Sunday, Kyle Shanahan will enter FedEx Field as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. His time as the Redskins offensive coordinator an otherwise cliff note. Except that his 49ers are coming into town 5-0 on the season while the Redskins have stumbled to a 1-5 record.
Asked of his favorite memory and worst part of being with the Redskins, Shanahan had an interesting but direct quote.
“Being able to work with my dad and be around some other good coaches,” was Shanahan’s full response to his favorite memory.
Shanahan held nothing back with “everything else” being the worst part.
He spent four seasons with the Redskins while his dad Mike Shanahan was the head coach. Kyle was instrumental in then first-round pick Robert Griffin’s success as a rookie that led the Redskins to a 10-6 record and the NFC East division title.
He also helped in the development of Kirk Cousins, who eventually unseated Griffin as the Redskins starting quarterback in 2015.
Kyle and his dad were fired along with the rest of the coaching staff towards the end of the 2013 season. Amid turmoil between the coach and the team’s brass, specifically owner Dan Snyder and then-general manager Bruce Allen. A lot had to do with the handling of Griffin as the starting quarterback.
That coaching staff included current Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, and Atlanta Falcons assistant head coach Raheem Morris as well as Kyle Shanahan.
Jay Gruden eventually replaced Mike as head coach. Kyle went on to become the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns. Gruden was fired last week, bringing up the same concerns Redskins fans had with Mike Shanahan’s firing about the team’s culture and direction under Snyder and Allen.
“That was a while ago,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been in three different buildings since. My dad retired. He’s good. We’ve accepted what we had to deal with there and moved on. We’ll watch other people deal with it.”
