Kyle Shanahan Emerges From His Father's Shadow

How long will we get to keep him? If this article is any indication he might get a head coaching offer before we know it. The fact that we all but guranteed the head coaching job to Williams before not giving it to him also doesn't seem to help. Then again Vinny was probably more at fault for that.

Did GW ever really have the coach in waiting title or did everyone just assume he had it? He was probably Gibbs choice and there were rumors about a payoff if he wasn't named head coach but it was certainly not an out in the open arrangement the way it was with Caldwell in Indy. Either way I would hope that our Snyderatto sins will not be held against us here.

Did GW ever really have the coach in waiting title or did everyone just assume he had it? He was probably Gibbs choice and there were rumors about a payoff if he wasn't named head coach but it was certainly not an out in the open arrangement the way it was with Caldwell in Indy. Either way I would hope that our Snyderatto sins will not be held against us here.

Assumed. As for Kyle Shanahan, let's not jump the gun here. I'm really excited about what he can bring as an offensive coordinator. But realistically he's only had one year of true experience running an offense. I think he will continue to grow here, and I'm excited about him being our OC. But let's focus on Kyle as OC, and Mike as HC before we get too carried away.

That said, I'd be surprised if KS isn't the head coach somewhere by 2012

Did GW ever really have the coach in waiting title or did everyone just assume he had it? He was probably Gibbs choice and there were rumors about a payoff if he wasn't named head coach but it was certainly not an out in the open arrangement the way it was with Caldwell in Indy. Either way I would hope that our Snyderatto sins will not be held against us here.

I thought the same thing, but I guess in the end it was just strongly implied that he would get the job after Gibbs left, only to have to go through Vinny's circus. I think the only good thing that happened with the Vinny/Zorn combo is it showed Snyder once and for all that Vinny can't run an NFL franchise and at the same time the firing of Zorn was timed as such that we got a well rested Mike Shanahan and his genius of a son. A lot of things have gone right lately, maybe we get the same type of luck during the draft.

I wish I shared your optimism about the offense. The Shanahans are very good coaches, but our line is flat out awful, our RB situation is lacking, and our QB and WR situation is still pretty up in the air. Sure, IF Campbell/D.Thomas/M.Kelly all break out this year we could do some damage, I'm just not sold until I see it. I do not think we'll be any kind of "force" on offense. And if we're set on switching to a 3-4 (which I'm not sure we are, at least this season), we may take a step back on D as well.

Hate to come off as a Debbie Downer, but I don't think we're going to be any better than a .500 team in year one of this regime. That said, I do think we're moving in the right direction for sure.

Well, I am not calling for Championship or SB, yet;), but I also doubt you will see our offense look like a Div II college program either like it did in our first 7 games last year.

I am still out on what will happen with our D. I don't know Haslett, and I think we could easily have anywhere from the #3 to the #18th ranked D. I do believe though that there is no way our players were as inept as they looked last year.

I think everyone played down to their lowest possible level, and this year, especially on offense, we will be shocked by the production we see from this offense. Note that this assumes a draft and plan that creates an effective, if not star studded, OLine.

Even with improvements, we won't be so fortunate as to play 5 or 6 O'fer teams in a row this year, and we may be 7-9 to 9-7 depending on several factors. But we will see an effective team put on the field each and every game. That in and of itself makes me optimistic.

Maybe the sun will put more color in Kyle's face now that he is no longer always in the shadow.

Maybe the sun will put more color in Kyle's face now that he is no longer always in the shadow.

Deep.

It doesn't really matter who is calling the plays cause we simply don't have the personel to be a top offense. I'm sure KS & MS are more capable people at running an offense than Zorn. With better coaching and having some guys play better, hopefully it will = more points being scored.

Deep.

Or a ridiculously dumb joke. One of the two.

This will be another test to the debate about playcalling -- seems like most people say it's overrated.

Let's be honest: Our offense sucks. And it has sucked for years, going back to the Joe Gibbs (part II) days. Most of the players that make up that sucky offense are still here.

Mike and Kyle have their work cut out for them.


I agree. We had Spurrier try his thing, Gibbs came back and did some good, and had the much vaunted Saunders come in with limited success to say the least. Zorn was a disaster! Folks in the forum(me included) have tended to always overrate the collective talent on this team for a long time and I think 2010 is no exception with what I have been reading thus far about hopes for next season. Our WR corp hopefully will improve just with an opened up offense, but I am not going to hold my breath. Thomas is still a big zero, and Kelly didn't show up on the map until the '09 campaign was already a waste. Mitchell at best will be someone like Darnien McCants for us. As for JC, I think he is a good QB, but he isn't going to get us a title, while nobody that isn't a Skins fan thinks too much about him. The fact of the matter is we draft lousy and gave up too many upper round picks as well in recent history. I am confident that Allen will right the ship, but it is going to take 2 seasons at the bare minimum.

I wish I shared your optimism about the offense. The Shanahans are very good coaches, but our line is flat out awful, our RB situation is lacking, and our QB and WR situation is still pretty up in the air. Sure, IF Campbell/D.Thomas/M.Kelly all break out this year we could do some damage, I'm just not sold until I see it. I do not think we'll be any kind of "force" on offense. And if we're set on switching to a 3-4 (which I'm not sure we are, at least this season), we may take a step back on D as well.

Hate to come off as a Debbie Downer, but I don't think we're going to be any better than a .500 team in year one of this regime. That said, I do think we're moving in the right direction for sure.


Exactly, too many folks here are saying how frigging great our WR corp is going to be, which is contrast to the reality of the play we have seen thus far. Last year the preview mags all pegged Thomas as having a breakout year only to see him have a mediocre year for us. Kelly had flashes of greatness towards the end, but the season was already lost. Mitchell did great in the preseason, but what does that count for? Can they break out this season? Of course they can, and I hope they do, but so far the only one that has showed potential is really Kelly.