The Lead
As voting for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Coach/Senior Committee approaches, we thought it would be worthwhile to highlight one particular former Broncos head coach whose bona fides should put him right in the thick of that conversation: Mike Shanahan.
Shanahan holds a unique spot in Broncos history as the team's all-time leader in regular-season and postseason wins, which include back-to-back Super Bowl victories to cap the historic 1997 and 1998 seasons. His return as Denver's head coach in 1995 cannot be disputed as a trajectory-changing move.
"Before Mike got there, we hoped to win," Shannon Sharpe said in a 2020 Ring of Fame special for Shanahan. "If we did this right or did that right, maybe if the other team had an off day, we could win. With Mike, we were expected to win. We expected to play well, and it was very disappointing when we did not win."
Fortunately, with some Hall of Fame-caliber players like Sharpe and John Elway and Shanahan's coaching, they won well more often than not, and in the process, he helped shape their careers, too.
"The work ethic that Mike had, plus the knowledge that he had of the game of football, we had an instant friendship and instant respect on my behalf of him as a football coach and how he could help me be a better football player," Elway said, "and he did that."
In addition to his place in Broncos history, Shanahan also has a unique spot in football history, too, as an innovator and someone who's helped developed the way offenses play.
"I think when you look across this league, you see his offense everywhere," former Chargers head coach and current Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn said. "It changed the game. I use it, the LA Rams use it, the San Francisco 49ers use it. You see it everywhere. So I think he definitely left his mark on this league and left his mark on me."
Shanahan's coaching tree has included several of the game's brightest minds in recent history, including Super Bowl 50 champion Gary Kubiak, Rams head coach Sean McVay, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and, of course, Shanahan's son, Kyle, who is the 49ers' head coach.
"The excellence was something that was consistent in him day in and day out," McVay said. "He had an incredible resilience just in terms of his work capacity. Guys respected him. He understood everything that was going on in the game — offense, defense, special teams. Just the command was so evident, [and] his ability to connect with the players.
"And being able to marry the run and pass game, trying to be able to create conflict for the defense, so much of the foundation of what our offense has been and the success we've had here is a reflection of what I've learned from him, what I've learned from Kyle and working under Coach Shanahan was such a blessing. I take so much of that with me, and I think it's been instrumental in a lot of the success that we've had here."
Among the 13 coaches who have won at least two Super Bowls, only four are not yet in the Hall. New England's Bill Belichick is still active. And of the other two-time championship winners, the former Broncos head coach is the only one with at least 170 regular-season wins and a winning percentage greater than 55 percent.
Shanahan's success — and his legacy in helping offenses evolve — make him the ideal candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With any luck, he'll soon be elected.
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August 20, 2021 at 10:04PM
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Mile High Morning: Mike Shanahan's impact on NFL worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame - DenverBroncos.com
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