After a flurry of rumors yesterday about former Broncos head coach Mike Shanan becoming the Kansas City Chiefs next head coach, the dust has settled. Yesterday we had two major media outlets, ESPN and the NFL, publicly disagreeing about the potential for a Shanahan/Chiefs relationship.
Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com initially said a deal between Shanahan and the Chiefs was nearing completion.
Adam Schefter almost immediately brought the hammer down on Mortensen's report and unequivocally said that the Chiefs and Shanahan have had no contact with each other.
Of course Mortensen, whose credibility is far from perfect, changed his story to now say that the Chiefs were "targeting" Mike Shanahan as a head coach, instead of the much stronger language he used earlier to indicate a deal was near. In fact, the updated article now contains almost the opposite of what was originally reported but the titled has remained the same:
The Chiefs have discussed Shanahan as a replacement for Edwards, but a Chiefs official said Friday night that although he wouldn't rule it out, he does not believe Shanahan will be the team's next coach.
Earlier Friday, a league source said the Chiefs were nearing a deal with Shanahan, but that source and other league sources later said the Chiefs had not negotiated with Shanahan.
It's very surprising to see such a large sports media outlet as ESPN be so careless with their information. This is a pattern with Mortensen (See this FanPost from UC) and you can be sure we won't use him as a source ever again.
Now you can add SI.com's Peter King, a source I trust almost 100%, to those that say Shanahan will not come to Kansas City.
Deposed Denver coach Mike Shanahan will "definitely'' not coach the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009 -- nor will he take a coaching job anywhere prior to the 2009 season, an NFL source close to Shanahan said late Friday night. The source said Shanahan was adamant that he was not coaching the Chiefs.
This confirms the NFL Network report by Adam Schefter from Friday evening that Shanahan would not take the Kansas City job, which was a response to an ESPN report that Shanahan and the Chiefs were in talks that could have had him replacing Herman Edwards, who was fired by new general manager Scott Pioli Friday.
King goes on to say that Mike Shanahan has more than a few good reasons not to coach in 2009.
But there wasn't a compelling reason for Shanahan to take the Kansas City job. This is a good year for Shanahan to kick back. He's getting paid $7 million from Denver owner Pat Bowlen to not coach. His daughter is getting married this summer. He needs time to re-assemble a coaching staff.
Again, a flurry of rumors. Again, silence as they all fall apart. We're back to where we started really, because I think most of us figured Herm was gone and had been seeing the team through that lens for some time now.
More waiting...