I had ranted about similar things earlier this year.

All of these things sting of truth.

Awesome post.
I just did a post from a business perspective that runs in with this post.
NEVER MIX FRIENDS AND BUSINESS…..its a recipe for disaster. See Broncos 2005-2008.
Shanny’s acumen for business, and Bowlen’s unerring faith in him are the major reasons for this vicous decline.
Bowlen saw the whole mess come to fruition this season, especially with the performance of SLowik, and Shanny’s loyalty to him in the face of massive eveidence of incompetence.
Recommended man and Happy New Year!

These are the sorts of things people need to consider before coming to hysterical, knee jerk reactions about Shanahan’s firing.

There’s no bigger fan of Shanahan than me but as a coach said to me yesterday (and I mentioned on another thread) “In the NFL you’re either hired or you’re fired but you’re never safe”

His meaning was that Shanahan clearly felt he was safe – and when you feel you can’t be removed from your job you often (even without necessarily meaning to) surround yourself with people who will comfort you rather than challenge you and when you think you’re being innovative or edgy you’re really just putting a fresh coat of paint on old ideas.

I think that although those of us who follow the Broncos are looking at this from the outside in and will never know everything, once the cracks in something become large enough it isn’t hard to get at least a glimpse at the interior.

This was a dysfunctional, stale organization that was surely trying to achieve but still groaning under its own weight.

It’s hard to swallow but change always is. The Broncos clearly needed change. Pat Bowlen deserves our credit and respect for making the hard decision when surely most of us expected business as usual.

Bowlen’s image had become one of an owner subservient to his coach and perhaps a little out of touch and I think this proves quite the opposite. For perhaps the reasons mentioned above and certainly others we may never know about, Pat Bowlen took the risk and pulled the trigger on what had to be one of the hardest decisions of his life.

It couldn’t have been easy but I think we all know it was necessary – this is a business after all – and he deserves our support.

Let’s give him a chance to succeed and turn things around. And look on the bright side; a lot of the pieces are already in place on the field. There’s a lot of work to be done but this isn’t a 1-15 or 4-12 team that’s three or four drafts away from being competitive.

There’s hope, and I’m saddened but excited for the future. GO Broncos!

Nice work Holden. This site continues to amaze me.

nepotism occurs so easily it’s hard to prevent it unless one is proactive to guard oneself from it.

I had no idea… thanks for the info and well written piece!

We all knew there was some, but I didn’t know there was that much nepotism going on. That really bothers me, so I’m glad that Bowlen is making a change and yes I agree that this needs to change too.

I have only been a member of MHR for the last eight months, but this is one of the finest posts I have read in my short time here. Thank you for the insight and the brilliant writing. Your points are appreciated and worthy of much respect. I’d recommend this post 1,000 times if I were able.

There’s nothing but great stuff always coming from MHR—excellent post. This is why I go to you guys (& ladies) before going anywhere else. Excellent perspective, informative writing, very smart members.

I hate to say it, but you’re turning me around on this Shanny thing. I love him for what he brought me, and I’d even endure a few more years of mediocre play, but Bowlen is a business man in an incredibly competitive field, and you can never settle—even when sympathy and adoration begin to cloud your pragmatic foundations.

I think it’s safe to say everyone will be energized by this move—players, coaches, staff, front office, media, and fans… including Shanahan.

This reminds me a little of the Christmas family party after the drinks start piling up. First there is a slight against an overweight aunt, who returns with a jab about infidelity, and before you know it is a family brawl.

\I whole heartedly agree that there needs to be some house cleaning within the organization.

Excellent post and rec’d.

I’d wondered about this for some time also. Dennison worked out and I had little faith he would. The Broncos, ie, Bowlen needs to establish the football identity he wants for his team (like Pittsburg) and hire people who can “git-R-done” in perpertuity.

are you new to the way the NFL works? If you think Denver is the only team in the NFL that does this you are sadly mistaken. You can say there are nepotism laws but that does not apply to the NFl, its a private organization. You may be correct that some of the former players never had coaching experience. But you also fail to understand that they may know more about coaching than you are willing to give them credit for. For example I went to a football camp as a kid and I was taught by Steve Watson, he was extemely knowledgeable and I learned a lot from him. So you do have good points but as your earlier nepo post I disagree with a lot of your insunations.

