Good morning, Broncos Country!
Mike Shanahan is a Hall of Famer.
He’s one of the best coaches in the history of the NFL.
Whether the former Denver Broncos head coach and member of the Broncos Ring of Fame gets the nod when the committe votes this year for induction next year remains to be seen.
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As current Broncos head coach Sean Payton said on Thursday after training camp practice (Shanahan was in attendance) in regards to Shanahan and his Hall of Fame candidacy:
“Yes. He’s going to be there … Mike’s going to be there. It’s not if; it’s just what year.”
Shanahan’s resume speaks for itself.
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He’s the winningest coach in Broncos’ history, one of the most successful franchises in the history of the NFL.
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Shanahan is one of seven coaches to win back-to-back Super Bowls (Chuck Knoll did it twice with the Pittsburgh Steelers). Of those seven, four are in the Hall of Fame, with two as locks when the time comes for Bill Belichick (maybe?) and Andy Reid.
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From 1996-98, Shanahan oversaw one of the most successful periods in NFL history. Denver won 46 games and two Super Bowls.
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The Shanahan coaching tree and his offensive mind continue to influence the league in major ways.
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His time as offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers helping Steve Young win his first Super Bowl as a starting quarterback.
If that wasn’t enough, here’s some more tidbits to prove how incredible Shanahan was, especially in Denver.
The Broncos led the league in both 1,000-yard rushing seasons (11) and 1,000-yard receiving seasons (18) during Shanahan’s 14 years as Denver’s head coach.
“I think, and this is with respect to Mike, there was only one Shanahan offense, and then there were these offshoots and very good offshoots,” Payton said to the media on Thursday. “I think that it really depends on … Each coach has taken his maybe spin on it. The one thing I would say is the commitment to running the ball well. You always felt that with Mike’s teams. A strong commitment to running the ball well, and the boots and the play-actions that come off of it.
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“Those are the first things that hit my mind. Then obviously the route combinations can vary, but that would be the first thing that I think they did better than anyone. They ran the stretch series, the play-action off of it. It really became problematic for defenses.”
Of course when anyone discusses a candidate for the Hall of Fame, it comes back to the impact they had on the NFL. The old, “Can you write the story of the NFL without Mike Shanahan?”
For Shanahan, he continues to leave his mark even after long being retired.
As Payton said on Thursday:
“My first year in the league in 1997 with Philadelphia, Jon Gruden had me, we had Beta then, had me cutting up four offensive teams, one being Denver. There was a game, you guys were too young, but they played Dallas and Mike started getting into these, the (wide receiver) outside Rod Smith to get man-zone reads. It was an empty package. It was like Denver really had a good offensive game that day … it was must-watch. You had to get that game tape.
“So Mike, and then the coaching tree, and then the Super Bowls, every element of it fits just like the Broncos and Elway and the many members of that team. There’s a chapter, a number of chapters, that are attributed to that timeframe. So I’m looking at it really more in a microscope relative to what he was doing before anyone else was doing it.
“So there are elements to him being the head coach, but then him being a heck of an offensive play caller and a forward thinker relative to how he utilized his personnel, the success they had with the wide-zone scheme, all of the play-action mechanics with. So yes, a very important part of our history.”
Read the full article here
