In 15 years as an NFL head coach (he was fired by the Raiders four games into the 1989 season), Mike Shanahan has won 146 regular-season and postseason games, including two Super Bowls.
If Shanahan, who will be 56 on Aug. 24, coaches until he is 65 and continues to average 9.7 victories a year, he would be No. 5 on the all-time list of career victories — behind Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry and Curly Lambeau — and a cinch first-ballot Hall of Fame coach upon retirement.
If Shanahan continues the 16-16 pace of the past two seasons, he may not be in the Super Bowl again or the coach in Denver for 10 more years.
This is part two of a conversation with Shanahan on the eve of his 20th training camp with the Broncos:
Q: You’ve heard the remarks that you haven’t won a Super Bowl without John Elway? Is that an albatross for you?
A: When I first came here it was an albatross for John. John never won a playoff game without Shanahan (as an assistant or head coach). We finally did it in the third and fourth year, and everybody was pretty happy. The bottom line is John went 14 years without winning the Super Bowl. In winning the two Super Bowls, it not only took John Elway, but you have a Terrell Davis and a great turnover ratio — we were plus-12 in those playoffs — and one of the best defenses in the league. I look at it collectively. We went to three Super Bowls when I was an assistant, and without John Elway, we don’t get to any. Now, we got embarrassed in those Super Bowls, and everybody blames John, but if he didn’t make the amazing plays he did all season, we’re never there.
Q: Because you had won a Super Bowl with San Francisco before you came back here as the head coach, did that make a significant difference for you? You turned down the opportunity to coach the Broncos two years earlier.
A: Best decision I ever made, because that franchise (the 49ers) had won for a number of years, and when I looked at how they did the draft, how they just handled the Super Bowl, the overall organization, it blew me away. It was such a great experience with the 49ers, who won five Super Bowls, and the confidence level that they had in all areas. Between being with the 49ers and what I got from Dan (Reeves), who brought a lot from the great Cowboys teams, I took so much. And even the short time I was with Al (Davis), his mind-set and how he was a maverick and the way he handled personnel and they had won Super Bowls, you take the pluses from that, too.
Q: Twice you left Denver and returned. Did you need the time away to be where you are?
A: What I needed was to come back here after San Francisco. The 49ers guaranteed me the head coaching job if I would stay. I thought at that time I needed to go win where nobody’s won (the Super Bowl), do something that hadn’t been done before in Denver.
Q: People don’t realize you have a wry sense of humor and that you’re privately a very different person. Is that by design?
A: I keep a lot inside. When they asked Kyle (Shanahan, his son, the Texans’ first- year offensive coordinator) if his dad ever laughs, he answered that his friends had more fun with his dad than all the other dads. When that (assessment) comes from my son, it means something. . . . Nobody expects me to be funny.
Q: Do you accept that impression?
A: I’m OK with it. . . . Being head coach can be one of the loneliest jobs in the world.
Q: Are you still evolving as a coach?
A: No difference as far as the time spent. I’m still an early guy. I want to leave by 10 o’clock every night because I want an hour and a half to relax before I go to bed, and I sleep five hours and get back at it. The one thing that I have done is become more organized every year. . . . As time goes on, you concentrate more on making sure everybody’s on top of their game.
Q: When did it come to you last year to call the famous timeout (in overtime against Oakland)?
A: It was kind of a gut. I could see that (Sebastian) Janikowski was so wired. He looked so focused, and I said, “Oh, man, I got to do something,” and I told the official standing right by me that I was going to call a timeout just when the center stops looking at the kicker and puts his head down. The official did it at just the right time, right before the snap. Then I thought, “What if he (Janikowski) misses (the first one)?”
Q: Many other pro and college coaches began doing the timeout deal. Were you surprised the rule wasn’t changed?
A: No, I’d done it before. I’d tell my linebacker to wait until the last instant. There was just more emphasis on this one because it was the first time I’d done it since they implemented the rule that coaches can call timeout, and the guy makes the first, then misses the second one.
Q: Are you still learning?
A: What I do in the offseason is study other teams, especially what other teams are doing new and different that works. If you just sit idly by and do what you’ve always done, and you don’t keep abreast, there’s no way you’ll survive.
Q: Do you have an iPod? What are you listening to?
A: My son gave me one with all my favorite songs, and I’ve used it on vacation. I used it on vacation (in Mexico recently). I’ve got about 11,000 songs on it. All the oldies, a little bit of everything. I like Shania Twain.
Q: Final question. The house?
The coach smiled and was off to the camptown races.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
