Mike Shanahan Tells All on ESPN 980 (RGIII, McNabb, Manning, Haynseworth) Link included w/ Audio

[Rufus T Firefly]

Interestingly, the  "Mike had final say" argument is used much in the same vain, right? (not necessarily by you, just a general board narrative)

Not sure I see that. If there is much of a pro-Snyder contingent on this board, then they have stayed under my radar.

[TSO]

Not sure I see that. If there is much of a pro-Snyder contingent on this board, then they have stayed under my radar.

My point was more about the irrational intense focus some put on Mike's contract giving him "final say", to the point of excluding anyone else's responsibilities/roles during his tenure.

Same idea you were alluding to with the Snyder analogy.

[Rufus T Firefly]

My point was more about the irrational intense focus some put on Mike's contract giving him "final say", to the point of excluding anyone else's responsibilities/roles during his tenure.

Same idea you were alluding to with the Snyder analogy.

I really don't see an apples-to-apples comparison with what I was saying, or anything close to it.

 

If Shanahan had final say, as he insisted on getting contractually, then the failures were his. Snyder deserves as much blame for hiring and empowering him. My analogy was aimed at someone (one of a few, iirc) saying that Snyder has failed before and after Shanny, so all the blame must go on him and not MS. 

 

If someone has made the reverse argument, then I missed it.

[Conn]

My point was more about the irrational intense focus some put on Mike's contract giving him "final say", to the point of excluding anyone else's responsibilities/roles during his tenure.

Same idea you were alluding to with the Snyder analogy.

It was a great coping mechanism when the Shanahans left town and we kept almost the entirety of their staff in place, from the FO to the offensive assistants to the entirety of the defensive staff. The only way fans could have hope going into Gruden's first season was to lay all the blame on Shanahan, since Allen basically just plucked the Mike/Kyle duo off the team and jammed Gruden in their place with very few other changes.

[TSO]

I really don't see an apples-to-apples comparison with what I was saying, or anything close to it.

Well, I think most will be able to see what I'm saying. We'll just have to agree to disagree, then. I think it's pretty much apples to apples and is generally applicable to all structures or forms of management.

The rest of your post didn't have much to do with what I was referring to, though if that was the sole point you were trying to make I can see the disconnect. I think you assumed I was arguing with you when I wasn't. It was an observation as to the general idea your analogy was conveying to me at least.

[LaRonDontLikeUgly]

#Shannygate 

[bedlamVR]

There most probably is a ring of truth in here but the "truth" is heavily slanted and all lies are based in truth ... The thing that always sticks with me is a JLC comment after mike was fired . JLC is not a lover of Dan Snyder but he defended the move to fire mike and said mike had control from everything from the drapes to the qb . Mike now is falling back on the old standard that if you fail here blame Dan .

Mike as has been said painted himself into a corner with his decisions and takes no accountability for it . Either say nothing or man up.

That said I expected no different . Mike shanahan he'll of guy .....

[goskins10]

I am sure that what MS said was true, at least from his perspective. 

 

1. I believe he did not want DMcNabb. However, he does't admit that he did not put McBlab in situations where he could succeed and then ultimately embarrassed him to prove he was right. 

 

2. I believe a very young RGIII lied about the health of his leg. But that's why you have HCs. They get to decide who plays. He made the wrong call and now wants to shift blame. 

 

3. I believe he hated Hainsworthlessness. I am probably one of the few people the believe he handled that perfect. Move the tub of goo on. Horrible signing. 

 

4.I believe he had concerns about the RGIII trade, who wouldn't!. But again he had complete player control in his contact and did nothing. 

 

I could go on but I will not. There is plenty of blame to go around. No one owns it all. The key is looking forward. hopefully now we have a team that works well together. 

[BG]

Anyone else find the timing of this peculiar? Wasn't Snyder on the hook for his salary this past year? For a full 13 months Shannahan has been quiet (in direct quotes) other than saying RGIII is a good kid and needs more work in the film room. Now all of the sudden, we get a tell all?

