MIKE SHANAHAN

'Michael Edward Shanahan' (born August 24, 1952) is an American football 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.

Contents

Early career

NFL Career

San Francisco 49ers

Denver Broncos

Accomplishments

External link

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 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, nearly killing him.
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, going 8-12 in less than two seasons before quitting 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.

San Francisco 49ers

In 1992, 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, 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 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, 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 Playoffs at Invesco Field at Mile High. Coincidentally Shanahan has the best record for any active coach against Bill Belichick. Including the postseason win, Shanahan is 5-2 against Belichick's Patriots.
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.

Accomplishments

★ One of four coaches who have spent at least 10 seasons with one team, and in that period have had more world championship seasons than losing campaigns: Paul Brown with Cleveland (17 seasons, three championships, one losing season, Hall of Fame member), Joe Gibbs with Washington (12 seasons, three championships, one losing seasons, Hall of Fame member), John Madden with Oakland (10 seasons, one championship, no losing seasons, Hall of Fame member), and Mike Shanahan with the Broncos (11 seasons, two championships, one losing season).

★ Posted the most wins in pro football history in 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 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.

★ 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 in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

★ With 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 first coach in history to win two Super Bowl titles in his first four years coaching a team (Bill Belichick did it later winning two Super Bowls in his first four seasons in New England).

★ Highest winning percentage in Denver history(.646).

★ Shanahan is one of six coaches in pro football history to post four wins in one postseason along with Tom Flores, Joe Gibbs, Brian Billick, Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy.

★ Only coach with seven postseason wins in a two-year period.

★ The all-time high of 636 points in a season came from the 1994 World Champion San Francisco 49ers, for whom Shanahan was the offensive coordinator.

★ During his NFL career, Shanahan has been a part of teams that have played in 10 AFC or NFC Championship Games, in addition to his six Super Bowl appearances, five with Denver and the Super Bowl XXIX game with San Francisco.

External link

★ Mike Shanahan profile on NFL.com

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