Its official, Wade Phillips is now the worst coach in the NFC East.
...Mike Shanahan!
Mike Shanahan reaches deal to coach Redskins
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Posted: 01/05/2010 05:10:38 PM MST
Updated: 01/05/2010 06:06:42 PM MST
Mike Shanahan, left, is again part of the active coaching ranks in the NFL, with Bill Belichick. (Robert Klein)
Mike Shanahan has reached an agreement in principle to become the new head coach of the Washington Redskins, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
The Redskins are making plans for Shanahan to sign his contract and announce his hiring Wednesday.
The hiring should be well received by Broncos owner Pat Bowlen who figures to save roughly $7 million now that his coach from 1995-2008 has landed elsewhere.
Shanahan is to receive a five-year contract from the Redskins at approximately the same salary he had during his final contract with the Broncos. He was drawing approximately $7 million a year with Denver — and still had three years remaining on his deal when he was fired nearly a year ago.
The Broncos will pay approximately $3.5 million each in 2010 and 2011 to essentially have Shanahan coach the Redskins. Then again, Bowlen will also save roughly $3.5 million each of the next two years now that their former coach is no longer unemployed.
With the Redskins, Shanahan will work in concert with general manager Bruce Allen much as he did in Denver with Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist from 2002-07. During that six-year Shanahan-Sundquist run, the Broncos compiled five consecutive winning seasons, three consecutive playoff appearances, and a 58-38 record. The Broncos went 13-3 and hosted the AFC championship game in 2005 — the last time they played in the postseason.
In that business partnership, Sundquist oversaw the draft, contracts and roster construction, but Shanahan had final say authority on every decision.
Shanahan, who will turn 58 during the 2010 preseason, has a 154-103 record, including playoffs, as an NFL head coach, including an 8-12 mark from 1988-89 with the Los Angles Raiders. He guided the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl les in 1997-98, but with quarterback John Elway retiring after the 1998 season, Shanahan guided the Broncos to only one playoff victory in their next 10 seasons
Its official, Wade Phillips is now the worst coach in the NFC East.
AP source: Shanahan agrees to coach Redskins
By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer 9 minutes ago
*
Buzz up! 12
*
WASHINGTON (AP)—Mike Shanahan agreed Tuesday to become the coach of the Washington Redskins, the latest step in a major overhaul of a troubled franchise.
Shanahan’s decision to join the team was confirmed to The Associated Press by an official within the NFL. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the team was not commenting on its coaching search.
The Redskins announced they would hold a news conference Wednesday, although they did not say why.
The deal with Shanahan is for five years, the Denver Post reported on its Web site. The hire comes less than 48 hours after the Redskins fired Jim Zorn— and less than three weeks after front-office chief Vinny Cerrato resigned and quickly was replaced by general manager Bruce Allen.
ADVERTISEMENT
All of which means that, within a month, the Redskins have gone from an organization that revolved primarily around owner Dan Snyder and yes-man Cerrato to one that includes two powerful decision-makers who are sure to yield much clout.
Allen—son of Hall of Famer and former Redskins coach George Allen—became the first person to hold the le of GM in Snyder’s decade-plus of ownership, while Shanahan is known to demand a heavy say-so in personnel decisions.
Shanahan will have the final authority on football decisions, according to ESPN.com.
The Redskins are 82-99 since Snyder bought the team, missing the playoffs in eight of 11 seasons, and the toll of below-.500 seasons and accompanying fan unrest left him little choice but to hire established names and put them in charge.
Shanahan will be Washington’s seventh coach since Snyder bought the team in 1999—a stretch that has included only two playoff victories for a team that proudly displays three shiny Super Bowl championship trophies in the lobby of its practice facility.
Shanahan won two Super Bowls in 14 seasons with the Denver Broncos, but was fired a year ago after they missed the playoffs for the third straight season.
He made the playoffs in half of his seasons in Denver, and had only two losing seasons—6-10 in 1999 and 7-9 in 2007. His greatest successes came early, earning consecutive NFL les after the 1997 and 1998 seasons with a team led by quarterback John Elway and running back Terrell Davis.
Shanahan’s career regular-season record is 146-98, including 138-86 with the Broncos from 1995-2008, and 8-12 with the Los Angeles Raiders in 1988-89. Shanahan’s playoff record is 8-5.
Zorn went 12-20 over two seasons, but he lost 18 of his last 24 games after a 6-2 start in 2008. The Redskins struggled despite a weak early schedule this season and finished at 4-12, their worst record since 1994.
