Oftentimes, the apples don't fall far from the tree.
That's certainly the case for Mike Shanahan's coaching tree. Outside of son Kyle, Shanahan's tree has borne some pretty good fruit over the years, including Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel.
While McDaniel's track-meet offense in Miami has its own flavor and design, its DNA still resides in the Mike Shanahan offense. That said, it should be no surprise that McDaniel spent a small bit of time coaching on Shanahan staffs through the early course of his career.
Today, the Shanahan system still reigns supreme in the NFL, even though its patriarch last served as a head coach in the league with Washington in 2013. Several NFL head coaches have spun off the Shanahan tree, while other branches are grown everyday.
MORE: The Mike Shanahan offense, explained
Here's who comes from the Shanny tree, and how they've worked out so far in the NFL (all records as of Oct. 19, 2023):
Mike Shanahan coaching tree
Kyle Shanahan
Head coaching record: 57-47 (6-3 playoff record)
Mike's son has had quite the successful run as 49ers head coach, even with a few rough records and a constant shuffling of the quarterback position since he walked in the building.
Arguably Shanahan's greatest ability is his propensity to get the most out of any QB that's under center (well, except Trey Lance): From Jimmy Garoppolo to Nick Mullens, San Francisco's offense has routinely gotten good to great quarterback play.
Interestingly, Shanahan had just a single winning season with the Niners (13-3) before 2021, but a lot of the overall record can be attributed to injuries and roster turnover. Now, San Francisco is once again the cream of the crop in the NFL, thanks to the emergence of Brock Purdy in Shanahan's offense.
MORE: Re-drafting Brock Purdy: Where Mr. Irrelevant should've gone in 2022 draft
Mike McDaniel
Head coaching record: 14-9 (0-1 playoff record)
McDaniel's career got started as a ball boy (and coaching intern) with the Broncos in 2005 under Mike Shanahan. Surely, he picked up something while he was there. With stops on Gary Kubiak's staff and alongside Mike and Kyle Shanahan through the years in Washington, Cleveland and San Francisco, McDaniel is well-versed in the Shanahan offense.
The Yale graduate certainly broke the mold for an NFL head coach: He's quirky, he's entertaining, but most importantly, he makes defenses look stupid.
McDaniel's "Go Fish" offense is currently rivaling the Rams' revolutionary "Greatest Show on Turf" offense thanks to the amalgamation of speed and skill and the stewardship of a rejuvenated Tua Tagovailoa. What McDaniel is doing with the Dolphins' offense is fun — a pretty good representation of who he is as a coach.
Matt LaFleur
Head coaching record: 49-22 (2-3 playoff record)
When the Packers hired LaFleur after just two seasons as an OC (with the Rams and Titans), some eyebrows were raised: Here was a 39-year-old first-time head coach given the keys to one of the NFL's most iconic franchises, with an all-time great, Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Some boneheaded coaching decisions aside, LaFleur's squad made it to back-to-back NFC championship games following identical 13-3 regular season records in 2020 and 2021. With the help of Nathaniel Hackett, LaFleur also got two MVP seasons from Aaron Rodgers before the QB was traded to the Jets.
LaFleur and Kyle Shanahan worked alongside each other every year but one between 2008 and 2016, so you could say they came up together. The next step for LaFleur is to figure out if Jordan Love is a franchise passer — by far his toughest test to date.
Gary Kubiak
Head coaching record: 82-75 (61-64 with Texans, 21-11 with Broncos, 5-2 playoff record)
Kubiak is arguably the most successful of any of Shanahan's disciples, and alongside his mentor, he helped to create the system that so many coaches in the NFL still use today.
As an OC, Kubiak helped guide the Broncos' offense during Denver's Super Bowl title seasons of 1997 and 1998, and stayed with the Broncos until he was hired as Texans head coach in 2006. Kubiak would stick with Houston until he was fired in 2013, resurfacing with the Ravens in 2014 as their OC.
His return to the "Mile High City" in 2015 was a success: The Broncos won Super Bowl 50, albeit with an all-time defense and not their offense, which was led by a broken-down Peyton Manning. Still, Kubiak deserves credit for being one of the most successful coaches to spin out from the Shanahan line.
Sean McVay
Head coaching record: 63-41 (7-3 playoff record)
Every NFL team wants to find the "next McVay" — but maybe they should be looking for the next piece to fall from the Shanahan tree, instead.
While there's something of shared custody of McVay considering the Rams coach got his career started with the Buccaneers and Jon Gruden in 2008, the wunderkind also served under Shanahan with Washington before Jay Gruden promoted him to OC in 2014.
Combining Gruden and Shanahan's minds makes for a very appealing head coaching prospect, and so far, it has worked out just fine for L.A.: McVay's Rams have been to two Super Bowls, winning one with Matthew Stafford, and have been perennial playoff contenders since his arrival in 2017.
Others
— Former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn got his start with Mike Shanahan in 2000, operating as a Broncos special teams assistant. He also played under Shanahan for three seasons.
— Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski spent time alongside Kubiak with the Vikings in 2019.
— Falcons head coach Arthur Smith replaced Matt LaFleur as Titans offensive coordinator and used the same principles left behind by the Shanahan understudy.
— Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, brother of Matt, was part of San Francisco's coaching staff under Kyle Shanahan. LaFleur spent two seasons with the Jets before he was let go, but landed on his feet in L.A.
— Current Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, son of longtime NFL defensive coordinator and assistant Bob Slowik (who spent eight seasons with Mike Shanahan), made his way up the ranks from defensive assistant to OC. Slowik operated on Kyle Shanahan's staff from his arrival in 2017.