You really thought Mike Shanahan would be on the Broncos sideline for as long as he wanted to be. In Denver, he was called "coach for life".   In discussions about coaching changes, Shanahan was virtually bulletproof, despite his team's collapse this year and not having made the playoffs the last three seasons.  In a "what have you done for me lately" world, Shanahan was judged by the body of his work, not his immediate past.  What happened to cause the Broncos to search for a new coach for the first time in fourteen years?

Control. 

The Broncos owner wanted his VP/GM/Coach to fire his defensive coordinator.  His VP/GM/Coach said no.  At that point, the owner, Pat Bowlen, looked at the record, the recent failures and the total control he had given his coach and said "enough" and kicked Shanahan to the curb.  Nobody, most likely including Shanahan, saw it coming.

Giving a coach absolute control over your entire operation is a mistake no matter if it is the NFL, NHL or NBA.  The last guy to do it in baseball was Connie Mack and he didn't see a world series after 1929.  It just doesn't work for anyone not named Greg Popovich.

Mike Holmgren left Green bay for Seattle where he was handed the keys to the entire organization.  Despite one Super Bowl appearance, Holmgren was eventually stripped of his upper management duties after the Seahawks just couldn't get it done.  Coaches should be focused on coaching and not on managing.  Just worry about running practice and the product on the field, these other guys will watch the waiver wire, deal with agents and worry about the zillion other things the GM has to worry about. 

Remember when the Bears gave Dave Wannstedt almost total control of the operation.  Yeah, that worked out.  Like Stevie Wonder flying an F-16. 

The bottom line here is that coaches need someone strong to tell them no.  No, this player won't fit.  No, this guy has too much downside.  No, getting this guy makes no sense. No, this guy will ruin our cap number.  GM's all know talent and go out and get it.  Then their coaches, totally focused on coaching, go out and coach 'em up.  Sure, there are GMs who suck too and wind up screwing the coach (you know who you are, Phil Savage and Matt Millen  ) but in many cases it is a positive partnership linking coaches and GMs at the hip (right Lovie and Jerry?)

The problem is when the coaches salary hits a glass ceiling and he threatens to move on unless he is given control because he's got a winning record and he's the smartest guy in the room, much smarter than the GM providing him with players.  Few organizations benefit from this.  Even when Floyd Reese was forced out by the Tennessee Titans, losing a power struggle with coach Jeff Fisher, the Titans were smart enough to hire Mike Reinfeldt as GM to buffer Fisher.  Fisher has a lot of power with Tennessee, but he doesn't have the absolute power Shanahan had and Holmgren once had. This is a good thing.

Mike Shanahan is a terrific football coach.  When he's focused on coaching, he's one of the best in the game.  When he has the final say on everything, not so much.  Someone will hire him to run their team next year and hopefully, for Shanahan's sake, get him focused solely on coaching.