CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois is once again the “Cradle of NFL Coaches” as former Eastern Illinois assistant coach and alumnus Mike Shanahan was named the 28th head coach of the Washington Redskins on Wednesday afternoon. Shanahan has a 154 career wins which ranks second among active NFL coaches behind New England's Bill Belichick. Shanahan returned to the NFL signing a five-year contract with the Redskins after sitting out last season following a long tenure with the Denver Broncos in which he won two Super Bowls.

Shanahan's hiring gives Eastern Illinois three current NFL head coaches as university alumni. He joins Sean Payton of New Orleans and Brad Childress of Minnesota From 2006-08 EIU joined San Diego State and Southern Cal as the only three schools to have three alumni serving as head coaches in the NFL. Now with the hiring of Shanahan to the Redskins, EIU is the only school with three alumni currently serving in the NFL in that capacity.

Mike Shanahan News Conference via NFL.com
Mike Shanahan Story via ESPN.com 
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