The Denver Post first reported the agreement between Shanahan and the Redskins on its Web site.
Redskins are still gonna be the laughing stock of the division for a LOOONG time. You could get Lombardi's ghost, Jimmie Johnson, Bill Bellichek, Mike Shanahan, and combine them and it doesn't change the fact that they are just significantly worse than every team in the NFC East.
This is the best division in football, you can't just turn it around like that. The Giants, Eagles, and Cowboys aren't going anywhere for awhile.
The Skins will be lucky to not go 0-6 again in the division next year![]()
redskins finally on the right track with the newcoach,vp/gm
wonder what will happen with campbell. i guess if anyone could make him serviceable it would be shanahan
Thinking that things don't change quickly (one way or the other) in the NFL = complete ignorance towards the league for the past 10 years.
Shanahan really only has to fix just one side of the ball to be compe ive immediately. Until they just rolled over for the final 3 games, the Skins D was pretty stout this year, as bad as the team was.
Damn they gave him final say on personnel, bad idea.
I can't ever take Washington seriously. They do this every season, pay big money for somebody overrated whether its a coach or over the hill player and nothing ever works for them.
And yet, despite all those blunders, have still won 2 playoff games since Dallas' last postseason victory.
They are only 2 years removed from the playoffs so they don't need THAT much work. A new coach, with a winning history, can do wonders for a team that is severely lacking in leadership. I think it will take a couple of years but this move definitely points them in the right direction.
They could use some LB & S depth, but other than that - they are pretty much ready to go on defense next year. The defense this year was more than good enough to be a playoff team (at least until the final 3 games).
They just need to overhaul the entire offense.
Looks like you missed my point entirely but that's ok, the Skins will get the "2 more playoff victories than the Cowboys since 1996" trophy soon enough.
Hope they enjoy being the NFC Easts doormat for awhile
When do the cowboys get their "We've been in the playoffs more than a 2002 upstart franchise" trophy?
4:15 cst
My point is that why should they be taken less seriously moving forward than the starred team in the division?
Shanahan is easily the most qualified coach they have had in the Snyder era (with apologies to Gibbs, only because he had been out of the game for 15 years).
The Redskins were awful this year, just terrible. ...And still should have beaten the Cowboys and the Eagles on the road until they found a way to lose.
It's not hard to turn around things quickly in this league.
Assuming Shanahan keeps most of the major pieces in place.
The Redskin Defense is decent. They could be a dominating force if Haynesworth buys in. Orakpo and Carter each had 11 sacks. Fletcher is still a bad ass linebacker. McIntosh gets better everytime I watch him.
Offensive line needs some retooling. Hopefully everyone comes back healthy. Running back by committee with Portis, Ganther, and Betts sounds good to me. Shanahan will have fun with Cooley and Davis in two TE sets. Hopefully Thomas and Kelly develop over the off season. Kelly, especially, looks promising.
Campbell has the arm and accuracy. He's big and mobile. Give him a chance under Shanahan and see what happens.
The Redskins have talent. I don't think they are too far off. The stability Shanahan brings is invaluable.
Campbell is perfect for a Shannahan type system where they run a lot of bootlegs and waggles. It's shame he has gone through so many different coordinators and coaches. The kid has potential, he just needs to continuity.
Eh, the number of coordinators he has had is overstated. He misses some throws that he should make that are the staple of EVERY offense.
But he wasn't terrible this year and if they can get even mediocre play out of their OL next year, they could do worse at QB.
In the pocket, he holds on to the ball too long. I think that has more to do with the flux in play calling than his ability as a QB. Give him the same system for a couple of years and let's see what happens.
If Snyder lets him run the show, Washington will be better next year and a le contender in about 2.
That final say on personnel after hiring Allen doesn't seem like a good idea. .500 from 2006-08.
I'd be more worried about it if Allen and Shanahan didn't have a pre-existing relationship. Sounds like they are going to work together and that Shanahan values his input. I'm also a firm believer that when there is a stalemate regarding a talent, the coach is a better judge than the GM 9 times out of 10 as to what's best for the team.
If Elway never falls to Denver, than nobody would have ever heard of Shanahan.
This move might make the Redksins better, but they will still finish in last place, and knowing Snyder and the rest of those idiot fans they will be calling for his head by the third year. Just because you won a superbowl doesn't mean a thing when you go to a new team.
Bill Parcells was a uva coach, maybe the best ever, and he didn't get Dallas anywhere near a le contender although he did make them better.
The Skins do this every freaking year
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)