Redskins coach Mike Shanahan is the father of Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. Mike also is Kyle’s boss.
And Mike is setting aside the feelings of fatherly pride that would arise from his son becoming an NFL head coach for the good of their mutual employer. According to Mike, Kyle won’t be given permission to interview for any head-coaching vacancies until the Redskins’ season ends.
“At least my opinion, at least this is my feeling when I was an assistant, it’s not time to interview during the season,” Mike Shanahan said Monday, via the Washington Times. “It’s time to concentrate on your job. After the season is over with, I think there’s plenty of time for all those things. That’s my gut feeling.”
The issue becomes relevant only if the Redskins beat the Seahawks on Sunday. For teams that win during wild-card weekend, their assistant coaches can be interviewed during the week preceding the divisional round, but only with express permission from their current teams.
“You’ve got a job to do, and you should do that first,” Mike Shanahan said. “But after the season is over, if somebody wants to interview him or something along those lines, I think it’s great opportunities for assistant coaches to interview for head coaching jobs.”
In Kyle Shanahan’s case, the smart move for the Redskins could be to pay Kyle like an entry-level head coach and promise that he’ll become the head coach once Mike retires. Otherwise, Kyle could end up getting offers to leave the nest and lead his own team as soon as 2013.
Of course, Kyle may not be interested in doing that -- unless he can take Robert Griffin III with him.