Tag: Mike Shanahan

Rutgers football: The way too early ranking of offensive coordinator candidates

Ranking some of the candidates for the open offensive coordinator position at Rutgers.

With six weeks left in the season, Rutgers football is not only trying to turn around a season that now sees them having lost their last six games. They also are trying to integrate a new offensive coordinator into the mix.

The good news for Rutgers is that the elevation of [autotag]Nunzio Campanile[/autotag] from tight ends coach to interim offensive coordinator should be relatively seamless. After all, Campanile is the longest-tenured assistant on the Rutgers staff and even served as interim head coach in 2019.

But against this backdrop, the Scarlet Knights still need to figure out who is going to be their offensive coordinator moving forward. Campanile, as the interim in that position, would have the inside track.

But head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag] needs to sort this out while pushing forward on the season. There are some interesting candidates out there and available for Rutgers.

Who are the candidates for the offensive coordinator role? We got a start on some possible names here. But looking at things from a realistic candidate perspective (Dan Mullen isn’t coming here, for instance) and viability plus any possible connections to Rutgers or the current staff, here is a ranking of 10 candidates for the position.

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Yes, there is a name or two on here that could, would and should make long-term Rutgers fans shake their heads. But isn’t that part of the fun?

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Check out our rankings of some of the top offensive coordinator candidates for the open Rutgers football position!

DeMarcus Ware among ex-Broncos nominated for 2023 Hall of Fame class

After being snubbed last year, Broncos Super Bowl 50 champion DeMarcus Ware should be a favorite to reach the Hall of Fame this year.

After being snubbed by voters in his first year of eligibility in 2021, Denver Broncos Super Bowl 50 champion DeMarcus Ware has once again been nominated as a modern-era candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Ware is among 11 former Broncos who were nominated this week, the Hall of Fame announced Tuesday. Five players who won back-to-back Super Bowls with Denver in the late 1990s headline the list: wide receiver Rod Smith, center Tom Nalen, kicker Jason Elam, guard Mark Schlereth and defensive lineman Neil Smith.

Some of those players had longer tenures with the Broncos than Ware, but he is arguably the team’s most accomplished candidate, and he’s probably the most likely to reach the Hall of Fame first.

Denver also had former linebackers Al Wilson and Seth Joyner, wide receiver Wes Welker, defensive lineman Simeon Rice and cornerback Dre’ Bly nominated for the 2023 Hall of Fame class.

Former Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar was snubbed as a senior candidate this year, as were Mike Shanahan and the late Dan Reeves as coach candidates. Denver hasn’t gotten the love it deserves from Hall of Fame voters historically, but Ware should be a strong candidate for the 2023 class.

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Broncos greats Mike Shanahan, Dan Reeves snubbed by Hall of Fame voters

Don Coryell has been chosen over Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves as the coach/contributor finalist for the 2023 class.

Former Denver Broncos coaches Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves have been snubbed by Pro Football Hall of Fame voters once again.

Shanahan and Reeves were both candidates for the 2023 class in the coach/contributor category, but voters instead chose former Cardinals/Chargers coach Don Coryell as the lone finalist.

Shanahan won Super Bowl XXIX as an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers before going on to later win Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII as a head coach with the Broncos. He is a member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, and elements of the “Shanahan offense” are still seen across the NFL today.

The late Reeves won Super Bowl VI as a player with the Dallas Cowboys and later won Super Bowl XII as an assistant coach in Dallas. He went on to reach four Super Bowls as a head coach in the NFL — three with Denver and one with the Atlanta Falcons. A two-time AP Coach of the Year and a member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, Reeves died in January at age 77.

Randy Gradishar, who anchored the team’s famous “Orange Crush” defense from 1974-1983, was also snubbed by voters as a senior candidate, so his overdue trip to Canton will have to wait at least one more year as well.

Hall of Fame voters will meet in January to determine the complete 2023 class, including 15 modern-era candidates. Broncos Super Bowl 50 champion DeMarcus Ware will likely be among the modern-era finalists.

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Broncos great Randy Gradishar snubbed by Hall of Fame voters once again

Randy Gradishar should already be in the Hall of Fame.

Pro Football Hall of Fame voters named three senior finalists for the 2023 class on Tuesday, and Denver Broncos great Randy Gradishar did not make the cut. Instead, the senior committee named Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko and Ken Riley as the three senior finalists.

Gradishar will now have to wait at least another year before getting into Canton, with his already long overdue enshrinement delayed yet again.

