Dinin says. “But in the rest of life, right, we have a very different relationship with failure. You don’t keep trying the same thing over and over again until you get it, until it works.

“We all still operate just the same way once we leave school. And so I think that’s a huge part of where our complex relationship with failure comes from.”

He offers incentives, instead, by giving students a poor mid-semester grade to see how they react.

“It’s always interesting to see which ones write me an email within 10 minutes of giving that grade, like, ‘I don’t understand,’ ” he says. “It’s designed that the good outcome is by the end of the semester.”

4. Criticism is ultimately what makes you better

Now, let’s look at the concept of failure through the lens of a Duke athlete.

“I say, hell hath no fury like a Duke student who gets an A-minus,” Dinin says. “Athletes take that lower grade and they go, ‘OK, what do I need to do to improve?’

“In the entrepreneurial world, athletes are some of the best students because they’re the ones who understand that you’re not gonna get things right the first time or the second or the third or the fourth or the 20th.’

As athletes, Dinin says, we come to realize the time horizons it takes to excel at something.

“They definitely understand the concept of trial and error and failure,” he says. “Anna Hall didn’t become incredible in a weekend. And she didn’t start incredible.”

5. If we love to do something, failure – and the right amount of pressure – can fuel us

Whichever sport Anna and her sisters tried – field hockey, lacrosse, swimming, basketball, track – they needed to do their best at them.

Her father, the three-sport college athlete, would hold them accountable to that standard. That was the pressure.

“If I was playing soccer, he’s like, ‘Well, then go kick the ball around in the backyard with your sister,’ ” Hall says. “And if I was like, ‘No, I don’t ever want to do that,’ then, ‘OK, like, maybe let’s not do soccer.’

“I think a small bit of pressure is actually really healthy because there’s pressure in all areas of life, whether that’s school, work. But it was geared towards doing what you love.”

6. When we have passion for something, failure is the motivator, not the deterrent

After about eighth grade, when Hall stopped playing soccer and pursued track full-time, she became consumed with the variety of the heptathlon’s events and the practice to perfect them.

When you love something, you can throw yourself into it, even if you get cut from a team. It’s not the same feeling as, say, preparing for an organic chemistry retake, which you might dread.

“At the Olympic Games or the world championships, it is fun because it’s the moment you’ve been dreaming of, but you really learn that the process and the day in and day out of enjoying practice and enjoying seeing yourself get better at something, that is really where your joy and development comes from,” Hall says. “I won the world championships this year and I’m super proud of that medal, but ultimately what made that moment special was all that went into it, not necessarily just standing on top of the podium.”

WHAT IS FUN? Sometimes, as a tennis star learned, it’s overcoming struggle

7. There isn’t a right answer – or a winner and loser – to everything

Before she became a world champion, Hall broke her foot during a fall in 2021, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. She also had knee surgery in 2024, months before Paris.

“Honestly, my headspace was horrible,” she said at the symposium. “I think, people were always like, ‘Oh, how did you stay so positive?’ I didn’t. Every day, I was like, I don’t think this is going to work. I’m terrified.”

Dinin says athletes tend to have a sense there’s a winner and loser in every choice they make.

“Winning isn’t (always) whether or not you got the best time,” he says. “Winning is often what do you value the most?’

Sports is hard enough, Hall’s father used to tell her. It’s not worth it if you don’t love it, or dwell too much on wins and losses. Find the right team, or an energetic coach, that makes you want to come back no matter what.

“Having an injury on my takeoff legs, I was actually fearful to jump,” Hall says. “Every time I said I couldn’t do it, or I didn’t think it would work, there was five people telling me, ‘We’re gonna do this, and this is how.’ I think when you have people surrounding you speaking life into you like that, it’s almost like they forced me to believe in myself.”

8. Sometimes bodies fail, and we have to be patient

Dinin has a women’s basketball player in class who tore her ACL right before the season started. She feels like a failure, he says, because so much of her identity is tied to her sport.

Perhaps you have a kid with a similar injury, or even a repeat injury, and they have been forced to be patient.

“Athletes really struggle with (that),’ Dinin says. ‘They get injured and it just totally changes who they are because it’s all they know. It’s like, ‘It’s OK, bodies fail.’ This is again, something that we get taught in school, right? Perfect attendance.”

