Shanahan is expected to be named the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers whenever the Falcons are done with their playoff run. The 49ers are expected to meet with Shanahan again this week. Of course, the Broncos may have been a more appealing destination for Shanahan had Elway not been worried about any growing pains that the coordinator might endure during his first time as head coach. Elway decided to go with the candidate that he considered to be more of a "leader of men."
"[Elway] thinks the world of Kyle's offensive acumen," Shapiro said. "He wanted to get back to those days of Mike Shanahan going up and down the field, and he knows Kyle is an offshoot of, is a prodigal son of his father, and knows offense very, very well. John kept thinking 'this offense sucks, and I want to get back to being what we've been in the past, to being what we were when I was the quarterback.'"
Elway believed that Shanahan had the ability to fix the Broncos offense, but didn't want to take a risk given that the team still has a lot of talent and the general manager believes that Denver is still in a window that allows them to compete for a Super Bowl.
"If John Elway – I know this for a fact now – felt this team was in a rebuild, and felt he needed to bring a different culture into that locker room and into the meeting rooms, Kyle Shanahan very well could have been your head coach right now," Shapiro said. "John Elway felt that they were still on the track to go to the playoffs, and even get to and win a Super Bowl again. Because they're not in a rebuild, because they don't need to change the culture any, Vance Joseph was the guy to come in and keep things going."
You can listen to the entire interview on Mile High Sports Radio.