On Wednesday, the Washington Redskins officially announced that they signed Mike Shanahan as the new team head coach and executive vice president. The deal is for five years and is valued at $35 million. With its close, Shanahan gains the final say on all of Washington’s football matters.

The search for a new coach started when the Redskins fired Jim Zorn on Monday morning, after a meeting with the Redskins’ General Manager, Brucel Allen, that examined the team’s Sunday loss against the San Diego Chargers, 20-23, as well as its regular season record of 4-12. Zorn’s dismissal was followed by immediate action, and Shanahan was the first prospect for formal negotiation for the position.

The intense negotiations began on Monday when Shanahan landed in Washington for a meeting at the team headquarters. Allen spoke to Shanahan via phone at first but, according to some sources, Allen had been in contact with Shanahan since last month, when he took the position as GM.

With the team’s poor record, Zorn’s firing was not unexpected. Allen stated that he wanted to give the team a breath of fresh air, and believed that Shanahan would provide the players the support they needed. This is the second year in a row that the Redskins have missed the playoffs and an opportunity to fight for the Super Bowl.

Zorn ended up with a 12-20 record over two seasons and lost 18 of his last 24 games after a 6-2 start in 2008, his best record with the Redskins. The team then struggled early this season despite a weak schedule and finished with its worst record since 1994.

Shanahan was formally introduced to the team and media on Wednesday, two days after he started the official negotiations that also brought his son, Kyle Shanahan, the Houston Texans offensive coordinator, on the team. Shanahan has stated that his son is a very talented professional and that both can take the Redskins to a better level for next season.

"I've got very high standards, just like everybody in this organization," Shanahan said. "I can't tell you how long it's going to take. But I can guarantee you: We'll get better every day and hopefully it won't take long to get back to where this organization has been."

Team owner Dan Snyder is also very pleased with the acquisition of Shanahan. Snyder was the general manager for 11 years but during his time in the position, the Redskins failed 8 times on getting to the playoffs. He then hired Allen three weeks ago to take full control of the team.

"We've got the foundation here now ... with Bruce, and coach Shanahan is our leader," Snyder said. "They're going to be a great team."

Shanahan used to be the head coach for the Denver Broncos. He stood in that position from 1995 up to 2008. He made it to the playoffs in half of his 14 seasons in Denver, and had only two losing seasons, 1999 and 2007. His greatest successes came early, when he won consecutive Super Bowls after the 1997 and '98 seasons. He was fired a year ago when the Broncos missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year. He had 3 years left in his contract.

His career record, including two seasons with the Los Angeles Raiders, is 146-98 in the regular season and 8-5 in the playoffs.

About the Author

Audrey Nolan has been a prominent writer on daily NFL Football Season reviews, sports news and sportsbetting industry updates for many exceptional sports web sites.
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