Shanahan Interveiw

[DEHog]

Wow...any body else listen to this?? Very esay to see which QB he thinks is the best going forward...

[riggofan]

Some good stuff coming out of this Shanahan interview on 980 today. Here's some tweets for you:

Mike Shanahan on @ESPNRadio980 "I try not to compare them... Kirk Cousins will be a damn good quarterback in the National Football League."

Mike Shanahan publicly saying what we've all heard privately: RGIII works out a lot, but isn't putting in the time in the film room.

Former #Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan on @ESPNRadio980 "It was going to take 4 or 5 years for Robert to learn how to be a pocket passer"

Mike Shanahan sums it all up: "I like (Robert's) confidence, but it's not very realistic."

"I knew my time was short-lived" when Robert told him that he basically did not want to run read option.

Former #Skins Coach Mike Shanahan on @ESPNRadio980 "he (Robert) never trusted me after I told him he wasn't ready to be a drop back passer"

Mike Shanahan on @ESPNRadio980 says Robert made it very clear that he wanted to pass more, run less & used language that sounded from Dan.

Mike Shanahan: I wanted Peyton Manning in Washington, but I settled for the RG3 trade http://wp.me/p14QSB-9I6L

Former #Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan on @ESPNRadio980 "I told RG3 if you can't run 50 series (read option) then you can't play"

Did Shanahan like the details of the McNabb deal: "No, I wasn’t happy with that at all, to be honest with you." http://wapo.st/1CIQ80f

Mike Shanahan says the push to trade for Donovan McNabb came "mainly from Dan" http://wapo.st/1CIQ80f

Shanahan on McNabb acquisition: "Bruce [Allen] had the leeway to make the deal and I think he knew how much Dan [Snyder] wanted Donovan."

Shanahan said he knew after McNabb and Haynesworth left the #Redskins that they "wouldn't last a year, and they didn't."

Nugget. RT @Russellmania980: Mike Shanahan says "you could tell RG 3 was a upset that Cousins did not have to run the "50 series"/QB option

Former #Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan on @ESPNRadio980 "Donovan McNabb wasn't our first choice. We wanted Marc Bluger but he wasn't released"

[Irn-Bru]

Wow, a lot of interesting stuff in there. Thanks for posting those summaries, riggo.

[riggofan]

Wow, a lot of interesting stuff in there. Thanks for posting those summaries, riggo.

No problem, I thought so too. There's a lot of stuff we've kind of heard or suspected, but this is the first I've really seen Shanahan come out and say these things publicly. I'll be interested to read the entire transcript. He spoke with 980 for an hour!

[riggofan]

There was another comment I forgot to post btw where Shanahan said he wouldn't have made the Griffin trade if he'd known about the salary cap penalty. I actually believe him on that. They were totally blindsided by the league, and it put them in an even bigger hole giving away those picks and not being able to make moves in free agency.

[SkinsJock]

I am changing my mind - I'm now hoping that Gruden will find a way to make Griffin into a NFL QB

I didn't think that was really possible - now I'd like to see it happen

Mike could have found a better way to handle this IMO - I will not be delving into the 'interview' much ... if at all

[SkinsJock]

There was another comment I forgot to post btw where Shanahan said he wouldn't have made the Griffin trade if he'd known about the salary cap penalty. I actually believe him on that. They were totally blindsided by the league, and it put them in an even bigger hole giving away those picks and not being able to make moves in free agency.

so there was some stuff you did not believe -

[riggofan]

There was another comment I forgot to post btw where Shanahan said he wouldn't have made the Griffin trade if he'd known about the salary cap penalty. I actually believe him on that. They were totally blindsided by the league, and it put them in an even bigger hole giving away those picks and not being able to make moves in free agency.

so there was some stuff you did not believe -

Oh definitely, man. If you read the quotes, he definitely has a tendency to paint himself as the victim in almost every instance. That doesn't seem very realistic to me - you?

I'd hope the head coach would take at least *some* ownership for any mistakes that were made.

Either way I think there are things here that people have suspected for a while. Its at least interesting to hear Shanahan admit to those. I thought his comments about Snyder's influence on Griffin were interesting. I've never really known what to make of those comments about Snyder's "meddling". What does that mean? Having turkey dinner? But I can see from Shanahan's comments why that was a bigger deal than I might have thought.

[riggofan]

Mike could have found a better way to handle this IMO - I will not be delving into the 'interview' much ... if at all

You know, I thought he was kinder to RGIII than I would have expected. His criticism of Griffin mainly seemed to be that he needed to be patient and trust his coaches. He wasn't as good or prepared as he thought he was.

Seemed like the person he really threw under the bus was Snyder! No surprise there.

That still strikes me as kind of weak though. Shanahan had the resume and reputation to not go along with things he didn't agree with. If you didn't want to trade a pick for McNabb then I don't get why it was so hard to stand up and stop it.

[SkinsJock]

I agree - Mike is giving us some insight into the difficulties but IMO he's also not taking ownership of things that he went along with

we all know that Snyder's interfering has been a huge issue and that it has to stop if Scott and Jay are going to have any chance here

[emoses14]

There was another comment I forgot to post btw where Shanahan said he wouldn't have made the Griffin trade if he'd known about the salary cap penalty. I actually believe him on that. They were totally blindsided by the league, and it put them in an even bigger hole giving away those picks and not being able to make moves in free agency.

so there was some stuff you did not believe -

Oh definitely, man. If you read the quotes, he definitely has a tendency to paint himself as the victim in almost every instance. That doesn't seem very realistic to me - you?

I'd hope the head coach would take at least *some* ownership for any mistakes that were made.

