Quote:
Originally Posted by FRPLG
Here's what also know. His teams were pretty pedestrian his last few years there when the personnel was his and his only. He won superbowls with a HOF QB he didn't pick and a stud RB. He also had Gary Kubiak and Alex Gibb coaching his offense. On top of that his defenses were decent but not out of this world. I don't think there is a lot on his resume that screams "He is the guy to fix this team". He basically took an already successful team and pushed them over the top for a few years by adding a good RB. Once that formula dried up due to age he didn't duplicate it. It was downhill from there.
|
No, he didn't pick Elway, but Elway couldn't win without Shanahan after three tries in the Super Bowl. He took a successful team that couldn't win the big game, then proceeded to win the big game. It would also be quite a stretch to say that was all due to Kubiak and Alex Gibbs.
As I've said, the worst you could say is that he fell into the middle of the pack in his last few years. Maybe things got a bit stale in Denver, perhaps he got a little too comfortable there. But it's amazing how finishing up with a 9-7, 7-9, and 8-8 record after collecting two Lombardi trophies can turn a man into garbage in the eyes of some.