The Denver Broncos have fired head coach Mike Shanahan after they lost their final three regular season games to miss out on the play-offs. Shanahan, who became head coach in 1995, was the second-longest tenured coach in the NFL, but his team's poor end to the year led to him being removed from his role. The Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said: "This is certainly a difficult decision, but one that I feel must be made and which will ultimately be in the best interests of all concerned. I appreciate the 21 years that Mike Shanahan has given to the organisation as an assistant and head coach, and the two Super Bowl wins in that time."
Shanahan led Denver to back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 1998 and 1999, but that success was not enough to save him as the Broncos became the first team in the NFL to surrender a three game division lead with three games remaining on the schedule. Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers have sacked Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator. "I felt it was best to go in a different direction," the head coach Mike Singletary said.
"This was not an easy decision to make because I appreciate Mike Martz and I enjoyed working with him." Singletary released Martz two days after being permanently installed as San Francisco's head coach. He was appointed on an interim basis in October in place of the sacked Mike Nolan and guided the team to five wins in their last nine games for an overall record of 7-9. * With Agencies