After having knee surgery the year of the Paris Olympics, Hall took time to reflect on how she could avoid putting herself in that situation again. The answer: taking a break.

Following her world championships win, she took five weeks off from physical activity, with the exception of an occasional Pilates class.

“For a professional athlete that’s really unheard of,” she says. “But my coaches (said) no, it’s really important to actually get out of shape a little bit, let your body heal itself and then the fitness will come back. I was super sore those first few days, but I didn’t lose everything.”

9. Turn off the ‘parent brain’: Being the best doesn’t necessarily mean being successful

Dinin says he fails daughters Adeline, 10, and Imogen, 7, when he relies too much on what he calls “parent brain.”

He can sit with students who tell him they don’t like their classes to prepare them to become a physician or lawyer and say, “It’s OK, there’s so many jobs in the world. Go into visual media studies.”

But when his kindergartner or first-grader comes home and tells him she didn’t do well on her addition? Forget painting. You’ve got to be really good at math and science.

“I’m like, ‘No, you gotta go be a doctor because that’s the stable profession,’ ” he says. “And so, I have to imagine the same thing happens for parents of youth sports. Objectively, we can sit back and say, ‘Hey, it’s OK. Things work out. People get to where they need.’

“But then when you’re that parent, watching that kid on the soccer field and that kid’s maybe hoping for a scholarship or (to) get on the traveling team or whatever it is, and then suddenly all that goes out the window and you just want them to be the best instead of be successful.”

10. Failure is a synonym for learning, and learning is everywhere

Hall is focused on Los Angeles in 2028, looking at her injuries as blips, and building blocks of learning.

It’s the way Dinin challenges his students to think. The final exam is based on a list of tasks he hands out at the beginning of the semester, such as pen-spinning, juggling or playing the harmonica.

He holds a talent show based on how well you learn your new skill.

“Usually the way every student learns is the night before they cram,” he says. “But that’s actually the worst kind of learning you can do. The best kind of learning is slow, methodical every time, bit by bit. And there’s just no way you can become a great juggler in one night. And so, you can really see whether or not they have figured out how to embody this lesson of slow, incremental, failure-based learning.”

A good outcome, he said, is that by the end of the semester, the student doesn’t care what their grade is. Really.

“When I make everything about a grade, it just totally undercuts the class,” he says. “No matter where you are, the best university in the world or anywhere else, you are going to be failing all the time. (It) means you have access to education all the time.”

Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

But Heisman Trophy contender Fernando Mendoza choreographed a game-winning drive that ended in an acrobatic touchdown grab by Omar Cooper Jr., moving the No. 2-ranked Hoosiers to 10-0 on the season after the 27-24 win.

It has been that kind of season for Curt Cignetti and Co. so far, and the second-year coach showed some rare emotion in the immediate aftermath of his team’s come-from-behind win.

‘Great play in the end zone,’ Cignetti told Fox Sports sideline reporter Jenny Taft. ‘Didn’t draw it up in the dirt but, I mean we saw what they were doing. And it was a great throw and catch. And you know what? This was an unbelievable win. I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my days. I’ve never seen anything quite like this.’

Mendoza took a sack on first-and-10 from Indiana’s own 20-yard line, moving the Hoosiers back to their own 13. With no timeouts remaining, the first-year Cal transfer set the tone for the remainder of the drive after hitting Cooper Jr. on a 22-yard rope down the seam on the next play.

Mendoza also found tight end Riley Nowakowski for a 29-yard gain on the drive, dropping in a pass between multiple defenders.

More magic came on third-and-goal from the 7 with 36 seconds remaining, when Cooper Jr. made perhaps the catch of the year for the game-winning score. Cooper Jr. leapt into the air and came down with the pass, miraculously keeping his flailing right leg from touching out of bounds before dragging his left foot in just inside the marker.

‘Refused to lose, basically,’ Cignetti told Fox sideline reporter Jenny Taft after the game. ‘Sacked on the (1-yard line), haven’t done anything the last five, six passes, he’s got no protection, right. Run the ball through us, play-action pass. No timeouts left, make a play on second and who knows what, 30? For a first down.’

Cignetti is now 21-2 in his second season at Indiana and is a virtual lock to reach the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year.

