Mike Shanahan

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For the American football tight end, see Mike Shanahan (tight end).
Mike Shanahan
Photograph of Shanahan on a football field wearing a white Washington Redskins t-shirt and dark-colored Redskins shorts holding a rolled up sheet of paper in his left hand a raising his right hand above his head
Shanahan at Redskins training camp in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1952-08-24) August 24, 1952 (age 71)
Place of birth Oak Park, Illinois
Career information
Position(s) Quarterback
College Eastern Illinois
Career highlights
Super Bowl wins 1998 XXXIII
1997 XXXII
1994 XXIX^
^ As offensive coordinator
Championships won AFC 1998, 1997, 1987^, 1986^
NFC 1994^
^ As offensive coordinator
Head coaching record
Regular season 170–138–0 (.552)
Postseason 8–6 (.571)
Career record 178–144–0 (.553)
Stats
Coaching stats (NFL) Pro Football Reference
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1975 Oklahoma (offensive assistant)
1976–1977 Northern Arizona (running backs coach)
1978 Eastern Illinois (offensive coordinator)
1979 Minnesota (off. coord.)
1980–1983 Florida (off. coord.)
1984–1987 Denver Broncos (off. coord.)
1988–1989 Los Angeles Raiders (head coach)
1990–1991 Denver Broncos (offensive assistant)
1992–1994 San Francisco 49ers (off. coord.)
1995–2008 Denver Broncos (head coach)
2010–2013 Washington Redskins (head coach)


Michael Edward "Mike" Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is an American football coach, who has been the head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders, Denver Broncos, and Washington Redskins. He led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1998 and 1999.

Early career

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Shanahan played high school football at East Leyden High School, Franklin Park, Illinois, where he played wishbone quarterback for legendary Eagles coach Jack Leese's 1968 and 1969 teams. He held the single-game rushing record of 260 yards on 15 carries (which was set in a 32–8 win over Hinsdale South on September 20, 1969) until it was broken in 1976 by Dennis Cascio. He graduated from high school in June 1970.[citation needed]

He was a quarterback at Eastern Illinois University, where he joined Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. In 1972, a piercingly hard hit on the practice field ruptured one of his kidneys, which caused his heart to stop for thirty seconds and nearly killed him. A priest was summoned to administer the last rites to Shanahan, a devout Roman Catholic.[1][2]

With his playing career abruptly ended, Shanahan entered coaching. After graduation, he served as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona University and the University of Oklahoma. He then returned to his alma mater as offensive coordinator and helped his school win the Division II football championship. Shanahan worked as the offensive coordinator for the University of Minnesota for a single season, before accepting the same position at the University of Florida under head coach Charley Pell in 1980. Shanahan stayed with the Gators through 1983.[citation needed]

NFL career

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Assistant coaching stints

Shanahan first served as a quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator for the Broncos under Dan Reeves in the 1980s. It was his skill as an offensive mind that garnered Shanahan the attention of maverick Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis. After Shanahan and the Raiders parted ways in 1989, Shanahan returned to the Broncos as an assistant. He was fired several years later by Reeves after finding himself in the middle of a growing feud between Reeves and quarterback John Elway.[3]

Los Angeles Raiders

Shanahan was hired by the Raiders in 1988 to replace longtime Raiders coach Tom Flores. He was the Raiders' first head coach hired from outside the organization since Davis himself 23 years earlier. Shanahan (who proved very unpopular with the players) and the micromanaging Davis clashed almost immediately, and this was only exacerbated after the Raiders finished a disappointing 7–9, losing four of their last five games. Tensions increased towards the end of the season when wide receivers coach and Shanahan loyalist Nick Nicolau got into a heated argument with assistant coach Art Shell (a Davis loyalist) in which Nicolau reportedly accused Shell of only having a job by virtue of his friendship with Davis. When Shell went to Davis later to ask if this was true, Davis' response was to immediately fire Nicolau. Shanahan responded by firing running backs coach Joe Scannella and offensive coordinator Tom Walsh (both Davis hires), but Davis ordered them both back to work. At the end of the season, Shanahan fired defensive assistants Willie Brown and Charlie Sumner. An enraged Davis re-hired Brown to a different position in the organization. When the Raiders began 1–3 in 1989, Shanahan himself was fired and replaced by Shell.[4] Shanahan's final Raiders record was 8–12 in less than two seasons, going 2–7 after a 6–5 start.

