Mike Shanahan

Mike Shanahan

Record at Pro Football Reference

Michael Edward "Mike" Shanahan (born August 24, 1952 in Oak Park, Illinois) is an American football coach, currently the head coach of the Denver Broncos in the National Football League. He led the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1998 and 1999.

Early career

Mike Shanahan played High School Football at East Leyden High School, where he played wishbone quarterback. He had the rushing record (in single game) until 2006 when it was broken 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, nearly killing him. With his playing career abruptly ended, he went on to coach for Eastern Illinois as an assistant. He later served as an assistant coach at other universities, including Northern Arizona University, the University of Florida, the University of Minnesota and the University of Oklahoma, before making the jump to the NFL. Much of his fame is brought on by his smallish stature.

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, going 8-12 in less than two seasons before being fired and returning to the Broncos as an offensive assistant again under Reeves. Shanahan soon found himself in the middle of a growing feud between Reeves and quarterback John Elway, and he was fired by Reeves.

Shanahan was hired as offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers on George Seifert's staff, capping his rise with a Super Bowl victory 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, and Ricky Watters scoring points in flurries.

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 with the 1995 campaign. Shanahan led Elway and the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl championships after 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 after the 2003 and 2004 NFL seasons. During the 1996-1998 seasons, the Broncos set the NFL record for victories 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. That team is often considered one of the greatest teams in football history.

He is known for a run-heavy variation on the West Coast Offense he coached in San Francisco. He has often found unheralded running backs from later rounds of the draft and then turned them into league-leading rushers behind small-but-powerful offensive lines. Examples of this phenomenon are Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, Olandis Gary and Reuben Droughns, all of whom have had at least one 1,000-yard season in a Denver uniform over the past 10 years. However, Shanahan's draft day risks have not always paid off. In the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft he selected running back Maurice Clarett, a bust who was cut during the preseason.

Shannahan 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 Playoffs at Invesco Field at Mile High. Despite the lone playoff victory in an eight-year span, however, Shanahan has yet to rebuff critics who accuse him of not valuing his football players, and being too quick to blame others for Bronco failures. He came under fire again in 2006 when he replaced Jake Plummer with untested rookie Jay Cutler in the midst of what was, until that point (Week 12), likely a playoff season.

With the assistance of writer Adam Schefter, Shanahan penned "Think Like a Champion," a motivational book about leadership, in 1999. It was published by Harper Collins.

External link

• Mike Shanahan profile on NFL.com