People used to refer to Shanahan as some type of genius but, minus one HOF and arguable top 10 QB to ever play in the history of the league, and Shanahan teams have looked lost and listless and haven't accomplished anything.
On the other hand, Donovan McNabb, who several here are calling a failure, is a 6 time pro-bowler, made the Eagles relevant after a decade of mediocrity, went to the playoffs 7 times and has a winning record in the playoffs (look it up and take a look for yourself how many NFL teams have winning playoff records...you might be surprised). How many playoff games have the Eagles won since McNabb left? His level of "fail" exceeds about 85% of the players in the league.
So Elway made Shanahan and McNabb made Reid?
Didn't say that. Just pointing out that sometimes being an NFL coach is kind of like being a craftsman. Whether its stone, metal, wood, etc, the quality of your product sometimes is largely dependent on the quality of the stock you start with.I don't think its any great secret that an all-time top 10 franchise QB could go a LONG way in making those around him (players AND coaches) look better.
So, take away that one great player, after the fact, and go back to the original thought: Is this going to be a good fit? Is Shanahan going to set the player up and will it be successful? well, there remains a lot to be seen because unless RG III is an elite player, then Shanahan hasn't shown the ability to do that. And of course, if he turns out to be an all time great, i guess it doesn't matter; you or I could be the coach and look decent under that scenario, huh?
But I guess the real difference is we are talking about a situation where people talk as if Shanahan is down in his mad scientist lab mixing up stuff and he is going to use RG III as this catalyst that is going to be awesome. But has he ever really shown that he is a "molder of men"? That HE (the coach) is the difference-maker? No, not really. He has shown to be pretty good when he is handed the best materials, but that's about it.
A guy like Bill parcells, on the other hand, has made a career out of reviving down trodden franchises. He has shown that he can take whatever material, put it in a pot, and make it nice. Shanahan hasn't. And that is kind of the point McNabb is making. He is saying that shanahan hasn't shown an ability to do ALL the things (have flexibility, make things gel, etc).
So, to me, this is a situation where if you told me almost any QB was going to a Parcells team, or a coach like the Packers or ravens coach, I would be more inclined to think that those guys would know how to make it work best moreso than Shanahan.