San Francisco 49ers

In 1992, Shanahan was hired as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers under Head Coach George Seifert, capping his rise with a victory in Super Bowl XXIX after the 1994 season. His years under Seifert placed him in the Bill Walsh coaching tree. In 1994 while coaching for the 49ers, Shanahan added to the ongoing feud between him and Raiders owner Al Davis when he had then QB Elvis Grbac throw a football at Davis' head.[5]

File:Red Shanny.jpg
Mike Shanahan at a 2014 press conference

Denver Broncos

Shanahan's success with the 49ers earned him a head coaching spot once more, this time back in Denver with the Broncos beginning in 1995. He led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, during which time the Broncos set a then-record for victories in two seasons.

Between 1996–1998, the Broncos set the NFL record for victories by going 46–10 over a three-year span. The 1998 Broncos won their first 13 games on their way to a 14–2 mark. Shanahan, taking his cue from West Coast offense guru Bill Walsh, was well known for scripting the first 15 offensive plays of the game, and helped the 1998 Broncos set an NFL record for first quarter points scored in a season. In 2005, he passed Dan Reeves as the winningest coach in franchise history.[citation needed]

Shanahan is known for a run-heavy variation of the West Coast offense he coached in San Francisco. He has often found unheralded running backs from later rounds of the annual NFL Draft and then turned them into league-leading rushers behind small-but-powerful offensive lines. Examples of this phenomenon are Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, Clinton Portis, Reuben Droughns and Tatum Bell, all of whom have had at least one 1,000-yard season in a Denver uniform over the past 10 years.[citation needed]

After Elway's retirement and Davis' career-ending injuries, Shanahan went seven years without a playoff win (including three seasons when the Broncos didn't even make the playoffs), a drought which caused some criticism from fans. The playoff drought ended on January 14, 2006 when the Broncos defeated the two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs at Invesco Field at Mile High.

In 1999, with the assistance of writer Adam Schefter, Shanahan penned Think Like a Champion, a motivational book about leadership. It was published by Harper Collins. In 2006, he cooperated with Stefan Fatsis's endeavor to spend a year as a Broncos place-kicker, and much of the resulting book A Few Seconds of Panic (2008) covers Shanahan's coaching from the player's point of view. On December 30, 2008, Shanahan was fired after the Broncos failed to make the playoffs during the 2008 NFL season.[6] It was the third consecutive year in which Denver didn't make the playoffs and the Broncos had spent most of the season well ahead of their division.

Washington Redskins

Shanahan August 5, 2010 at Redskins Park
Mike Shanahan at an Open Practice on August 5, 2010 at Redskins Park in Ashburn, VA

In the early part of the 2009 season, it was reported that the Washington Redskins were interested in naming Shanahan their head coach, replacing Jim Zorn. Although this was reported by several media outlets, the Redskins' Vice President of Football Operations, Vinny Cerrato, stated that a coaching change would not be considered until the end of the season.[7] On November 18, 2009 ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Buffalo Bills had contacted Shanahan about their head coaching vacancy after the team parted ways with former coach Dick Jauron.[8]

On January 5, 2010, Shanahan was formally introduced as the Redskins' 24th full-time head coach. As part of the deal, he was also named vice president of football operations, with the final say on football matters. He was one of several coaches who also had the title or powers of general manager, along with New England's Bill Belichick and others.[9] Shanahan was signed to a five-year, $35 million contract.[10] Several months earlier, Bruce Allen was named the team's general manager. Shanahan and Allen split the duties held by a general manager, with Shanahan having the final say.[11] This model is similar to how Belichick and Scott Pioli worked during their eight years in New England.

