Mike Shanahan: Jeremy Bates was ahead of his time

Mike Shanahan was a two-time Super Bowl winning coach with the Denver Broncos. Near the end of his career in Denver, Shanahan employed Jeremy Bates, the likely next offensive coordinator with the Jets, eventually turning over play calling duties to Bates.

In an interview with Manish Mehta, Shanahan discussed what made Bates stand out.

“Jeremy was a guy that was ahead of his time,” Shanahan told the Daily News on Monday. “He’s an extremely bright guy. That’s one of the reasons why he called plays. I knew he could handle it. When you’re around coaches, you know who has the ability to call plays and who doesn’t. And it doesn’t take you long to figure it out… especially when you’ve called plays your whole life. Which people understand defenses? Which people understand the running game? Which people understand how the running game and play action are put together? Which people understand third downs?”

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Shanahan, of course, does have a relationship with Bates. You typically hear mentors speak well of their proteges. There clearly were attributes that made Shanahan trust Bates, though.