WASHINGTON HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN became the 28th Head Coach in franchise history on January 6, 2010. Shanahan joined the Redskins after spending 14 seasons as head coach of the Denver Broncos (1995- 2008) and taking them to two Superbowl wins. Around here, some may remember him as being the next Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach, at least in speculation. When Jon Gruden was fired, Shanahan was available and it was thought we would go after another offensive minded coach. WRONG!
Instead the Bucs went old school and went back to their roots; defense. And Home Grown talent, Raheem has been a Buc since 2002, the year the Bucs won the Superbowl. Shanahan instead went on to coach the Washington Redskins, but so far, winning has been as far away from Shanahan as the ground he stepped on in Denver was from sea level. Yet winning has always been in his nature.
Shanahan’s 152 regular season wins are second-most among active coaches, trailing only Bill Belichick’s 162. Including eight postseason victories, Shanahan’s overall wins are tied for 16th all-time and are also second among active coaches to Belichick’s 175. In 16 seasons as a head coach with the Denver Broncos (1995-2008) and the Los Angeles Raiders (1988-89), Shanahan has a regular season winning percentage of .598 (146-98) and an overall winning percentage of .615 (154-103).
During his tenure with the Broncos, Shanahan guided the franchise to two Super Bowl victories, three conference championship game appearances, seven postseason berths and nine winning seasons. Along with Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Jimmy Johnson and Belichick, he is one of six coaches with back-to-back Super Bowl championships.
Shanahan led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl championships in 1997 and 1998, becoming just the fifth head coach to accomplish that feat, and is the only coach to win seven consecutive postseason games in a two-year period. During his NFL career, Shanahan has been a part of teams that have played in nine conference championship games and six Super Bowls.
In 31 seasons as a pro and college coach, Shanahan’s teams have participated in postseason or bowl games 22 times. Under Shanahan’s guidance, Denver set then-NFL records by posting the most victories in both a two-year (33, 1997-98) and three-year (46, 1996-98) span. In 17 years (14 with Denver and three as offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers), Shanahan’s offenses have finished number one in the NFL four times, second three times and third twice. Shanahan was an assistant with Denver (1984-87, 1989-1991) and San Francisco (1992-94). Shanahan’s teams participated in eight bowl games and won two national championships (Oklahoma — 1975 and Eastern Illinois — 1978).
Shanahan Returned to Denver as quarterbacks coach on October 6, 1989, after posting 8- 12 record as the Los Angeles Raiders’ head coach. Shanahan coached at Oklahoma (1975- 76), Northern Arizona (1977), Eastern Illinois (1978), Minnesota (1979), and Florida (1980- 83).
Shanahan was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on August 24, 1952. He was a wishbone quarterback/defensive back at Eastern Illinois. Mike and his wife, Peggy, have two children—Kyle and Krystal.
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