‘Every game’s important,’ Cignetti said. ‘We played a little shorthanded, but that’s part of the deal for every team in America. And we gotta play better in a lot of different areas and we’re lucky to win, but I am so proud of these kids.’

Gus Johnson’s voice has been the excitable soundtrack to dozens of thrilling moments in college football over the course of his decorated broadcasting career.

On Saturday, he narrated a play so exciting he nearly lost that distinctive voice.

Facing a third-and-goal from the Penn State 7-yard line, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza beat a ferocious oncoming pass rush to get off a throw to the back of the end zone. 

Hoosiers wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. rose high in the air to haul in the pass and, remarkably, got a foot down in bounds for a go-ahead touchdown with 36 seconds remaining in the game as No. 2 Indiana held off an upset bid to earn a 27-24 victory against a Penn State team playing under an interim coach.

Perhaps the only people inside Beaver Stadium more roused by the touchdown than Indiana’s players and coaches was Johnson.

“Touchdown! Wow!” Johnson exclaimed, with his voice rising about as high in octave as it physically could. “Omar Cooper! Unbelievable!”

Johnson had every reason to be excited, with his partner in the booth, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, calling it “the best catch I’ve seen all season long.”

With the win, the Hoosiers improve to 10-0 on the season, with only games against unranked Wisconsin and Purdue teams remaining on their schedule. The victory was Indiana’s first-ever at Penn State.

President Donald Trump wants the new Washington Commanders stadium to be named after him, reports ESPN.com.

According to the report, the White House has been in contact with the Commanders’ ownership group to express interest in having the new facility named after him.

The proposed $3.7 billion domed stadium will be situated on the same site as the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, which served as the team’s home from 1961 to 1996. The Commanders will reportedly cover $2.7 billion of the cost, with the city contributing the remaining $1 billion, while also leasing the stadium to the team.

The team then moved to Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, before the 1997 season. The team has made the playoffs only seven times, including last year’s NFC Championship appearance, since moving into their current stadium. Washington has not won the Super Bowl since 1992.

The stadium was known as FedExField from 1997 to 2024, continuing the standards of sports teams leasing stadium naming rights to corporate sponsors. Among NFL stadiums, only Soldier Field in Chicago and Green Bay’s Lambeau Field don’t have a corporate name attached to their stadium.

Trump is expected to be in attendance for the Commanders’ home game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Since returning to office for a second term in January, Trump has been to Super Bowl LIX, the Daytona 500, two UFC fights, the FIFA Club World Cup, the U.S. Open tennis men’s final and the Ryder Cup.

Don’t read too much into the score of the first game of the U.S. women’s Rivalry Series against Canada.

The Americans beat their archrivals 4-1 on Thursday night in Cleveland, thanks to three power-play goals by Abbey Murphy and a vault-like effort in the final two minutes by goaltender Aerin Frankel. It was the third win in a row over Canada, a streak that includes an overtime thriller in April to win the world title.

“Let’s see what happens after two games,” U.S. coach John Wroblewski said.

That isn’t just coach speak. The PWHL doesn’t begin training camps until next week, which meant Thursday night was the first competitive game for those players since May. All but three of Canada’s players are in the PWHL, while almost a third of the U.S. roster is in college.

That includes Murphy, who is in her final year at Minnesota.

“Some of our college players have a little more timing to their game right now,” Wroblewski said. “I didn’t think some of our pros looked all that sharp tonight, either.”

Besides, the U.S. women only need to look back to last year’s Rivalry Series to avoid getting complacent. The Americans won the opener 7-2 only to have the Canadians jump out to a 4-1 lead in the second game on their way to a 5-4 shootout win.

“We ended up tying and getting into overtime, but that was Canada’s game. Let’s just see what happens after Saturday,” Wroblewski said.

Here’s what you need to know about the second game of the Rivalry Series:

When do the U.S. women and Canada play?

Game 2 of the Rivalry Series between the USA and Canada is at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov 8.

Where is the game being played?

The game is at Key Bank Center in Buffalo, New York

Where can I watch the USA-Canada Rivalry Series?

The game will air on NHL Network.

How can I stream the USA-Canada Rivalry Series?

Fubo and certain Sling TV packages carry NHL Network. Fubo offers a free trial for new subscribers. 

