Our friend Adam Schefter of ESPN has written a book with free-agent coach Mike Shanahan, and Shanahan widely is believed to have Schefter on his speed dial. So, on one hand, anything Schefter reports about Shanahan has extra credibility. On the other hand, anything Schefter reports about Shanahan could represent an effort by Shanahan to disseminate a specific message, regardless of whether the message being disseminated by Shanahan is accurate.
Tonight, Schefter reports that Shanahan will not be coaching the Cowboys in 2010. Schefter explains that Shanahan is looking for more control than he’d have in Dallas.
Schefter also reports that Shanahan believes coaching the Redskins would be “appealing.”
Of course it would be, especially since Shanahan has been talking to Redskins owner Daniel Snyder for months. Moreover, and as Schefter’s ESPN colleague Chris Mortensen recently has reported, Snyder hired Bruce Allen to be the General Manager because Shanahan wanted Snyder to hire Bruce Allen to be the General Manager.
In this case, Shanahan could be using Schefter to get the word out that, if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones were to give the reins to a personnel executive like Bruce Allen, Shanahan might be interested.
It’s also possible that Shanahan has received word from the Cowboys that, as Jay Glazer of FOX reported on Sunday, the Cowboys aren’t interested in Shanahan. Thus, Shanahan likely would prefer the official word to be that Shanahan isn’t interested in the Cowboys.
None of this is a slap at Schefter; he’s simply doing his job. Given his relationship with Shanahan, we don’t expect Schefter to express public skepticism about the things that Shanahan tells him.