Either way I think there are things here that people have suspected for a while. Its at least interesting to hear Shanahan admit to those. I thought his comments about Snyder's influence on Griffin were interesting. I've never really known what to make of those comments about Snyder's "meddling". What does that mean? Having turkey dinner? But I can see from Shanahan's comments why that was a bigger deal than I might have thought.

This is precisely what I was coming here to post. It is literally unbelievable that total control Shanahan was so overrun by a rookie and Dan Snyder. The same Dan Snyder that literally begged, pleaded and threw stupid money at Mike to get him to become coach?

OK.

[StorminMormon86]

That still strikes me as kind of weak though. Shanahan had the resume and reputation to not go along with things he didn't agree with. If you didn't want to trade a pick for McNabb then I don't get why it was so hard to stand up and stop it.

His bosses overruled him.

I do think Shanahan is padding some details to paint himself in the best light possible, but why on Earth would he just totally make this crap up about Griffin out of the blue? This is the SAME exact stuff we've heard from other "sources", even after Shanny left.

[riggofan]

That still strikes me as kind of weak though. Shanahan had the resume and reputation to not go along with things he didn't agree with. If you didn't want to trade a pick for McNabb then I don't get why it was so hard to stand up and stop it.

His bosses overruled him.

I do think Shanahan is padding some details to paint himself in the best light possible, but why on Earth would he just totally make this crap up about Griffin out of the blue? This is the SAME exact stuff we've heard from other "sources", even after Shanny left.

Not really what I was questioning. His comments about RGIII the player seemed believable to me for the reasons you said.

I was referring more to his not taking any responsibility for the McNabb trade or the decision to trade away all those picks for Griffin. Like emoses wrote, I was under the impression that he was given total control when he came here. If he didn't agree with those decisions, it just struck me as weak if he was completely steam rolled by Allen/Snyder. I didn't find that very believable.

[SkinsJock]

I think that Shanahan came in here with an understanding of how things would be and found out over time that Snyder 'reneged' on their 'arrangement' - ALSO - I do believe he did not want to make the trade for RG3 but was over-ruled by Allen & Snyder

However, I don't understand why he went along with things as long as he did ...

I'm not a Shanahan fan but I did think his coming here was a sign that things here were going to change - they did change for a while but Dan and Bruce got involved again ... damn it

I think that Jay Gruden was brought in to hopefully help the offense and RG3 - the problem is not that RG3 cannot be helped, we just don't have a squad of players that were put together with any sort of plan

I also think that Mike finally realized that leaks to the press by everyone were standard procedure here

[DEHog]

Interesting timing by Mike, at the end of the interview Sheehan thanks him for finally talking, to which Shanahan replied he didn’t think it was right to do it during the season. I would think not because you were still getting paid, and interviewing for other jobs….interesting that he spoke up after all the jobs got filled. I didn’t know what to believe but there is no disputing that 2013 was as dysfunctional a year as we’ve ever seen and all parties had a part in it. I think Mike had an axe to grind with Snyder and that why he did the interview….good luck landing another HC job. I will say this, many people give a lot of credit to RG for his rookie year, but looking back now the Shanahans did a great job coaching him that year.

[Irn-Bru]

Is there audio online for this yet?

[DEHog]

Is there audio online for this yet?

http://stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=65&c=428&f=4017843

[Kilmer72]

I don't believe anything he has to say. He is a self proclaimed liar. I lost all respect for him during his final year.

[Gibbs4Life]

So this is what I think of Shanahan's side of the story...the events that led to his dismissal.


So Robert came to Mike requested a meeting and told Shanahan what had to change including play calling etc.


LETS STOP RIGHT THERE

Why is any QB on our roster feeling like he can dictate to the HC what scheme we will run?

Answer is Griffin is empowered by Snyder

That's where this thing went wrong.. Our ownership poisoned our roster by usurping the HC then fired him.

Also this thing of Robert wants to be Aaron Rodgers.... He doesn't want to be RG3 that's a problem.. Shanahan knew we had to run what Robert ran in college to win. But griffin isn't all about winning he's about perception

[emoses14]

I don't believe anything he has to say. He is a self proclaimed liar. I lost all respect for him during his final year.

Shh, this doesn't fit the popular narrative. They might hear you.

[Prowl33]

Still got the 2nd half of the interview to listen to but sounds to me that this is a problem that a) would only happen in Washington and b) would only be continually tolerated in Washington

[StorminMormon86]

I don't believe anything he has to say. He is a self proclaimed liar. I lost all respect for him during his final year.

Shh, this doesn't fit the popular narrative. They might hear you.

So I guess Shanahan was lying when he praised Griffin repeatedly during the interview?

[Kilmer72]

Everyone is entitled to believe what they want. I can only speak for myself when I say I do not trust anything he has to say.

[StorminMormon86]

Everyone is entitled to believe what they want. I can only speak for myself when I say I do not trust anything he has to say.

Fair enough. And for the record, I don't think what he said was 100% the absolute truth. He embellished the details to make himself look better, no doubt. But with regards to the Snyder/Griffin relationship...where there's smoke, there's fire.

[DEHog]

I find the hate for Shanahan so ironic…Wasn’t he the HC during the 2012 season? People are so quick to give RG the credit and use it as an example of how good he can be. Mike doesn’t get nearly the credit he should for that season! As for the interview if you juxtapose his words with what happen ON the field I think he’s pretty believable. Why would he want to go away from the success they had on the field in 2012? He was pretty adamant that it was going to take years for RG to become a guy who can play from the pocket…how’s that working out?? As for the off the field stuff he said Snyder isn’t involved with the on field stuff as much as people think, his problem with Snyder was that he empowered some of the players…again when you juxtapose that with what happened on the field it’s hard to argue that wasn’t the case??