It’s obvious Mike Shanahan is orchestrating a power-play exit in Washington, so it would be delicious — and there are already signs this is happening — if it blew up in his face.
Shanahan appeared to be the source of an explosive ESPN report Sunday morning that quoted sources close to him saying Shanahan was ready to quit last year because of owner Dan Snyder’s alleged coddling of Robert Griffin III. The claims in the story didn’t really add up, according to Redskins insiders, and appeared to be aimed more at getting Snyder to fire Shanahan so Shanahan could get the remaining $7 million on his contract and pursue other jobs.
That’s pretty devious, and it remains to be seen whether Snyder, who might actually be the innocent party in this case, will give Shanahan what he wants by axing him immediately instead of calling the coach’s bluff and seeing if Shanahan resigns instead.
But speculation is high in league circles that Shanahan wants to exit Washington because he has eyes on the Texans’ new vacancy and would like to bring his son Kyle (the Redskins’ much-maligned offensive coordinator) with him.
If so, Shanahan’s detractors have to be laughing themselves silly after Texans owner Robert McNair leaked to reporters in Houston on Monday that he isn’t interested in Shanahan, preferring Lovie Smith or Stanford’s David Shaw.
That snub would be poetic justice for a scheming coach who hasn’t done anything of note since he had some guy named John Elway at quarterback.