Interesting post. However, it seems to assume that every organization of every scale must be run as a corporate meritocracy. However, there are many smaller family businesses that compete very well. I’m sure there is an organizational size where a family business model doesn’t work, but I’m not sure an NFL team/coaching staff is so large that it cannot work. Clearly Shanahan liked the family model and had his own children involved. Kyle Shanahan had one of the highest rated offenses in the league, so something must have worked there. Rex Ryan coordinates the highest-ranked defense in the NFL, and he is a coach’s son.

Also, the fact that Denver has 5 former players does not imply that Denver hires former players at a higher rate than other teams, as Shanahan has coached here a long time. I’m too lazy to check Tenessee’s web site to see if Jeff Fisher has a similar ratio.

words have always come easy for me, but I’m still at a loss over this, and still feel sort of like my parents just got a divorce. Can’t bring myself to blame either one, and have alot of respect for both. Just want to get through this, and the anticipation is killing me. Used to think the wait untill the draft was the worst, now I know better.

Happy New Year to all!

Like most Coaching Staff members, they are there because the HC believes they are or should be the best he can get. In this case the Family Affairs are in place because of Shanahan. I truly believe this is part of the reasons that Bowlen let Shanny go. Mike had too much authority and hiring lesser qualified people than what he may have been able to hire, is certainly part of his demise. It wasn’t just Tutens, Slowiks, and Goodmans. Lets not forget about Bates Sr, and the mess he put the defense in. We are still recovering from “the experiment”. I believe the only reason Jim Bates was given the shot was because of Jeremy Bates. Shanny had to let Jim Bates go, but still wanted to retain him remember? Jim Declined, and Shanny promoted his assistant.

I have a rant ready about Jeremy Bates as well, but I’ll save it for another post. It doesnt bother me with ex players staying in the organization as developing coaches. Watson, Dennison, and Ryan have been around a long time, but how did Dennison end up as the OL Coach from Special Teams. Watson started as WR Coach then ST the Assistant HC. How about Ryan? Ryan was a Linebacker/ LB Coach, then moved over to coach in the offense. Bradford as Secondary Coach surprises me and always has. I have no Idea how good a Coach he is, but as a player he was terrible. Im not saying that a bad player can’t coach, but it is certainly another position coach that is part of that Family circle, and as bad as Denvers secondary is, I can rightfully question the Coaching Staff.

Tuten is another Shanny hire. His top assistant is Greg Saporta. Tuten and Saporta are long time College buddies and started as trainers in the college ranks. Here is a very fair question: “With all the onfield injuries this year to players, is Tutens conditioning program failing?” Obviously, the injuries have surmounted and we’re talking many basic injuries that may have been avoided providing being in better condition. I’m just asking the question and I think it’s fair.

As much as I hate to lose Shanny, I will not miss the supporting cast of Mr French, Jody, and Buffy or the rest of the Family Affair.

Dennison was a very smart LB for the Broncos in the 80’s – not big, not fast. He has some kind of advanced degree. He was hired by Shanahan to work on special teams, then when Alex Gibbs started to burn out, Dennison was made his assistant. When Gibbs left, Dennison took over as OL coach.
With his overall background, he should maybe be considered for the HC position.

and he knows this team/organization inside out. dark horse candidate? i would love to retain him at oc/line, but this would be quite a leap for him. not out of the question, though.

Denver Post is reporting that Dennison will be interviewed for HC next Tuesday. Dennison played LB for the Broncos from 82-90, and has been a coach with the Broncos since 95, first as special teams coach, then O line, and lately he’s been assistant OC or something. He has a master’s degree in engineering.

I always appreciate good facts, which this post highlighted by showing the history and composition of the staff. I don’t necessarily agree with the conclusions, as it is common for high risk enterprises to recruit and retain personnel that the upper management has a higher level of comfort with.

I suppose the counter to my argument above is that upper management has to be able to step out of their zone of comfort to make the organization grow. The constant search for the right balance is what makes being a football fan such an interesting hobby. Kind of like a steroids boosted version of the search for a yin and yang.