The Mike Shanahan press conference

"I promise I won't disappoint you. I'm gonna give it everything I've got." Those are the words spoken by new Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan only moments into the press conference introducing him to the media and public.

When asked by Jason Reid about his assistant coaches, Shanahan offered to sit and discuss football with any assistant coach who is currently employed by the Redskins and wants to stick around, though he made no promises about retaining them. He said he would not be making many staff moves quickly, preferring to take his time in finding assistants.

Asked about Washington's starting quarterback, Shanny said "I just love the way Jason handles himself" and promised to sit down with Campbell and go over the way he played this season.

Shanahan said he and Redskins owner Dan Snyder talked frequently over the years, including this year when Shanahan was not working in the NFL. He did not mention the specific times he talked with Snyder and what was mentioned during those discussions.

GM Bruce Allen said he spoke with Shanahan Sunday night after Washington's final games this season, a loss in San Diego, and began discussions about Shanahan coming to the Redskins as head coach. If he spoke to Shanny about the top job before that, he didn't discuss it.

On the subject of Clinton Portis, Shanahan said the imporant thing for older players and running backs is how hard they work in the offseason and the conditioning they have. He said he loves Portis' "toughness" but he sounded fairly skeptical about Portis.

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