Shanahan's son, Kyle Shanahan, became the offensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins on January 20, 2010.[12]

Shanahan had a combined 11–21 record in his first two seasons as Redskins coach, followed by a 3–6 start to the 2012 season, but ended the year with a seven-game winning streak on the way to the team's first NFC East title and home playoff game since the 1999 season. During this season Shanahan also continued his trend of developing unheralded draft picks into 1000-yard rushers, with the 6th-rounder Alfred Morris. The Redskins lost in the Wild Card round of the 2012 NFL Playoffs to the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 14–24, during which his quarterback Robert Griffin III sustained a tear of his LCL and a damaged ACL to his previously injured knee.[13][14] Shanahan came under criticism for his handling of the injury, both in bringing Griffin back to play after the initial injury on Dec 9 and keeping him in the game against the Seahawks after reinjuring the knee.[13][14] While there were reports in December 2012 that the Redskins were considering negotiating a contract extension with Shanahan in the 2013 offseason, this did not happen and there were later reports that Shanahan had considered resigning after the end of the year.[15][16]

Griffin underwent reconstructive surgery of his knee on January 9 and returned as the starter for the beginning of the 2013–2014 season, though Shanahan held him out of the preseason to protect him from further injury.[17][18][19] The team continued to struggle in 2013. With the final three games of the regular season, Shanahan decided to make Griffin inactive for the rest of the season because Shanahan thought it was best for both Griffin's and the Redskins' future.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder fired Shanahan on December 30, 2013. The team finished 3–13 in the 2013 season, and was in last place in the NFC East division 3 of 4 seasons. Shanahan would have had a $7M salary for 2014, what would have been his last year on his contract. If Shanahan is able to find another coaching job, the new salary is deducted from his $7M, the difference is paid by the Redskins.[20]

Head coaching record

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
LAR 1988 7 9 0 .438 3rd in AFC West – – – –
LAR 1989 1 3 0 .250 3rd in AFC West – – – –
LAR Total 8 12 0 .400 - - -
DEN 1995 8 8 0 .500 3rd in AFC West – – – –
DEN 1996 13 3 0 .813 1st in AFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Jacksonville Jaguars in AFC Divisional Game.
DEN 1997 12 4 0 .750 2nd in AFC West 4 0 1.000 Super Bowl XXXII Champions.
DEN 1998 14 2 0 .875 1st in AFC West 3 0 1.000 Super Bowl XXXIII Champions.
DEN 1999 6 10 0 .375 5th in AFC West – – – –
DEN 2000 11 5 0 .688 2nd in AFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Baltimore Ravens in AFC Wild-Card Game.
DEN 2001 8 8 0 .500 3rd in AFC West – – – –
DEN 2002 9 7 0 .563 2nd in AFC West – – – –
DEN 2003 10 6 0 .625 2nd in AFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Indianapolis Colts in AFC Wild-Card Game.
DEN 2004 10 6 0 .625 2nd in AFC West 0 1 .000 Lost to Indianapolis Colts in AFC Wild-Card Game.
DEN 2005 13 3 0 .813 1st in AFC West 1 1 .500 Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers in AFC Championship Game.
DEN 2006 9 7 0 .563 3rd in AFC West – – – –
DEN 2007 7 9 0 .438 2nd in AFC West – – – –
DEN 2008 8 8 0 .500 2nd in AFC West – – – –
DEN Total 138 86 0 .616 8 5 .615
WAS 2010 6 10 0 .375 4th in NFC East – – – –
WAS 2011 5 11 0 .313 4th in NFC East – – – –
WAS 2012 10 6 0 .625 1st in NFC East 0 1 .000 Lost to Seattle Seahawks in NFC Wild-Card Game
WAS 2013 3 13 0 .188 4th in NFC East – – – –
WAS Total 24 40 0 .375 0 1 .000
Total[21] 170 138 0 .552 8 6 .571