Maybe I'm being captain obvious here, but I would venture to think that so long as Shannhan never disparaged the team to the media during those past 13 months, he would be due money owed him per his contract for the 2014 season.

I do not know this for fact, but if there is any truth to my assumption that says a lot right there about the guy.

[mistertim]

That's acute pun.

 

(Sorry, I know next to nothing about math so when I can pun it up geometrically, I shall do so)

Can you guys please relax with all of these math puns? It is really making me way tensor than I should be.

[LaRonDontLikeUgly]

Anyone else find the timing of this peculiar? Wasn't Snyder on the hook for his salary this past year? For a full 13 months Shannahan has been quiet (in direct quotes) other than saying RGIII is a good kid and needs more work in the film room. Now all of the sudden, we get a tell all?

Maybe I'm being captain obvious here, but I would venture to think that so long as Shannhan never disparaged the team to the media during those past 13 months, he would be due money owed him per his contract for the 2014 season.

I do not know this for fact, but if there is any truth to my assumption that says a lot right there about the guy.

 

Timing was everything in this situation.  More than anything, I think it has to do with the fact that he was interviewed for other top-tier NFL jobs, didn't land them, and now realizes that it's time to fire-up that tanning bed and get ready for life in broadcast journalism.

[justice98]

Shanahan also said that he agreed that Griffin should start in the 2013 opener against Philadelphia and mentioned that, even if he wanted to start Kirk, Kirk was hurt, which I had forgotten.

Being hurt certainly didn't stop him from playing Griffin on several occasions though.

[mojo]

This whole thing is pretty damning of rg3 and a indicator of why he's not well liked in the locker room. And Jays 'endorsement' of him as his starter seems to be more of an indictment. Your head coach saying your starting qb going into his 4th year needs to grow as a person is not a good feeling.

[grego]

Still cherry-picking I see. "I'm gonna ignore the infinite examples that disprove my argument and instead talk about the one that makes me sound correct"

 

i'm not sure if you are just arguing for arguments sake, or if youre arguing because you (like most fans, i suspect) have a deep dislike of dan snyder and are fed up with the mismanagement this organization has displayed since dan took over. 

 

i'm guessing its the latter, and thats mainly why i posted mikes record.

 

when we get into threads like these, it inevitably breaks down into picking sides, in this case, youre either on mikes side, or dans side. i dont think its that simple. as i mentioned a couple of pages ago (as did another poster), both can be at fault. it is actually possible that mike is not very good as a HC/GM, while at the same time, dan is a bad owner. 

 

mike going on the radio yesterday and deflecting (for the most part) blame to just about anyone else but him strikes some people as disingenuous, as mike apparently (certainly) took this job under the pretense that he be granted full control (theres that phrase again, submitted ).

 

while its easy to look at mikes tenure here and conclude that 'its the redskins, its dan snyder, its what they do' (because the teams recent track record is so obviously poor), i believe a closer look indicates that dan did exactly what all of us fans want him to do- he gave up control to someone else.

 

it didnt work. in some peoples eyes, they believe this was because dan was still calling the shots (which i dont believe). some look at dans history with marty and zorn, in particular (i think dan let joe make whatever calls he wanted), then look at mike shanahan as a coach who had won 2 super bowls, and say 'case closed'.

 

then, there are some who believe mike walked into a perfect situation in denver, benefitted from this situation for a few years, but then hasnt had much success in the many years since then. in other words, its possible mike is overrated by some as a coach/GM.

 

there are cases one can make for both situations, but the truth may be somewhere in between, as it often is.  

[MartinC]

Cousins adds: "I think it was tough for Coach Shanahan to tell him no. And it was tough for Robert to back down. Both of them were in a tough spot, each guy's word against the other."

 

 

Shanahan, today: Robert said it was just his knee brace being crooked.

