Mike Shanahan

Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football head coach, most recently for the Denver Broncos. He led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1998 and 1999. His son is the Houston Texans Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

Early career

Shanahan played high school football at East Leyden High School, Franklin Park, Illinois where he played wishbone quarterback. He had the single-game rushing record until 1976 when it was broken by Dennis Cascio. The record is now held by Ricky Emery. Shanahan was an undersized quarterback at Eastern Illinois University in the 1970s before a hard hit on the practice field ruptured one of his kidneys, stopping his heart for thirty seconds and nearly killing him.^{[citation needed]}

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 also worked at the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota, turning around both schools and making them into offensive powerhouses, before making the jump to the NFL.

NFL career

Shanahan served as a quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator for the Broncos under Dan Reeves in the 1980s and had a brief stint as the head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders in 1988–89. He went 8–12 with the Raiders in less than two seasons before being fired and returning to the Broncos as an offensive assistant again under Reeves. Shanahan was later fired by Reeves after finding himself in the middle of a growing feud between Reeves and quarterback John Elway.

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. The 49ers offense that year has been hailed as one of the greatest of all time, with the likes of Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Brent Jones, John Taylor, William Floyd and Ricky Watters scoring points in flurries. His years under Seifert placed him in the Bill Walsh coaching tree.

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. Shanahan led Elway and 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. He was the last coach to win two consecutive titles until New England's Bill Belichick did it during the 2003 and 2004 NFL 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 '98 Broncos set an NFL record for first quarter points scored in a season.

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.

Shanahan faced criticism for not delivering a playoff victory since Elway's retirement and Davis' career-ending injuries. 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 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.^[1] 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, but injuries (i.e. going through seven starting running backs) caused Denver to lose the last three games (winning any of which would have guaranteed a playoff spot) and finishing with an 8-8 record. Shanahan had a coaching record of 24-24 over those three seasons. Former Broncos Kicker Jason Elam speaks about the firing of his longtime coach, "He’s a tremendous coach. I respect him a lot. He’s done a lot for that city and that organization. I was very surprised. I think most people were.”^[2]

In the early 2009 NFL Season, it was reported that the Washington Redskins were after Shanahan for their head coach, replacing Jim Zorn. Although this was reported by several media outlets, the Washington Redskins Vice President of Football Operations, Vinny Ceratto, stated that a coaching change would not be considered until the end of the season.

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
Team	Year	Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
LAR	1988	7	9	0	.438	3^rd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
LAR	1989	1	3	0	.250	3^rd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
LAR Total		8	12	0	.400		-	-	-
DEN	1995	8	8	0	.500	3^rd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
DEN	1996	13	3	0	.813	1^st in AFC West	0	1	.000	Lost to Jacksonville Jaguars in AFC Divisional Game.
DEN	1997	12	4	0	.750	2^nd in AFC West	4	0	1.000	Super Bowl XXXII Champions.
DEN	1998	14	2	0	.875	1^st in AFC West	3	0	1.000	Super Bowl XXXIII Champions.
DEN	1999	6	10	0	.375	5^th in AFC West	-	-	-	-
DEN	2000	11	5	0	.688	2^nd in AFC West	0	1	.000	Lost to Baltimore Ravens in AFC Wild-Card Game.
DEN	2001	8	8	0	.500	3^rd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
DEN	2002	9	7	0	.563	2^nd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
DEN	2003	10	6	0	.625	2^nd in AFC West	0	1	.000	Lost to Indianapolis Colts in AFC Wild-Card Game.
DEN	2004	10	6	0	.625	2^nd in AFC West	0	1	.000	Lost to Indianapolis Colts in AFC Wild-Card Game.
DEN	2005	13	3	0	.813	1^st in AFC West	1	1	.500	Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers in AFC Championship Game.
DEN	2006	9	7	0	.563	3^rd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
DEN	2007	7	9	0	.438	2^nd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
DEN	2008	8	8	0	.500	2^nd in AFC West	-	-	-	-
DEN Total		138	86	0	.616		8	5	.615
Total^[3]		146	98	0	.598		8	5	.615

