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The Washington Commanders finished the 2013 season with a 3-13 record. Shortly after the season, Washington fired head coach Mike Shanahan and his offensive staff, except for tight ends coach Sean McVay.
Now, nine years later, four members of Shanahan’s 2013 coaching staff are head coaches in the NFL. On Sunday, San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel became the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
McDaniel came to Washington in 2011 as an offensive assistant. He spent two years in that role until Shanahan promoted him to wide receivers coach in 2013. He, along with Kyle Shanahan (offensive coordinator), McVay (tight ends) and Matt LaFleur (quarterbacks) are all head coaches in the NFL.
McDaniel becomes the second former Washington assistant to become an NFL head coach this week. Kevin O’Connell, Jay Gruden’s former offensive coordinator, is expected to be named the Vikings head coach after the Super Bowl.
No, this isn’t another article to remind you how Washington screwed up that 2013 coaching staff. Shanahan’s record was why he was fired. Sure, we know of everything he had to deal with while in Washington, including a terrible owner, inept general manager and an immature and overrated quarterback. But three losing seasons out of four doomed Shanahan’s tenure in Washington.
Kyle Shanahan has been to a Super Bowl and an NFC title game, while McVay has been to two Super Bowls. LaFleur has made multiple trips to the NFC title game.
Now, McDaniel gets his first shot at being a head coach. His rise to become a head coach is a remarkable one, as a former ball boy in Denver under the elder Shanahan, to beginning his coaching career as an intern for the Broncos in 2005.