Gradishar, 70, played for the Denver Broncos from 1974-1983, anchoring the team’s famous “Orange Crush” defense. Gradishar helped Denver reach the Super Bowl following the 1977 season, and he won Defensive Player of the Year honors one season later.

Gradishar totaled 2,049 tackles in 10 seasons, which still stand as a franchise record. He started 145 straight games, recording 20 interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries, before retiring at age 31.

A seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro, Gradishar is a member of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame.

The Broncos do have two former coaches — Mike Shanahan and the late Dan Reeves — who are finalists for the 2023 Hall of Fame class. That will be announced Aug. 23, and the full 2023 class will be revealed before Super Bowl LVII.

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3 former Broncos named finalists for 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame class

Congrats to Broncos greats Mike Shanahan, Dan Reeves and Randy Gradishar for being named finalists for the 2023 Hall of Fame class!

A trio of Denver Broncos greats are now one step closer to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves have been named among 12 finalists for the 2023 class in the coach category. Former linebacker Randy Gradishar has also been named a finalist among the 12 senior candidates.

The late Reeves won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys and then won a second title as an assistant coach with Dallas. He later went on to reach four more Super Bowls as a head coach, including three appearances with the Broncos.

Shanahan won a title as an assitant with the San Francisco 49ers before going on to win a pair of Super Bowls as a head coach with Denver in the 1990s. Elements of his offense are still seen across the NFL today.

Gradishar anchored the Broncos’ famous “Orange Crush” defense in the 1970s, earning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1978. A seven-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro, Gradishar helped Denver reach the Super Bowl in 1977 and he’s now a member of the team’s Ring of Fame.

Up to three finalists from the senior pool will be chosen on Aug. 16, followed by one coach or contributor being chosen on Aug. 23. The full 2023 Hall of Fame class will be announced before the Super Bowl next year.

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Robert Griffin III again fails to deliver

Robert Griffin III’s alleged “tell-all” book about his time in Washington isn’t happening after all. Hmmmm……

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Similar to his NFL career, Robert Griffin’s tell-all book has also gone south very quickly.

Griffin who had an outstanding 2012 season and then informed coaches he would no longer run the offense that fit him perfectly, quickly learned he was not the pocket passer he fancied himself to be, never again experiencing NFL success.

Only months after boldly proclaiming on November 30 he was providing NFL and Washington fans an exclusive tell-all book, it has apparently died just as quick a death.

Griffin had promised details of the medical mismanagement he had received, the sexual harassment permeating the organization’s walls and the deep power struggle between Mike Shanahan and Daniel Snyder.

Griffin in his audio promo said, “I am so excited to announce I wrote a book, and it’s coming out August 2022, entitled, “Surviving Washington.” So, Griffin was claiming to have already written the book?

Why has Griffin deleted the promotional video from Twitter? Why is the pre-order link on Simon and Schuster’s website inactive? Voluminous, terribly written books are published annually. So, why wasn’t this book published? Do you think there was a book written?

“The Sports Junkies” Eric Bickel deserves some credit on this one. While nearly everyone announcing the book was speculating how much Robert would detail, Bickel from the start was having absolutely none of it.

Raising his voice in confidence, he had proclaimed on the Sports Junkies that this book would never occur, never see the light of day.

Even more, when many Washington commentators in 2014 (print, or airwaves) were taking the safe route, wondering when Griffin would develop into an NFL quarterback, who could succeed in the pocket, it was Bickel who boldly proclaimed on the Sports Junkies that fans were clueless and did not understand that it was already over for Robert Griffin. (Actually what Bickel declared was much bolder–and more entertaining; here is the link).

Bickel is an admitted homer; a homer who has always rooted for the team and objectivity sometimes gets lost (it does for all of us). However, he has been on to Robert Griffin longer than most. Therefore, Thursday’s Sports Junkies segment announcing the cancellation of the Robert Griffin tell-all project was in essence a victory lap for Eric Bickel.

When Ryan Fitzpatrick went down in this season’s first game, there was Robert Griffin tweeting for Washington to make the call to himself, so he could come in and rescue the 2021 team. Bickel proclaimed Thursday, “I don’t think he is a bad guy, but he is the biggest attention-whore in football… I know him so well, and I’ve never met him,” expressed Bickel.

The more things change, the more things stay the same, for Robert Griffin.

Another former Washington offensive assistant is an NFL head coach

Mike McDaniel is the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

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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.

Two years in, how does Ron Rivera compare?

Ron Rivera just finished his second season as Washington’s head coach. We compare the first two years of every Washington head coach dating back to George Allen.

