Mike Shanahan, HoFer?
Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2016 9:42 pm
At another forum, the question of whether Mike Shanahan gets in the HoF was brought up.
Some thoughts.
On the surface, he hits some of the things that would usually get a coach elected: 2 Super Bowl wins, tied for 12th all-time in wins, and a respectable enough W-L percentage (170-138 .552).
But he didn't do well in the postseason except for the two years he won it all. He doesn't have any innovator credit that I'm aware of. Worst of all, he seems to have had a really toxic reputation which marked his two year term as Raiders head coach, four year term as Washington's head coach, and at least one assistant coaching stint (the one with the Broncos in the early 90s). He seems to have bounced around a lot for an assistant coach and there may be a reason for that. Have also heard anecdotally that he was not considered especially good as a gameday coach, though I may have heard wrong.
Assuming all that's the case, I'm not so sure he gets elected. And that may well be justified. Or at the very best, he waits forever before being elected, after memories of his bad traits recede from memory and the numbers remain.
Thoughts and corrections welcome.
Some thoughts.
On the surface, he hits some of the things that would usually get a coach elected: 2 Super Bowl wins, tied for 12th all-time in wins, and a respectable enough W-L percentage (170-138 .552).
But he didn't do well in the postseason except for the two years he won it all. He doesn't have any innovator credit that I'm aware of. Worst of all, he seems to have had a really toxic reputation which marked his two year term as Raiders head coach, four year term as Washington's head coach, and at least one assistant coaching stint (the one with the Broncos in the early 90s). He seems to have bounced around a lot for an assistant coach and there may be a reason for that. Have also heard anecdotally that he was not considered especially good as a gameday coach, though I may have heard wrong.
Assuming all that's the case, I'm not so sure he gets elected. And that may well be justified. Or at the very best, he waits forever before being elected, after memories of his bad traits recede from memory and the numbers remain.
Thoughts and corrections welcome.