Earlier today, Rosenthal pointed out the report from John Czarnecki of FOX that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder already has approached Mike Shanahan twice regarding the possibility of taking over the head-coaching job in D.C.
Per Czarnecki, the first run was made at Shanahan came in the offseason. The more recent attempt came during the 2009 season.
A team source strongly denied the report in a Sunday morning communication to PFT.
But we’re not sure anyone is going to believe it.
Rumors were rampant in the offseason that Snyder had been talking to Shanahan behind the scenes. The fact that the Redskins pursued quarterback Jay Cutler (whom Shanahan drafted) and reportedly were interested in rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez (in whom the same Denver front office that worked with Shanahan in Denver was interested) served only to legitimize the notion that Shanahan would be the next coach of the Redskins.
Indeed, Jay Glazer of FOX reports that it’s universally believed in league circles that Shanahan will be the next head coach of the Redskins, and that many believe it could happen during the season.
Glazer also explains that Shanahan could be hired on an interim basis only. We’ve been told by the league office, however, that Shanahan could get the full-time job during the season if the Redskins conduct a search process that complies with the Rooney Rule.
If Shanahan is an interim hire, the post-season job search would require full compliance with the Rooney Rule -- and it would be challenging to get a minority candidate to interview for a job that everyone assumes Shanahan will keep.
Then there’s the money angle. Unless Shanahan makes more than $7 million in 2010 and more than $7 million 2010, he’ll be working for free. With the current trend having teams go young (and cheap), Shanahan will need to maximize his leverage in order to maximize his payday.
Focusing only on the Redskins would make it harder to Shanahan to get top dollar; he needs to show some leg to Jerry Jones, too.
And Shanahan surely won’t be hiking up his skirt until January, at the earliest.