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Washington coach Ron Rivera completed his second season as the franchise’s head coach Sunday.

The thought occurred to me, since I have been following this team in my childhood, how have other Washington coaches produced in their first two seasons coaching this franchise?

1971: George Allen 9-4-1 regular season; wildcard 4th seed. In his 1972 season, Washington won NFC East Title at 11-3, the number one seed, a 26-3 NFC Championship win over defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas and a trip to Super Bowl VII where they lost 14-7 to the 17-0 Miami Dolphins.

1978: Jack Pardee started 6-0, but faded, finishing 8-8, and his 1979 team finished 10-6, but failed to make a top-four spot for the playoffs.

1981: Enter Joe Jackson Gibbs, who lost his first five games, before closing 8-3 to finish 8-8. His second season Washington was 8-1, plus 4-0 in the playoffs, winning Super Bowl XVII 27-17 over Miami.

1994: Norv Turner was in a total rebuild situation going 3-13 and 6-10 in his first two seasons.

2002: Steve Spurrier’s two seasons 2002-03, Washington was 7-9 and 5-11. You thought it was worse, didn’t you? You see, that proves our standards and expectations were higher then.

2004: Joe Gibbs agreed to return in 2004 going 6-10 and then 10-6 in 2005 with a playoff win at Tampa.

2008: Jim Zorn opened 6-2 in 2008, but then the team finished 8-8, followed by a 4-12 2009 and he was fired.

2010: Mike Shanahan’s first two teams were 6-10 and 5-11.

2014: Jay Gruden after a 4-12 first season won the NFC East at 9-7 in 2015.

2020: Ron Rivera followed a disastrous 2019 when Washington was 3-13, fired Jay Gruden and finished the season with interim coach Bill Callahan. Rivera battled his own cancer, endured the gruesome treatments, yet Washington won the weak NFC East in 2020 at 7-9. In 2021, Washington started 2-6, won four straight then lost four straight to division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia, finishing 7-10.

 

Mike Shanahan’s Ring of Fame ceremony marred by Broncos’ ugly loss to Raiders

We loved seeing Mike Shanahan enter the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, but doing so during an ugly loss to the Raiders was unfortunate.

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After being run out of down by late Raiders owner Al Davis, former coach Mike Shanahan went on to post a 21-7 record against his former team while helping the Denver Broncos win two Super Bowls in the late 1990s.

Shanahan coached the Broncos from 1995-2008 and among coaches that coached for more than four seasons in Denver, he has the best win percentage (.616) in franchise history.

The Broncos honored Shanahan at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Raiders — a fitting opponent for the day Shanahan entered the team’s Ring of Fame. The ceremony was marred by an ugly loss to Las Vegas at home.

Denver lost 34-24 and while the players certainly didn’t execute well, poor coaching stood out, making fans wish Shanahan was still employed by the team.

Vic Fangio, the Broncos’ current coach, lost two challenges in the defeat — and he shouldn’t have thrown a red flag either time. Denver’s offensive coordinator, Pat Shurmur, also had a poor day, seemingly abandoning the run game despite the offense having success on the ground.

After starting the season 3-0, the Broncos have now suffered three-straight losses and both Fangio and Shurmur deserve to be on the hot seat. Shanahan being honored was the highlight of Sunday’s game and it was great to see him back at Mile High, but the circumstances were unfortunate.

Shanahan rarely lost to the Raiders. Fangio is now 1-4 against them.

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What if the Shanahans had drafted Russell Wilson in Washington?

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that Washington wanted to draft Russell Wilson in the fourth round of the 2012 draft.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan joined the Rich Eisen Show on Monday and revealed that Washington planned on drafting Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in 2012 if he dropped to the fourth round.

Shanahan’s father Mike wanted to snag Wilson if he remained on the board in Round 4, but Kyle revealed that he wanted to draft him as early as the second round before Washington traded up to draft Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick.

“I remember in Washington we already took RG3 and Kirk (Cousins) I ranked as the higher guy,” Shanahan said. “Before we made that trade, I wanted to take him in the second round. My dad loved Russell Wilson and he planned on taking him in the fourth round.”

“And then when we took Robert, he told me all along if Russell Wilson was there in the fourth round – he was going to take him.”

The Seahawks selected Wilson with the No. 75 overall pick in the third round, so Washington settled for Kirk Cousins in Round 4.

“Russell was gone by then, so we’re sitting there on the clock. My dad goes ‘I’m gonna take Cousins,'” Shanahan said.

Wilson now heads into his 10th season in the NFL and will attempt to lead the defending NFC West champions to the promised land once more.

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