Washington (AP) — Mike Shanahan, who guided Denver to two Super Bowl titles, said Wednesday he is "excited and honoured" to take over the head coaching job of the Washington Redskins.

The team introduced Shanahan as head coach and executive vice president on Wednesday, two days after sacking coach Jim Zorn.

Shanahan inked a five-year deal worth some seven million dollars per year, and which also gives him final approval on personnel decisions.

His arrival is part of the shakeup following Washington's worst NFL season since 1994.

Three weeks ago, owner Dan Snyder hired Bruce Allen as general manager, and it was Allen, not the usualy hands-on Snyder, who introduced Shanahan on Wednesday.

The arrival of Shanahan and Allen give Washington strong leadership, something they appeared to in desperate need of during the recently concluded season.

"We needed a guy like Mike Shanahan," cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "We needed a proven leader, a proven winner. He's definitely going to get these guys motivated and get the most out of all of them."

Shanahan won the Super Bowl twice in 14 seasons with the Broncos.

But he was sacked a year ago after Denver's third straight campaign without making the playoffs.

He made the playoffs in half of his seasons in Denver, and had only two losing seasons - 6-10 in 1999 and 7-9 in 2007.

The Broncos won two straight Super Bowls, after the 1997 and 1998 seasons, with quarterback John Elway.

Defensive player Andre Carter sounded pleased to have the coaching position filled so quickly.

"You always wonder what's going to be happen. You don't want to be on pins and needles," Carter said. "When we had the team meeting with Bruce Allen, he told us something would happen hastily. He wasn't joking when he said that."