Accomplishments

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  • Posted the most wins in National Football League history during a three-year period (46 in 1996–98).[22]
  • Won the most postseason games in history over a two-year period (seven, 1997–98).
  • Been undefeated and untied for three consecutive regular seasons (1996–98) at home, just the second team ever to be undefeated and untied at home in three consecutive years. The Miami Dolphins posted three consecutive seasons of untied undefeated home records from 1972 to 1974. Including playoff games, the Dolphins had won 31 consecutive home games from 1971 to 1974. Oddly enough, in 1999 on the opening Monday Night Football game, the Miami Dolphins ended the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos streak with a 38–21 win in Denver.
  • In 2004, he joined the exclusive club of head coaches to post 100 wins in his first 10 seasons with one club, finishing the campaign and decade tied for fourth on this list of 12 coaches, six of whom are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
  • Has the second most victories against the Raiders with a record of 21–7. Only Marty Schottenheimer has a better W–L record against the Raiders (27–6).
  • Joins Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Belichick as the only six coaches to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
  • He is the second coach in history to win two Super Bowl titles in his first four years coaching a team (Shula did it first with the Miami Dolphins in 1972 and 1973).
  • Highest winning percentage in Denver history (.646) and most wins in Denver history (138).
  • Shanahan is among nine coaches in pro football history to post four wins in one postseason along with Tom Flores, Joe Gibbs, Brian Billick, Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy, Tom Coughlin (twice) and Mike McCarthy and most recently, John Harbaugh.
  • The all-time high of 636 points in a season came from the 1994 Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers, for whom Shanahan was the offensive coordinator. This was eclipsed during the 2007 season when the New England Patriots scored 589 points in the regular season and 66 points in the postseason for a total of 655 points. Ironically, that record was again broken in the 2013-2014 season when Shanahan's former team, the Denver Broncos, scored 606 points in the regular season and 58 in the postseason for a total of 664 points.
  • During his NFL career, Shanahan has been a part of teams that have played in 10 Conference Championship Games, in addition to his three Super Bowl appearances, two with Denver and Super Bowl XXIX with San Francisco.

Coaching tree

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. NFL head coaches under whom Mike Shanahan has served:

Assistant coaches under Mike Shanahan who became NFL head coaches:

Assistant coaches under Mike Shanahan who became NCAA head coaches:

Personal

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Shanahan is a Roman Catholic.[1][23][24] He and his wife, Peggy, have two children — a son, Kyle, the current Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator, and a daughter, Krystal.[citation needed] Shanahan is also a Brother in the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity.[citation needed]

In May 2008, Shanahan attended the wedding of George W. Bush's daughter Jenna Bush, who was the former college roommate of Shanahan's daughter.[25][26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Elvis Grbac: Mike Shanahan Ordered Me to Throw a Football at Al Davis’ Head. Larry Brown Sports (October 10, 2011). Retrieved on December 30, 2013.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Maese, Rick "Redskins owner Dan Snyder concedes the stage to Mike Shanahan", The Washington Post, January 7, 2010
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Maske, Mark " Redskins weighing possible contract extension for Mike Shanahan", The Washington Post, December 31, 2012
  16. ↑ Redskins coach Mike Shanahan blows off questions he wanted to quit. Usatoday.com (December 8, 2013). Retrieved on December 30, 2013.
  17. ↑ Starkey, JP (January 9, 2013) RGIII injury update: ACL surgery completed for Redskins QB. SBNation.com.
  18. ↑ Mike Shanahan’s fear of playing Robert Griffin III in preseason leaves him at odds with star QB. NY Daily News. August 17, 2013.
  19. ↑ Shanahan confirms RG3 will start Week 1. Fox News (September 3, 2013). Retrieved on December 30, 2013.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Mike Shanahan Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks. Pro-Football-Reference.com (August 24, 1952). Retrieved on December 30, 2013.
  22. ↑ Mike Shanahan Background – DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG. Myfoxdc.com. Retrieved on December 30, 2013.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinator
1985–1987		 Succeeded by
Chan Gailey
Preceded by Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinator
1991		 Succeeded by
George Henshaw
Preceded by San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinator
1992–1994		 Succeeded by
Marc Trestman
Awards and achievements
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