Accomplishments

Posted the most wins in pro football 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 ultra-impressive 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 20–6. Only Marty Schottenheimer has a better W–L record with a 27–6 record against the Raiders.
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 and Belichick did it later, winning two Super Bowls in his first four seasons in New England in 2001 and 2003).
Highest winning percentage in Denver history (.646).
Shanahan is among seven coaches in pro football history to post four wins in one postseason along with Tom Flores, Joe Gibbs, Brian Billick, Bill Cowher, Tony Dungy and Tom Coughlin.
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 six Super Bowl appearances, five with Denver and Super Bowl XXIX with San Francisco.

Personal

Shanahan and his wife, Peggy, have two children—son Kyle and daughter Krystal. Kyle is a graduate of the University of Texas and is the Houston Texans’ offensive coordinator. Krystal also is a graduate of the University of Texas.

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.^[4]^[5]

References

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Wade Phillips	Denver Broncos Head Coaches 1995–2008	Succeeded by Josh McDaniels
Preceded by Mike Holmgren	San Francisco 49ers Offensive Coordinators 1992–1994	Succeeded by Marc Trestman
Preceded by Chan Gailey	Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinators 1991	Succeeded by George Henshaw
Preceded by Tom Flores	Oakland Raiders Head Coaches 1988–1989	Succeeded by Art Shell
Preceded by Rod Dowhower	Denver Broncos Offensive Coordinators 1985–1987	Succeeded by Chan Gailey
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Mike Holmgren	Super Bowl Winning Head Coaches Super Bowl XXXII, 1998 Super Bowl XXXIII, 1999	Succeeded by Dick Vermeil

[1] Broncos fire Shanahan after 14 seasons as head coach

[2] Falcons Notebook: Michael Turner racking up awards

[3] Mike Shanahan Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks - Pro-Football-Reference.com

[4] Jenna Bush Weds Henry Hager at President's Ranch

[5] President Bush to play father of bride Saturday; Broncos' Shanahan to attend

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v t e San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XXIX champions
4 Doug Brien 8 Steve Young (MVP) 10 Klaus Wilmsmeyer 14 Bill Musgrave 18 Elvis Grbac 20 Derek Loville 21 Deion Sanders 22 Tyronne Drakeford 25 Eric Davis 27 Adam Walker 28 Dana Hall 32 Ricky Watters 33 Dedrick Dodge 35 Dexter Carter 36 Merton Hanks 40 William Floyd 41 Toi Cook 43 Marc Logan 45 Adrian Hardy 46 Tim McDonald 50 Gary Plummer 51 Ken Norton Jr. 53 Tony Peterson 54 Lee Woodall 55 Kevin Mitchell 57 Rickey Jackson 58 Todd Kelly 61 Jesse Sapolu 63 Derrick Deese 64 Ralph Tamm 65 Harry Boatswain 66 Bart Oates 67 Chris Dalman 69 Rod Milstead 71 Charles Mann 72 Mark Thomas 74 Steve Wallace 75 Frank Pollack 77 Brian Bollinger 79 Harris Barton 80 Jerry Rice 81 Ed McCaffrey 82 John Taylor 84 Brent Jones 85 Ted Popson 86 Brett Carolan 88 Nate Singleton 90 Darin Jordan 91 Rhett Hall 92 Troy Wilson 94 Dana Stubblefield 95 Richard Dent 96 Dennis Brown 97 Bryant Young 98 Antonio Goss 99 Tim Harris
Head coach: George Seifert
Coaches: Dwaine Board Neal Dahlen Tom Holmoe Carl Jackson Larry Kirksey Gary Kubiak Alan Lowry John Marshall Bobb McKittrick Bill McPherson Brian Pariani Bo Pelini Ray Rhodes Mike Shanahan Mike Solari

