Shanahan joined Eric Mangini, Rod Marinelli and Romeo Crennel on the unemployment line after going 24-24 over the last three seasons, including three straight losses in 2008 that turned a three-game division lead to an 8-8 record.
Despite that, and the 52-21 loss to the Chargers that ended Denver’s season Sunday, this was a shocker: The ouster of a 14-year coaching veteran who won two Super Bowl titles for Denver and was considered my many in this town to be a lifer.
“After giving this careful consideration, I have concluded that a change in our football operations is in the best interests of the Denver Broncos,” owner Pat Bowlen said.
Shanahan’s record was 146-89, but the Broncos remained stuck at only one postseason victory since John Elway retired in 1999 after Denver’s second championship.
This season was especially ugly. It included a historic collapse that saw Denver become the first team since divisional play started in 1967 to blow a three-game lead with three games left.
The Broncos’ defense gave up 448 points, third worst in the NFL, including 112 during the three-game collapse at the end. It was ranked 29th in yards allowed and tied for last in the NFL with a minus-17 turnover margin.
In years past, Shanahan had relieved defensive coordinators - Greg Robinson, Ray Rhodes, Larry Coyer and Jim Bates - in almost revolving-door fashion.
This year, as the defense floundered, it became obvious it wasn’t just a coaching problem. It was an issue of talent on the field, and in Denver, Shanahan makes all the personnel decisions.
His top two draft picks in 2007, Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder, were barely a factor this season. Two of Denver’s top veteran acquisitions from last year, Niko Koutouvides and Dewayne Robertson, also did very little.
Bowlen and Shanahan were scheduled to hold news conferences today. Shanahan had three years left on his contract, worth about $20 million.
Shanahan became a coaching star as a coordinator and confidant of Elway’s while the Broncos were being coached by Dan Reeves. But Reeves ended up firing Shanahan, accusing him of insubordination for supposedly conspiring with Elway to hatch game plans behind the head coach’s back.
That made for a great subplot for the Super Bowl 10 years ago, when Denver met Reeves and the Falcons, for what turned out to be the last great moment for a franchise that Shanahan took to the top.
Denver’s two Super Bowl victories came behind the running of Terrell Davis and the brilliance of Elway, but Shanahan pulled the strings and finally helped deliver the title to a city that had been through four painful Super Bowl losses, three with Elway at the helm.
Texans fire three defensive coaches
HOUSTON - The Texans fired defensive coordinator Richard Smith and two other coaches Tuesday after Houston fielded one of the league’s worst defensive units despite three first-round picks on the line.
The firings of Smith, secondary coach Jon Hoke and defensive line coach Jethro Franklin came after Houston finished 8-8 for the second straight year.
Houston’s offense finished the year ranked third in the NFL, but the defense was 22nd, allowing more than 336 yards per game. Only five teams allowed more points per game than the Texans’ 24.6. Houston’s defense improved late in the season but didn’t live up to expectations for a unit featuring 2006 top pick Mario Williams.
The other first-rounders on Houston’s defense are lineman Amobi Okoye and Travis Johnson.
Smith came to Houston in 2006 after working one year as Miami’s defensive coordinator. Before that, he served two seasons as the assistant head coach and linebackers coach for Detroit.
Hoke had been the Texans’ secondary coach since the team’s inception in 2002. Houston’s pass defense ranked 17th and generated only 12 interceptions in 2008.
Franklin finished his second season with Houston. The Texans’ 25 sacks ranked 27th in the league, though Williams was named to his first Pro Bowl.