Watch Rivalry Series on Fubo

Homecoming game

“The Cleveland Queen” had a night to remember.

Laila Edwards, who grew up in Cleveland Heights, had an assist on the first U.S. goal Thursday night. She also drew the loudest cheers when she was introduced as a starter, and Hilary Knight handed over ceremonial puck drop duties to her.

The day before the game, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. was spotted wearing Edwards’ jersey.

“This has definitely been a very special couple of days that I’m going to remember forever,” said Edwards, who had not played in her hometown since her sophomore year in high school. (She went to a Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, New York to play hockey.)

“It’s been super fun and I’m sad it’s ending,” she added.

Saturday’s game will be a homecoming for veteran forward Hayley Scamurra, who grew up in Buffalo, and Haley Winn, who is from Rochester, which is about an hour away.

What is the Rivalry Series?

Now in its sixth season, the Rivalry Series features the U.S. and Canadian women’s national teams. This year’s edition consists of four games, the first two in the United States and the last two in Canada.

The Americans won the opener in Cleveland 4-1. After Saturday night’s game in Buffalo, the Rivalry Series will wrap up with games Dec. 10 and 13 in Edmonton, Alberta.

The college football season is building to a crescendo when the College Football Playoff field is announced next month. Between now and that final weekend, there are five Saturdays of games that will set the table for sorting out the 12 teams selected.

As the games have more magnitude, the pressure is greater on teams and coaches. That pressure can lead to surprising results. Week 11 offers plenty of opportunities for contenders to post big wins or have big disappointments. There are key matchups in the SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten that will shape those races

Who will take a big step forward Saturday? Who are the teams in potential trouble that could see their postseason hopes dashed?

The USA TODAY Sports college football staff will help answer some of those questions. Matt Hayes, Jordan Mendoza, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Blake Toppmeyer have their bold predictions for Week 11 of the college football season.

Mississippi State bowl-eligible after Georgia upset

Georgia has been living on the edge during its SEC schedule with multiple fourth-quarter comebacks that have put the Bulldogs in contention for the league title. Mississippi State knows about close games, but has fallen short at home in previous matchups against ranked opponents. Things flip Saturday with Miss State getting its sixth win and becoming an unlikely bowl participant. — Matt Hayes

Texas Tech rolls by Brigham Young

The Big 12 race hinges on the matchup between the Cougars and Red Raiders, with both teams hopeful to make the playoff. However, the case for two teams will be difficult after Texas Tech makes a statement. BYU has played a bit dangerously in recent weeks, and it won’t fly against Texas Tech’s offense in what will be a rocking environment. The Red Raiders don’t let the game remain close and all eyes will be on how far BYU falls down the College Football Playoff rankings. — Jordan Mendoza

Luck runs out for Virginia

Virginia’s luck runs out with a loss to Wake Forest that will cause the Cavaliers to plummet in the US LBM Coaches Poll and the playoff rankings. A loss would be devastating from an at-large perspective and would make an ACC championship the only avenue to a playoff berth. UVA has won two ACC titles since joining the league in 1954, with the most recent in 1995.  — Paul Myerberg

Iowa makes playoff case with takedown of Oregon

We’ve seen the story before with Oregon. A team physical on both lines of scrimmage takes the game to the Ducks and ends up the winner. That was the recipe for Indiana when it won on the road in Eugene. That’s the recipe Iowa can employ when Oregon visits Saturday. Yes, the Hawkeyes don’t have a great offense, but they showed against the Hoosiers they’re a tough opponent in Iowa City. They lost that game in the final two minutes. This time, they win a close one to damage the Ducks and put themselves in College Football Playoff position. — Erick Smith

Indiana pours it on Penn State

Penn State’s season of misery is about to get even worse. It’s not personal, you understand, just business. Indiana will be coming to State College Saturday with a point to prove. The Hoosiers saw what Ohio State could do against the Nittany Lions last week, so now they will be intent upon showing they can do it even better. Expect at least another 50burger. — Eddie Timanus

Alabama piles misery on LSU

After LSU gets walloped by Alabama, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry calls a news conference and feeds a “mannequin” wearing purple and gold to a live tiger. He threatens to deport Baton Rouge native Scott Woodward and vows to continue the bloodlettings until the situation improves or he otherwise shutters the university. I’m kidding. I swear, I’m kidding. But, seriously, this game pits rivals that are racing in opposite directions. Kalen DeBoer is undefeated at Bryant-Denny Stadium. That will continue, with a game that’s not nearly as close as we would’ve expected in August. — Blake Toppmeyer

As Ohio State football picked up its ninth win of the season against Purdue on Saturday, Nov. 8, the top-ranked Buckeyes did so without one of their top wide receivers in Carnell Tate.