v t e Denver Broncos Super Bowl XXXII champions
1 Jason Elam 6 Bubby Brister 7 John Elway 8 Jeff Lewis 16 Tom Rouen 20 Tory James 21 Randy Hilliard 22 Vaughn Hebron 23 Darrien Gordon 24 Selwyn Jones 25 Darrius Johnson 26 Tim McKyer 27 Steve Atwater 29 Howard Griffith 30 Terrell Davis (MVP) 31 Derek Loville 32 Tony Veland 33 Dedrick Dodge 34 Tyrone Braxton 37 Anthony Lynn 39 Ray Crockett 42 Detron Smith 50 Jon Hesse 51 John Mobley 53 Bill Romanowski 56 Keith Burns 57 Allen Aldridge 58 Steve Russ 59 Glenn Cadrez 60 K. C. Jones 62 Dan Neil 63 David Diaz-Infante 65 Gary Zimmerman 66 Tom Nalen 69 Mark Schlereth 70 Jamie Brown 72 Ernest Jones 74 Harry Swayne 75 Brian Habib 77 Tony Jones 78 Matt Lepsis 79 Jumpy Geathers 80 Rod Smith 81 Patrick Jeffers 82 David Gamble 83 Flipper Anderson 84 Shannon Sharpe 85 Willie Green 86 Byron Chamberlain 87 Ed McCaffrey 88 Sir Mawn Wilson 89 Dwayne Carswell 90 Neil Smith 91 Alfred Williams 93 Trevor Pryce 94 Keith Traylor 96 Harald Hasselbach 97 Mike Lodish 98 Maa Tanuvasa 99 David Richie
Head coach: Mike Shanahan
Coaches: Frank Bush Barney Chavous Rick Dennison Ed Donatell George Dyer Alex Gibbs Mike Heimerdinger Gary Kubiak Dwain Painter Brian Pariani Ricky Porter Greg Robinson Rick Smith John Teerlinck Bobby Turner
Owner: Pat Bowlen

v t e Denver Broncos Super Bowl XXXIII champions
1 Jason Elam 6 Bubby Brister 7 John Elway (MVP) 14 Brian Griese 16 Tom Rouen 20 Tory James 21 Darrien Gordon 22 Vaughn Hebron 25 Darrius Johnson 26 Eric Brown 27 Steve Atwater 28 Tito Paul 29 Howard Griffith 30 Terrell Davis 31 Derek Loville 34 Tyrone Braxton 37 Anthony Lynn 39 Ray Crockett 42 Detron Smith 48 George Coghill 51 John Mobley 53 Bill Romanowski 54 Nate Wayne 56 Keith Burns 59 Glenn Cadrez 60 K. C. Jones 62 Dan Neil 63 David Diaz-Infante 66 Tom Nalen 69 Mark Schlereth 70 Trey Teague 72 Ernest Jones 73 Cyron Brown 74 Harry Swayne 77 Tony Jones 78 Matt Lepsis 79 Chris Banks 80 Rod Smith 82 Marcus Nash 83 Justin Armour 84 Shannon Sharpe 85 Willie Green 86 Byron Chamberlain 87 Ed McCaffrey 89 Dwayne Carswell 90 Neil Smith 91 Alfred Williams 93 Trevor Pryce 94 Keith Traylor 95 Marvin Washington 96 Harald Hasselbach 97 Mike Lodish 98 Maa Tanuvasa 99 Seth Joyner
Head coach: Mike Shanahan
Coaches: Frank Bush Barney Chavous Rick Dennison Ed Donatell George Dyer Alex Gibbs Mike Heimerdinger Gary Kubiak Pat McPherson Brian Pariani Ricky Porter Greg Robinson Rick Smith John Teerlinck Bobby Turner
Owner: Pat Bowlen