This is the event I blame Shanny for the most and the ripples of which are still being felt today. There is no way RGIII should have been out there in the second half of that Seattle game. Its the coaches responsibility PERIOD to do whats right for the team and protect players. Just about every player when asked " are you OK to play" will say yes - its the coaches job to tell him when hes wrong. Shanny failed himself, the team and Robert when he failed in that duty.

Its the decision which eventually got him fired.

[Skinsinparadise]

I'm going to go ahead and say that, rationally, one should lean towards the "Shanny was just more wimpy than he appeared" because: 

 

1) He was an older coach who had been a year out of the league when we brought him in. A lot of the times the older you get the less confrontational you usually are, especially when dealing with men who are much younger than you.

 

2) Terrell Davis being shocked at how easy the practices under Shanny here in DC seemed in comparison to when he was a player for Shanny. I believe he interned in 2010 as a coach and only recently mentioned that (last year, I think).

 

3) The talk from some players that Shanahan avoided them (like Josh Morgan), especially if he knew they had a bone to pick.     

 

 

 

Yeah that was Cooley's drill, he talked about it on a radio show soon after Shanny was fired saying Shanny avoided confrontation as much as possible and didn't like dealing with players one on one.  He also said he went to the team preaching against media leaks and then the players shortly learned that media leaks was ironically Shanny's game and would use the media via leaks to deal with his angst with players, etc.

 

But yeah his description yesterday which was quite detailed about the Seattle game and all the reasons and all the points in the game where he wanted to take RG3 out of the game and didn't -- came across to me odd and spineless.

 

Joe Gibbs in his 2nd stint wasn't the same offensive mind he was in the first round but he was a true leader.  Shanny in my view wasn't a leader.  And when it comes to your head coach you need more than just an X and O guy, Shanny clearly knows offense but am looking for more in a head coach than a glorified offensive coordinator -- actually the majority of head coaches don't call plays -- IMO you need a guy who is a good manager-leader.

[Geoff_K]

You earn the right to tell a coach what plays are acceptable. RGIII is no where good enough to dictate play calling. Our coaches are handicapped by an owner that "adopts" players. It's like trying to tell the company's owners son what to do. It only gets you fired

[Burgold]

Joe Gibbs in his 2nd stint wasn't the same offensive mind he was in the first round but he was a true leader.  Shanny in my view wasn't a leader.  And when it comes to your head coach you need more than just an X and O guy, Shanny clearly knows offense but am looking for more in a head coach than a glorified offensive coordinator -- actually the majority of head coaches don't call plays -- IMO you need a guy who is a good manager-leader.

I have become to believe this when it comes to Gibbs II.

 

It wasn't that Gibbs lost it.  Hell, Gibbs turned over his play calling duties to Al Saunders of the 800 page playbook and we saw the same offense.  I think that the reason that the Redskins looked like a Martyball team was not because he was a fossil. His '80's offenses were more aggressive and imaginative. The reason he did what he did was all about talent.

 

Gibbs didn't have the talent to air it out. He didn't have the talent to run a diverse playbook. Not on offense and not on defense.  What he saw was a team that if they played, tough, hard, and smart could keep scores close and win some games. It was possibly the only strategy that could win when competing with a Vinny built roster.  Now, when that team came up against a really good team, a really talented team Martyball failed just like it always did for Marty in the playoffs, but hogging the time of possession and playing 0 risk ball kept games winnable against all but the elite teams.

 

It wasn't that Gibbs lost it. He just knew what he had.

[MartinC]

Not sure Snyder era Gibbs ever had good QB play. Brunell, Todd Collins and Jason Campbell = zero Super Bowl equity. 2012 was the best chance Skins had at a Super Bowl in the last 16 years, which is pretty sad

Brunell in 2005 was very good - until he hurt his leg late in the year. Once he was hurt he lost his zip and could not get the ball down the field.

