Mike Shanahan

Mike Shanahan

Head Coach Mike Shanahan at Redskins training camp in 2011.
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Washington Redskins
Personal information
Date of birth	(1952-08-24) August 24, 1952
Place of birth	Oak Park, Illinois
Career information
College	Eastern Illinois
Head coaching record
Regular season	167–125–0 (.572)
Postseason	8–6 (.571)
Career record	175–131–0 (.572)
Super Bowl wins	1998 XXXIII 1997 XXXII 1994 XXIX^ ^ As offensive coordinator
Championships won	AFC 1998, 1997, 1987^, 1986^ NFC 1994^ ^ As offensive coordinator
Stats
Coaching stats	Pro Football Reference
Coaching stats	DatabaseFootball
Team(s) as a coach/administrator
1975 1976–1977 1978 1979 1980–1983 1984–1987 1988–1989 1990–1991 1992–1994 1995–2008 2010–present	University of Oklahoma (Offensive Assistant) Northern Arizona University (Running Backs Coach) Eastern Illinois University (Offensive Coordinator) University of Minnesota (Offensive Coordinator) University of Florida (Offensive Coordinator) Denver Broncos (Offensive Coordinator) Los Angeles Raiders (Head Coach) Denver Broncos (Offensive Assistant) San Francisco 49ers (Offensive Coordinator) Denver Broncos (Head coach) Washington Redskins (Head Coach)

Michael Edward "Mike" Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is the 28th and current head coach of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. Shanahan also holds the title of Vice President of Football Operations with the Redskins, giving him full control over player personnel with the team. Shanahan previously coached the Los Angeles Raiders and the Denver Broncos. He led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1997 and 1998.

Early career

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.

He was a quarterback at Eastern Illinois University, where he joined Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity. During a practice in the 1970s, a 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.

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.

NFL career

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.

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. 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. Shanahan's final Raiders record was 8–12 in less than two seasons.

San Francisco 49ers

In 1992, Shanahan was hired as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers on George Seifert's staff, 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 Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis when he had then QB Elvis Grbac throw a football at Davis's head.

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. 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

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. 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.

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 is one of three coaches who also has the title or powers of general manager, along with New England's Bill Belichick and Kansas City's Andy Reid. Shanahan was signed to a five-year, $35 million contract. Several months earlier, Bruce Allen was named the team's general manager. It is likely that Shanahan and Allen will split the duties held by a general manager, with Shanahan having the final say. This model is similar to how Belichick and Scott Pioli worked during their eight years in New England.

Despite Shanahan's combined 11-21 in his first two seasons as Redskins coach, as well as the Redskins 3-6 start to the 2012 season, the Redskins are seriously considering negotiating a contract extension in the 2013 offseason with Shanahan This is due to the Redskins seven game winning streak to end the 2012 season which resulted in the team's first NFC East title and home playoff game since the 1999 season. The Redskins secured the division crown with a 28-18 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at FedEx Field on December 30, 2012.

The Redskins were defeated in their first and only 2012 playoff game by the Seattle Seahawks with a score of 14-24. Some say that wild-card game was a warning to Shanahan that he needs to rethink how he is handling rookie quarterback Griffin’s health. When Griffin originally injured his knee on Dec. 9, he ran back onto the field without being cleared by doctors. Griffin then reinjured his knee during the first quarter of the Seattle game on Jan. 6, limped throughout most of the game, and then grotesquely twisted his knee during the fourth quarter. Griffin underwent complete reconstructive surgery of his knee for ACL and LCL tears on Jan. 9. Eighty-five thousand fans were packed into Fedex Field as well as over 38 million viewers watching from home. Fans and national media are still questioning Coach Mike Shanahan’s decision to keep Griffin in the game after he was sacked several times by the Seattle defense on his already injured knee. Mike Shanahan made the call to leave Griffin in.

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 Total		21	27	0	.438		0	1	.000
Total		167	125	0	.572		8	6	.571

Record By Team

Team	Wins	Losses
Arizona Cardinals	5	0
Atlanta Falcons	3	3
Baltimore Ravens	5	2
Buffalo Bills	5	3
Carolina Panthers	2	3
Chicago Bears	2	2
Cincinnati Bengals	5	4
Cleveland Browns	5	0
Dallas Cowboys	6	5
Denver Broncos	2	1
Detroit Lions	2	2
Green Bay Packers	2	3
Houston Texans	1	2
Indianapolis Colts	2	5
Jacksonville Jaguars	2	4
Kansas City Chiefs	16	15
Miami Dolphins	1	8
Minnesota Vikings	3	4
New England Patriots	8	5
New Orleans Saints	4	1
New York Giants	4	5
New York Jets	4	3
Oakland Raiders	21	7
Philadelphia Eagles	5	4
Pittsburgh Steelers	3	2
St. Louis Rams	4	4
San Diego Chargers	20	11
San Francisco 49ers	3	3
Seattle Seahawks	12	8
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4	2
Tennessee Titans	3	2
Washington Redskins	3	1
Totals:	167	125

Accomplishments

• Posted the most wins in National Football League history during a three-year period (46 in 1996–98).
• 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 Oakland 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 eight 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 and Mike McCarthy.
• 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.
• 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

NFL head coaches under whom Mike Shanahan has served:

• Barry Switzer, University of Oklahoma (1975)
• Dan Reeves, Denver Broncos (1984–1987, 1991)
• George Seifert, San Francisco 49ers (1992–1994)

Assistant coaches under Mike Shanahan who became NFL head coaches:

• Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans (2006-current)
• Art Shell, Los Angeles Raiders (1989–1994) Oakland Raiders (2006)

Assistant coaches under Mike Shanahan who became NCAA head coaches:

• Greg Robinson, Syracuse (2005–2008)
• Karl Dorrell, UCLA (2003–2007)
• Troy Calhoun, Air Force (2007-current)
• Tim Brewster, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (2006–2009)
• Jon Embree, University of Colorado (2011-2012)

Personal

Shanahan is a devout Roman Catholic. He and his wife, Peggy, have two children — a son, Kyle, a graduate of the University of Texas and currently the Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator, and a daughter, Krystal, also a graduate of the University of Texas. Shanahan is also a Brother in the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity.

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.

External links

• Pro Football Reference Page
• Database Football Page
• Inside the Mind of Mike Shanahan (Wall Street Journal article)
• Coaches Vote Shanahan Best Sideline Coach (CBS Sportsline article)
• Review of “Think Like a Champion” (NY Review of Books)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Rod Dowhower	Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinator 1985–1987	Succeeded by Chan Gailey
Preceded by Chan Gailey	Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinator 1991	Succeeded by George Henshaw
Preceded by Mike Holmgren	San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinator 1992–1994	Succeeded by Marc Trestman
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Mike Holmgren	Super Bowl Winning Head Coaches Super Bowl XXXII, 1998 Super Bowl XXXIII, 1999	Succeeded by Dick Vermeil