Back in July of 2014, Shanahan emphasized that he was interested in coaching again only if the situation arose with a Super Bowl contender under "the right ownership" with plenty of salary-cap space to compete in free agency.
Now that his son, Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, has emerged as one of the leading candidates to interview for openings next month, the elder Shanahan is more interested in an executive position as part of a package deal.
In a Wednesday interview wth Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports Radio, Shanahan made it clear that he's "not looking for a head coaching job" at age 64.
"This game is for younger guys, guys that are really fired up to run a team, put a good team together," Shanahan explained. "But that head coach has to have a good supporting cast to win a Super Bowl."
That supporting cast is where Shanahan comes in. Should a team be interested in hiring Kyle to turn its offense around, Mike would like to tag along in a front-office capacity.
"I think it'd be a lot smarter to take Kyle than it would me," Shanahan said. "I think I would give an organization maybe a lot more input from top to bottom. You know, the little things that are the difference in the structure of the organization."
Mike Shanahan is indisputably one of the brightest offensive minds of the past three decades. He ultimately lost his job in Denver, though, due to shaky personnel moves. He fell out of favor in Washington when the soap-opera environment outweighed the on-field product.
Considering the strength and breadth of his résumé, it's understandable that he's been willing to wait for the ideal ownership situation to arise. On the flip side, it might take the right owner to entrust his personnel decisions to Shanahan.