After not playing a single first-half snap against Purdue, the Buckeyes’ wide receiver, who has been one of quarterback Julian Sayin’s go-to targets this season, was held out for the remainder of the game in a 34-10 victory over the Boilermakers.

Tate entered Ohio State’s Week 11 road game second among Buckeye receivers in receiving yards, with only Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiah Smith leading the way by 14 more yards. The 6-foot-3 wide receiver has already set a new career-high for touchdown receptions at seven this season and is 22 receiving yards short of tying his career-high for receiving yards in a single season.

Here’s what to know on Tate’s absence against Purdue on Saturday:

Why is Carnell Tate not playing? Latest updates on Ohio State WR absence vs Purdue

It appears that Tate is injured, though it remains unclear as to when that injury occurred and what type of injury he has.

Tate stood on the Buckeyes’ sideline for the entirety of the game in uniform.

Ryan Day comments on Carnell Tate not playing vs Purdue

Following the Buckeyes’ win over the Boilermakers, Ohio State coach Ryan Day told reporters in West Lafayette that the Buckeyes wanted to be ‘really careful’ with Tate after he felt something in warmups.

‘Carnell, we felt like he was gonna be OK to play, but when he went through warmups, he just felt something there, so we just wanted to be really careful. Could he have played? Yeah, probably. But we’re just gonna rest him to make sure,’ Day said in his postgame news conference of Tate’s absence from Ohio State’s win over Purdue.

Day’s postgame comments were similar to the ones he made on the Big Ten Network going into halftime, though they did omit the implication Tate would have been good to go:

‘He’s not gonna play. We’re gonna hold him,’ Day said. ‘It was kind of a thing before the game — we just didn’t feel comfortable putting him out there, so you won’t see him in the second half.’

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia was one of the most trusted relievers in the bullpen this past season and earned two postseason wins for the team in 2025.

Vesia did not finish out the postseason, missing the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays due to the death of his daughter, Sterling Sol Vesia.

The veteran pitcher and his wife, Kayla, announced the sad news on Instagram on Friday, Nov. 7. 

“Our beautiful daughter went to heaven Sunday, October 26th,” the Vesias’ post said. “There are no words to describe the pain we’re going through, but we hold her in our hearts and cherish every second we had with her.”

The couple was seen on the field after the Dodgers won the National League Division Series.

Alex Vesia made two appearances in the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers in Los Angeles on Oct. 16th and 17th. Kayla was expected to be close to her delivery date.

On Oct. 23, the Dodgers announced that Vesia would not be with the team due to a ‘deeply personal family matter.’

“Thank you Dodger Nation, Blue Jays organization and all baseball fans for your love and support,” the Vesias said in their post. “We have seen ALL your messages, comments and posts. It’s brought us so much comfort.”

During the World Series, members of the Dodgers’ and Blue Jays’ pitching staffs were seen with the No. 51 on their hats, in a show of support for Vesia.

Will Alex Vesia return to the Dodgers?

The Dodgers exercised Vesia’s $3.55 million club option for the 2026 season on Thursday, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

Kyle Shanahan’s starting quarterback, Brock Purdy, was struck by a turf toe injury that has limited him to two starts.

The stud pass-rusher? Nick Bosa’s season was wrecked in Week 3 by a torn ACL.

Fred Warner, the heart and soul of the San Francisco 49ers defense, went down in Week 6 with a broken and dislocated ankle.

Dynamic wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk still hasn’t made it back yet from the devasting knee injury suffered last season. Meanwhile, Ricky Pearsall, rising star of a receiver, could miss his fifth consecutive game on Sunday as he recovers from a knee injury.

Last weekend, first-round rookie Mykel Williams, who replaced Bosa in the starting lineup at left defensive end, suffered torn knee ligaments that finished him for the season.

