Head coach Mike Shanahan
Shanahan's success with the 49ers earned him a head coaching spot once more, this time back in Denver with the Broncos beginning in 1995. Shanahan led Elway and the Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowl championships in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, during which time the Broncos set a then-record for victories in two seasons. He was the last coach to win two consecutive titles until New England's Bill Belichick did it during the 2003 and 2004 NFL seasons. Between 1996-1998, the Broncos set the NFL record for victories by going 46-10 over a three-year span. The 1998 Broncos won their first 13 games on their way to a 14-2 mark. Shanahan, taking his cue from West Coast offense guru Bill Walsh, was well-known for scripting the first 15 offensive plays of the game, and helped the '98 Broncos set an NFL record for first quarter points scored in a season.
Shanahan is known for a run-heavy variation of the West Coast offense he coached in San Francisco. He has often found unheralded running backs from later rounds of the annual NFL Draft and then turned them into league-leading rushers behind small-but-powerful offensive lines. Examples of this phenomenon are Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary and Reuben Droughns, all of whom have had at least one 1,000-yard season in a Denver uniform over the past 10 years.
Shanahan faced criticism for not delivering a playoff victory since Elway's retirement and Davis' career-ending injuries. The playoff drought ended on January 14, 2006 when the Broncos defeated the two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs at Invesco Field at Mile High. Coincidentally, Shanahan has the best record for any active coach against Bill Belichick. Including the postseason win, Shanahan is 5-2 against Belichick's Patriots, the five wins coming in the last six meetings.
In 1999, with the assistance of writer Adam Schefter, Shanahan penned Think Like a Champion, a motivational book about leadership. It was published by Harper Collins.
Posted the most wins in pro football history in a three-year period (46 in 1996-98).
Won the most postseason games in history over a two-year period (seven, 1997-98).
Been undefeated and untied for three consecutive regular seasons (1996-98) at home, just the second team ever to be undefeated and untied at home in three consecutive years.
In 2004, he joined the exclusive club of head coaches to post 100 wins in his first 10 seasons with one club, finishing the campaign and decade tied for fourth on this ultra-impressive list of 12 coaches, six of whom are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
1 of only six coaches to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
He is the second coach in history to win two Super Bowl titles in his first four years coaching a team (Shula did it first and Belichick did it later, winning two Super Bowls in his first four seasons in New England).
Highest winning percentage in Denver history (.646).
Shanahan is one of seven coaches in pro football history to post four wins in one postseason along with
Only coach with seven postseason wins in a two-year period.
The seond most all-time high of 636 points in a season came from the 1994 Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers, for whom Shanahan was the offensive coordinator.
During his NFL career, Shanahan has been a part of teams that have played in 10 Conference Championship Games, in addition to his six Super Bowl appearances, five with Denver and Super Bowl XXIX with San Francisco.
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