So we have 2005 and 2012 as the only years we have seen consistently good QB play in about 20 years.

It wasn't that Gibbs lost it. He just knew what he had.

Looking back now Joe Gibbs getting the Redskins teams he had in his second stint to the playoffs twice in 4 years was an amazing coaching effort.

[Stang2012]

I definitely feel Mike isn't being completely forthright about how things went down while he was coach of the Skins, but what has me concerned isn't any of that. It's the fact that there was a very good chance that Dan Snyder was still meddling and making decisions he has no business making. If Dan hasn't learned his lesson about meddling then I have zero hope for this team regardless of Scott McCloughan being here. 

[grego]

but what has me concerned isn't any of that. It's the fact that there was a very good chance that Dan Snyder was still meddling and making decisions he has no business making. 

 

 

just curious, what makes you think that?

[@DCGoldPants]

[pjfootballer]

Can you guys please relax with all of these math puns? It is really making me way tensor than I should be.

 

This is the type of post that divides the board.  In addition, sometimes there is a common denominator in what everyone is looking for and things can look congruent. We need to factor in everything when posting in here. It's just a function of life.

 

Anyone else wish Shanahan would just shut the hell up about the Skins?

 

Agreed.

 

Here we go again.  DAMN it just seems like the fans, the media and former players and coaches just won't let go of the past.  One of the reasons the franchise is in constant turmoil and can't get the black cloud from hovering is constantly looking in the rear-view mirror. I just don't give a rats ass what happened in 1982, 1992, 2002, 5 years ago or even last year.  Let's concentrate on 2015 and moving the franchise ahead.  God, please, if you are listening, please let Scot be the guy who moves the franchise forward instead of always going backwards.

At this point, who gives a poop what Shanahan thinks, says, does, did, whatever! Time to forget him and move on. You know, like forgetting that Super Bowl 18 never happened (and it didn't says this old man) or that guy, you know, the weirdo from Florida that was kind of a coach or something here for a couple of years.  (Checks his pockets for that little Men in Black thingamabob memory eraser to use on ES)

 

See, forget about it.  Not worth rehashing. Move on.  Let's get ready for the combine, free agency and the draft.

[The Wicked Wop]

Looking back now Joe Gibbs getting the Redskins teams he had in his second stint to the playoffs twice in 4 years was an amazing coaching effort.

 

lt's especially amazing when considering all the personnel mistakes (which he had a part in). The team was still able to overcome these and able to get to the the playoffs which is really a testament of him getting the most out of his players. 

 

as much flack as Gibbs 2.0 took I've always felt that he brought respectability back to the organization.  Unfortunately it was something the Skins couldn't build off of.

[Dissident2]

That interview was fascinating and disgusting at the same time. 

 

It was the latter to me because it was so calculated, so purposeful on Shanny's part. He clearly wants to do everything possible to increase his chances of making it into the HOF, something that seemed very likely to be out of reach after his debacle here. 

 

I don't for a second defend the scumbag that is Daniel Snyder. Interviews like this make it clear that his meddling ways continue more than we know. I've maintained for years that HE is the main cause of this franchise's continued woes, and that interview only strengthened those feelings for me. 

 

But Shanahan is such a conniving weasel. As has been stated already in this thread many times: no responsibility. For ANYTHING. No accountability. How could I see, watching from home, that RG3 was in no shape to continue playing in that Seattle game and the head coach could not? I was screaming before halftime to get him out of there, as were so many others. The whole, "I blame Dr. Andrews" crap makes Shanahan look both spineless AND clueless. 

 

This guy has NEVER done an interview like this before. He hates dealing with the press and he hates doing things like this. "Oh, sure, I can hang on and answer more questions" said Mike Shanahan NEVER until yesterday. 

 

It was clearly a calculated effort to change the narrative on his coaching career, and Kevin Sheehan was the soulless husk he possessed in order to do it.