Sure, an NFL season is always a war of attrition. Every team in the league has its share of injury setbacks that test their depth, resilience and ability to adapt.

Yet no team this season has been stung quite like the 49ers, with a heavy presence on the All-IR Team underscoring the challenge.

And through it all, San Francisco has already won six games – matching its total from last year’s injury-ravaged campaign – to keep afloat in the NFC playoff race.

For Shanahan, whose resume includes three NFC West titles and two Super Bowl appearances in eight seasons as 49ers coach, this has the look of his best coaching job yet.

At least to this point.

That’s why Shanahan, rolling with revived quarterback Mac Jones, gets my nod as the NFL’s midseason coach of the year. It’s the resourcefulness amid the extreme degree of difficulty. You can certainly make a strong argument for Mike Vrabel in his first year back in Foxborough, leading the New England Patriots (7-2) to the pole position in the AFC East. Ditto for Shane Steichen, who has the Indianapolis Colts (7-2) humming, bolstered by another revived quarterback, Daniel Jones. And at least a half-dozen others may be in the mix for the honor by season’s end, pending performance down the stretch.

Shanahan, though, is the one you might think would be halfway through a lost season, given the setbacks with so many key players. Talk about overachieving.

“I wouldn’t say ‘overachieved’ because we believed we could do this,” Shanahan said during a press conference this week, ramping up for another big test against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. “I think always when you have injuries it’s much more of a challenge, definitely.

“But, I think some of the key positions we have had key injuries, we’ve had some good guys step up. I mean, I’m thinking all these positions, it’s just a total backup. I think we’ve had some guys come in and play like starters. I also know other teams in the League have some of these issues, too. So, we’re 6-3, and we’ve got a chance here. We’re in the hunt, but we’ll see how we finish the rest of this half out.”

Will the injuries catch up with the 49ers? That’s a fair question. Yet Shanahan is hardly wired to wave a white flag.

His offense, which runs through multi-tasking running back Christian McCaffrey (NFL-high 1,222 yards from scrimmage), didn’t fold when Jones stepped in. The front is still anchored by arguably the best lineman in the game, Trent Williams. The boost that came with star tight end George Kittle’s return from missing five games with a hamstring injury, is poised to get more fuel for the passing game with Pearsall and Purdy apparently progressing. And a major bonus looms if Aiyuk comes back at some point … with his explosive playmaking skill intact.

Shanahan winning with a revived Mac Jones

In the meantime, Jones, who fizzled as a Patriots first-round pick and was merely an emergency option during his Jacksonville stopover, has illustrated why keen coaching is critical to the development of young quarterbacks. He’s put up a pair of 300-yard games and demonstrated much grit in leading the 49ers to five victories. When San Francisco stunned the Rams in Week 5, he was nearly knocked out of the game with a knee injury.

On Sunday, he added to his street cred by completing his first 14 passes against the Giants. And by the way, he has publicly doused any chatter about a QB controversy.

During his postgame remarks after the victory at New York, Jones underscored why he’s been a good fit within a culture undeniably established by Shanahan, with “the guys just letting me be myself, which is kind of different from what I’ve had in the past.”

Strikingly, during the buildup to the NFL draft in 2021, many projected the former Alabama quarterback as a target to land with the 49ers. San Francisco, though, traded up to draft since-busted Trey Lance with the third pick overall, leaving Jones to be drafted by the Patriots with the 15th pick. Now Jones is connected after all with Shanahan, whose free agent signing of the quarterback has paid off remarkably.

“When you lose your starting quarterback, it’s always tough on a team,” Shanahan said after the win against the Giants. “The way Mac stepped in there, going back to New Orleans (in Week 2) and how he was that first game, how he’s been in practice, how he was in the offseason, Mac’s been great.”

A much taller order exists for the 49ers defense to absorb the absences of Warner, Bosa and now Williams. But another of Shanahan’s key offseason moves gives them a better chance. He brought back Robert Saleh to coordinate the defense – the fourth coordinator in as many years for the unit – and restore the standard.

It’s worth noting that Warner’s sub at mike linebacker, second-year pro Tatum Bethune, has tallied an NFL-high 50 tackles since stepping up in Week 6.  

