Perhaps it is time for some final reflections.
This site has now been around for two firings of Mike Shanahan. I doubt it will be around for a third. In the eight years since I put this website up Mike Shanahan drove the Denver Broncos into the ground, was fired, and then went to Washington and squandered whatever legacy he had left.
There is an emerging narrative that the problem with this Redskins team was its owner, Daniel Snyder. This morning on Denver talk radio I heard a local host make the claim that the problem with Mike Shanahan's career was that he worked for two "crazy owners" outside of Denver in Snyder and Oakland's Al Davis.
Of course, the truth is that Mike Shanahan caught lightning in a bottle when he returned to Denver and won two Super Bowls with John Elway. After Elway retired, Shanahan's record as a head coach, in both Denver and Washington, was as pathetic as it was in Oakland.
Shanahan is a narcissist and places himself above the team and its players. This is apparent in his reckless behavior with RGIII, his lack of loyalty to players like Jake Plummer, his lack of respect for his superiors like Dan Reeves and Daniel Snyder, and his constant nepotism and cronyism.
I'd like to suggest the following about head coaches in the NFL.
1) Players should mean more than coaches and deserve more fan loyalty and respect than coaches.
2) Coaches are more likely to subtract from a team's talent level than they are to add to it, especially if that coach has total control over an organization.
3) Reputation is meaningless and driven by media narratives that have little basis in reality.
4) Re-hiring coaches like Shanahan is harmful to the game and leads to the stagnation of franchises.
Best,
Jacob
4 comments:
Great post. As a Broncos fan myself, the day the fired Shanahan was a great day. I laughed when Washington hired him and knew it would end in disaster, but even I underestimated his ineptitude and never thought it would end this badly. I eagerly awaited his response to his firing today, see what coordinator he'd blame or what player he'd throw under the bus. Instead he blamed the salary cap! LMAO!
On talk radio today, I still heard people saying none of this was Shanahan's fault, nor have I heard HIM say it. Is it EVER this guy's fault? I still know some fellow Denver fans who'd love to have him back. What a joke! He took one of the best defenses in the league and turned into one of the worst in just a couple seasons and may have ruined RG3's career and was an absolutely pathetic 24-40 record. He got exactly what he deserved.
Nice blog! Sending love from http://saltyalley.blogspot.com/
The Denver Press, 'Presstituted' themselves for Mike Shanahan to get favors behind the scenes in exchange for favorable 'iconography'.
They also for 'whatever reason', insulated Jay Cutler from ANY criticism for balling like a baby to his agent that he wanted out of Denver the second the Broncos fired Shanny, but that's another story.
John Beake (Broncos GM) not only made the Elway to Denver deal happen, he and HIS scouts put the two SB Broncos teams together. He also worked out the free agent deals Beake wisely left when Elway retired and Shanhan's ego filled the vacuum.
Mike Shanhan should have been fired after the AFC Championship lost to the Steelers for putting together the very same game plan that the Colts lost to the Steelers, with a Peyton Manning at the helm. Shanahan scrapped the running game which actually showed a weakness in the Steelers D for the first two snaps and passed on every down until the final whistle.
Every coach in the league can make the same claim as Shanahan in regards to uncle Al Davis.
However Jacob, your dead wrong about one thing. There will be a GM or owner out there who will believe the Snyder / Al Davis nonsense and hire the ego maniac. You'll see.
LOOK OUT!!! BEARS CONSIDERING HRING MIKE.
Post a Comment