Mike Shanahan Talks Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, Robert Griffin III, More

Former Washington coach Mike Shanahan spoke with ESPN 980 in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday about his time coaching the team and several personnel decisions the team made during his time there.

And things got pretty juicy.    

He spoke about wanting to bring Peyton Manning aboard in 2012, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk:

He also spoke about the 2012 NFL draft:

It's fascinating to think just how different Washington's organization might look today had it either signed Manning or drafted Russell Wilson. In either scenario, it's hard to imagine Robert Griffin III would be the team's starting quarterback. Shanahan noted one of the issues he had with the former Baylor signal-caller, according to Michael Phillips of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Rana L. Cash of Sporting News provided further insight from Shanahan on RG3. Shanahan explained how Griffin would tell coaches what to do during his rookie season:

"

He actually mentioned what plays were acceptable and unacceptable, and when he started talking about what plays were acceptable and unacceptable, and that he wasn’t a rookie anymore and wanted to voice his opinion, the term unacceptable is used by Dan, the owner, quite often. So I had a little bit of a smile when I heard some of these complaints.

"

As Cash added, "Griffin was of course, a favorite of team owner Daniel Snyder, so when Griffin used the same terminology as the owner, Shanahan knew something was not right."

Shanahan also went even further into the past, discussing the decision-making process that led to the team trading for Donovan McNabb, per Tarik El-Bashir of CSN Washington:

Chris Russell of ESPN 980 adds:

Shanahan then pretty bluntly noted he wasn't happy with the deal, per Dan Steinberg of The Washington Post:

So there you have it, folks—Shanahan didn't want to bring McNabb on board but had his arm twisted. Or so he says in hindsight, at least.

It would appear that any rifts between Shanahan and owner Daniel Snyder may have had their roots already dug in fairly deep by the time RG3 joined the team.

Shanahan spent fours seasons as Washington's head coach, finishing 24-40 and leading the team to one playoff appearance in 2012, though even that campaign was marked by controversy after RG3 was allowed to play through an injury and was clearly far less than 100 percent.

Shanahan addressed that as well, per El-Bashir:

It's unclear why Shanahan decided to be so forthcoming about his tenure in Washington, though it certainly didn't paint Snyder in the best of lights. 

Either way, his comments certainly illuminated some interesting moments and conflicts from his four years coaching Washington, which is sure to stir some interesting debate.