Yes, it takes players to win in the NFL. Yet culture and coaching talent matters immensely, too, to get the best out of the available players, which is why Shanahan’s 49ers are still firmly in the playoff mix.

My other midseason plaudits:

NFL Midseason MVP: Jalen Hurts

Amid much fuss about A.J. Brown’s targets, Saquon Barkley’s touches and the morality of the Tush Push, if the playoffs began today the Eagles (6-2) would be the No. 1 seed behind their steady, old soul of a quarterback. Hurts seems oblivious to the noise, evidenced by his 15-1 TD-to-INT ratio and 114.4 passer rating on pace to be the best in his career. No, the defending Super Bowl champs don’t need him to pass for 5,000 yards, which is why a 25th-ranked passing game must be put into context. It’s about efficiency. Philadelphia has the fewest turnovers in the NFL (3) and best red-zone TD rate (85%), while Hurts has completed 70.2% of his passes. And he can run when needed, plow when pushed, while apparently remaining unfazed by potential distractions.

Defensive Stud: Myles Garrett

Remember when the NFL’s best defensive player, frustrated by the Cleveland Browns’ lack of winning, asked for a trade last offseason? Well, he changed his tune with the massive contract averaging $40 million per year. And he’s given the Browns so much bang for their buck, already notching his eighth-consecutive double-digit sack season (10) for the NFL’s second-ranked defense. The winning, though, is still hard to come by as the Browns (2-6) still wallow at the bottom of the A-North.

Offensive Megastar: Jonathan Taylor.

At this rate, Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher (895 yards, 5.7 per carry), doesn’t merely threaten to propel the Colts to the playoffs. With 14 touchdowns (12 rushing, 2 receiving), he might also make a run at the NFL single-season record that LaDainian Tomlinson set in 2006.

Don’t call it a comeback: Matthew Stafford

There was a lot of drama all offseason, and into the summer, about the availability of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford as he dealt with a back injury. Well, he’s fine. Stafford, 37, has been on fire, firmly in the MVP conversation with his NFL-high 21 touchdown passes.

A Star, Emerging: Drake Maye

The second-year Patriots quarterback leads the NFL with a 116.9 passer rating, his team is in first place and what a sterling streak: 8 consecutive games with at least 200 passing yards and a 100-or-better passer rating. They haven’t seen that in New England since Tom Brady’s era. Mike Vrabel knows better than to compare, but this is trending, as they say.

Golden Oldie: Aaron Rodgers

Look who’s in first place again? Rodgers, 41, might not have the MVP flair that he possessed in his heyday, but his (ultimate) free agent move to the Steelers could make him relevant in January again. His arm, like his football IQ, is still sharp.

How Ya Like Me Now? Sam Darnold

Darnold is the quarterback that Jets owner Woody Johnson might wish he had about now. But that was three NFL stops ago for Darnold, who is everything the Seahawks could have hoped for with their free agency signing. It certainly helps to have a target such as star receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba, but somebody must throw the rock.

New Kid on Block: Emeka Egbuka

Another Ohio State receiver making a distinct mark in the NFL. It figures. Egbuka, drafted 19th overall, has been a offensive rookie of the year-type necessity for Baker Mayfield and the Bucs, who have lost Mike Evans for the season and been without Chris Godwin since Week 5. Egbuka leads all rookies with 562 receiving yards on 34 catches, with 5 TDs. And they’ve loved his maturity since he arrived.

Double Trouble: Micah Parsons and Rashan Gary

When the Packers obtained Parsons from Dallas in the blockbuster trade, they envisioned him as a missing piece to a Super Bowl pursuit. Parsons’ impact is evident. Not only does he rank second in the league with 44 quarterback pressures, his presence has helped Gary take advantage of matchups and collect 7 ½ sacks.

Back to the Future: Chicago Bears

Finally, the Bears have an offense that doesn’t resemble the scheme the franchise started with when the NFL was formed in 1920. A modern-day offense was the promise that came with new coach Ben Johnson, lo and behold, the creative whiz brought along some of the trick plays that made him special in Detroit. Suddenly, Caleb Williams looks like a potential star and the Bears (5-3) have a winning record. If I’m dreaming this, wake me up now.

Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on  X: @JarrettBell