The Washington Washington Football Team have fired head coach Mike Shanahan after four seasons, the team announced Monday morning. Shanahan was fired Monday morning during a 9 a.m. meeting with team owner Daniel Snyder. Under Shanahan, the Washington Football Team finished the 2013 season with a 3-13 record, the second worst in the National Football League. There was no official word about the status of Shanahan’s staff.
It was the third losing season in Shanahan’s four years in Washington. Shanahan’s teams went 24-40 during his Washington Football Team fans deserve a better result,” Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder said in a statement. “We will focus on what it takes to build a winning team. My pledge is to…continue to commit the resources and talent necessary to put this team back in the playoffs.”
The coach’s dismissal was widely expected and reported by media outlets following Sunday’s season-ending loss to the New York Giants. The move comes after weeks of speculation, including reports that quarterback Robert Griffin III had told teammates that he expected tp play for a different coach next season. Controversy also swirled in early December when ESPN reported that Shanahan nearly quit his job with the Washington Football Team before last season’s playoff game because he was upset over what her perceived as Snyder’s overly-close relationship with Griffin.
The coach’s lone winning season came last year, when the Washington Football Team rode a red-hot rookie campaign from Griffin to an NFC East division championship and a 10-6 record. Shanahan was criticized though for his handling of Griffin’s knee injury during the Washington Football Team’s playoff loss against Seattle last January. Shanahan allowed Griffin to remain in the game despite a sprained knee. The then-rookie quarterback tore two ligaments in his knee in the fourth quarter of that game, sidelining him for the off-season and all four of the Washington Football Team’s preseason games.
