Sunday’s win by the Washington Redskins was a milestone of sorts for coach Mike Shanahan. It tied him for 14th on the NFL all-time coaches list with 154 regular-season victories.
The man he tied? Joe Gibbs.
That means over the past eight seasons, the Redskins have been coached by two men with a combined 308 regular-season victories.
Seems like the franchise should have more to show for it during this period, given the coaching legends we are talking about.
Gibbs’ second act — after four Super Bowl appearances, three championships and 124 regular-season victories before retiring the first time after the 1992 season — was disappointing. He had 30 wins over four years and two forgettable playoff appearances.
Shanahan’s second act is hardly the same. His coaching legacy was built in Denver, where he took the Broncos to two Super Bowl titles and 138 regular-season wins.
So unlike Gibbs, Shanahan got little slack from Redskins fans for his 6-10 inaugural season last year, the same as Gibbs finished in the first year of his second stint. There were calls for Shanahan’s head last year, fueled by his handling of Donovan McNabb and Albert Haynesworth.
But now, with his team off to a 2-0 start and looking like a well-coached group, Shanahan’s second act seems to be progressing. Maybe he even can dispel the notion that he owes all his success to the passer he helped develop as the quarterbacks coach in Denver: John Elway.
Critics say Shanahan couldn’t win without Elway.
Never mind that Elway had been to three Super Bowls and lost all three before Shanahan became the Broncos’ head coach. It is Shanah?an’s record without Elway — 91-69 over his final 10 years in Denver, with just one playoff win in four postseason appearances — that critics hang on him.
Do they mean he couldn’t win another Super Bowl without Elway? If so, that puts him in a crowded room.
Bill Belichick has not won a Super Bowl without Tom Brady. Chuck Noll didn’t win a Super Bowl without Terry Bradshaw. Heck, Bill Walsh didn’t win a Super Bowl without Joe Montana (it was George Seifert who won with Steve Young — whose quarterback coach was Shanahan).
There are two coaches in NFL history who won Super Bowls with different quarterbacks. Bill Parcells is one, having won titles with Phil Simms and Jeff Hostetler in New York. And, of course, Gibbs is the other. It is the defining mark of his greatness that the Redskins won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks: Joe Theismann, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien.
It is a stretch to believe that Shanahan, with Rex Grossman as his quarterback, can become the third. But if Shanahan simply can create playoff success here, it may be enough distance from Elway for his record to stand by itself.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
