Long before Kyle Shanahan was an NFL offensive mastermind, he learned the game from his father, Mike Shanahan. Not every kid growing up has a Super Bowl-winning father, but Kyle did and learned from one of the best.
Mike coached the Denver Broncos for fourteen seasons and four seasons with the Washington franchise. The highlight of his career was back-to-back championships in Super Bowl XXXII and XXXIII. The Broncos were the seventh team to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles.
How Did Mike Shanahan Begin His Football Career?
Mike Shanahan began his football career in high school as a wishbone QB. He continued his playing career at the collegiate level for Eastern Illinois University. Unfortunately, Shanahan’s playing career came to a scary end as he suffered a ruptured kidney on the practice field, which caused his heart to briefly stop.
Since Shanahan could no longer play, he turned his attention to coaching. He bounced around the collegiate ranks as an assistant coach for several seasons, starting as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona and then at Northern Oklahoma.
"What you want guys to do when there's adversity is to play harder and play better, and that's when you see what kind of guys you have in your locker room."- Mike Shanahan
— 🚩 COACHING COACHES 🚩 (@Coaching__Coach) September 19, 2023
Shanahan returned to Eastern Illinois, this time as an offensive coordinator. He and his alma mater won the ultimate prize, the Division II national title. Shanahan then made the leap to Division I, becoming the offensive coordinator for Minnesota and then the Florida Gators for a season.
When Did Shanahan Begin His NFL Career?
Following a successful collegiate coaching career, Shanahan decided to take his craft to the next level. In 1984, he worked under Broncos head coach Dan Reeves as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator.
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Shanahan’s ability as an offensive coordinator began to draw attention from NFL front offices around the league. The Los Angeles Raiders and owner Al Davis, in fact, were in need of a spark and a new direction. Davis was attracted to Shanahan’s innovation and hired him to be the Raiders head coach.
It’s a Damn shame that Mike Shanahan isn’t in the @ProFootballHOF #BroncosCountry https://t.co/9FWgDRfEwx pic.twitter.com/M3RtGSsK3y
— Nick Ferguson (@NickFerguson_25) September 21, 2023
Davis’ temperamental nature and lack of patience led to Shanahan’s firing less than two seasons into the gig. Shanahan would return as an offensive coordinator, this time with the San Francisco 49ers, and helped lead one of the top offenses in NFL history.
His success with the 49ers led him back to the Broncos as head coach.
Shanahan returned to Denver in 1995, and alongside QB John Elway, whom he famously feuded with several years earlier, capped back-to-back Super Bowl titles for a franchise, to that point, which had won none. Several years later, he coached Washington, but nothing matched his tenure with the Denver Broncos.
