Shanahan -- who talked with Paige at the celebrity golf tourney in Lake Tahoe -- has apparently been busy marrying off his daughter, moving into a new home in Cherry Hills, and playing enough golf to shoot a saucy little 83 in competition on Saturday. But since Shanahan is a half-cyborg powered by UV rays and recorded John Elway interviews, he needs no sleep -- and has been apparently spending his extra hours studying film:
What you should know, and I actually was shocked -- is that Shanahan has spent much of the offseason studying "personnel and X's and O's" in theNFL without "thinking about salary cap, roster limitations, coaching the specific players: all the things you have to consider in the league." He is studying tape without walls. "I've actually been able to slow down for the first time in a long time and look at aspects of theNFL I didn't get a chance to before."
I was all for the firing of Shanahan, and have cut Josh McDaniels more slack than most of Broncos Country. But somehow the vision of an extra tan, extra rested Shanahan -- with a year of studying film free of gameplanning under his belt -- sort of makes me think he'll come back some super genius, running the A-11 Offense with a fat guy as quarterback, only 19 guys on his roster, and Michael Vick in some yet-unnamed hybrid defensive rover position.
Worse yet? Since Shanahan would no doubt like to torture Broncos fans, I predict it will happen with the San Diego Chargers, sometime after Norv Turner becomes the first coach in NFL history to take a nap on the bench during an NFL game.
