A graphic about the former Washington coaching staff is going viral this week ahead of the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
There are only eight teams remaining in the NFL playoffs. In the NFC, it’s the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
What’s notable is that except for the Bucs (coached by Bruce Arians), the three other teams have young head coaches who all used to be on the same staff together.
Yes, from 2010-13, Kyle Shanahan (49ers), Sean McVay (Rams) and Matt LaFleur (Packers) all worked on Mike Shanahan’s staff in Washington.
That’s pretty impressive and quite the group of talented offensive minds.
As a supplement, Raheem Morris, who was the secondary coach for the 2012 and 2013 Redskins, is now the Rams’ defensive coordinator.
Mike Shanahan coached in Washington for four seasons and had a losing record in all but one season, when they went 10-6 in 2012 and made the playoffs. The team had Donovan McNabb in his final season as a full-time starter (2010), Rex Grossman (2011), and Robert Griffin III before and after the knee injury (2012, 2013) at quarterback, so that helps explain why the team didn’t have more success.
Both LaFleur and Kyle Shanahan left after Mike’s tenure as Washington’s coach ended, but McVay stayed on as Jay Gruden’s offensive coordinator the next three seasons. They had a winning record in two of those years and made the playoffs once, all with Kirk Cousins at quarterback.
There are maybe a few takeaways here, besides recognizing how stacked that offensive staff was. Even with the best coaches, you can only go so far without the best players. And (no surprise), Washington’s ownership made a mistake letting that stacked group of coaches get away.
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