FanPost

Shanahan's Hot Seat?

Those who can, do. Other than the Sports Guru and his band of merry and accomplished men, those who can’t are too often sports writers. Case in point:

Denver Broncos: Mike Shanahan has something that no other coach in the AFC West has: A Super Bowl ring won as a head coach, and he has two of them. Granted, at the time he won those he also had John Elway and Terrell Davis to fall back on. Since Elway and Davis have departed, his "genius" label has become tarnished. He is to the point where he could end up on the hot seat in Denver, but he doesn’t seem to have the horses to make a run at this point. OUTLOOK: Look for Shanahan to get his team up for the games, but don’t expect it to translate into wins.

The above post was part of a comparison of AFC West coaches that decided, not surprisingly, that Lane Kiffen is the only good coach in the AFC West. I like Lane Kiffen. As HT says, he’s a teaching coach who uses similar schemes up front on offense to Shanahan’s and seems like a good guy in a tough position. In that respect, I support him and wish him well.

Still, this analysis is absurd. Three seasons ago we were in the AFC championship game. The team has restructured its front office, the past three drafts have been stellar, and while we are certainly (though some of us disagree) a season or two from a SB run, there is no indication at all that Shanahan is on any hot seat. How do these rumours start? IMO, two sports writers get drunk, one says, "If I were Pat Bowlen I’d be ready to toss him!" and a star is born.

BD’s stats on Shanahan are excellent, and I’m tempted to copy them to the fella who penned this silliness, but no. In the meantime, here they are, posted by bd and courtesy of the Bronco Bus on Denver Post:

Head Coach: Mike Shanahan Pro Career:

  • Became the 11th head coach in Broncos history on Jan. 31, 1995. 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.
  • No NFL head coach has won more games than Mike Shanhan's 130 victories since the start of the 1995 season. During his NFL career, Shanahan has been a part of teams that have played in nine conference championship games and six Super Bowls.
  • In 27 seasons as a pro and college coach, Shanahan's teams have participated in postseason or bowl games 22 times. Under Shanahan's guidance, Denver has set an NFL record by posting the most victories in both a two-year (33, 1997-98) and three-year (46, 1996-98) period.
  • In the last 12 years (nine 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 twice, and third twice. 

Looking at this record, not to mention the Broncos offseason, Can't the Coach get a little love? So tell me, MHR cohorts all - just how do you rank the AFC West coaches?

You can find the original link here

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