Bowlen has been particularly vague, but I think this is for a reason, and it leads me to believe he is after Cowher.
Here’s what we know:
1/ Cowher is a motivational coach that brings passion, nastiness and attitude to a team. He is renowned as a developer of players AND coaches, and surrounds himself by first rate coaches in all phases of the play. He was a ST Co-ordinator as well, so he values the importance of ST. He brings to the table evrything Denver desperately needs.
2/ As soon as the Denver job became avaiilable, he dropped out of the Jets job.
3/ He has gushed about the Denver team, in particular the O and Jay Cutler. He pulled out of the Jets job because he did not want Favre as his QB.
4/ The fact Bowlen is going after a HC first, lemds credence that the HC will have say in who the GM is. Bowlen confirmed no decision has been made on GM. Cowher does NOT want to be GM, but wants to make sure it is a GM he can work with.
5/ Cowher will build a first rate staff, and Denver would be one of the hot spots for any FA help we need with a Bill Cowher led staff.

I am with you HT, we need Bill Cowher. He is a great delegater, a fine developer of football coaches (which would be great for Bates) amd he has the nouse to set up a system that will build Denver as a contender straight away.

Denver will be very attractive to the D players we need, and with Cowher at the helm, we will be ablr to turn this thing around.

Who would Bill want at GM? I have suggested Marty as him and Bill have a close relationship, and that is an idea Marty suggested would be attrctive to him.

I hope we get Cowher…its what Denver needs, and as Bowlen said, he wants a coach with 10’s across the board…the only one out there like that is Cowher, and Bowlen even said he is prepared to pay for it.

Let the Bill Cowher era begin in Denver….sooner rather than later.

It is the best scenario for our team moving forward!

Would Dungy come to Denver if he leaves Indy?

But I just heard on NFL network Cowher said he wasn’t coaching at all in 2009. I hope it’s not true.

Thanks Shanny for all you have done. I have been a fan since the beinning of the Dan Reeves era, and I can say as one fan that the Shanahan era was very special, something we may never see again and something many other teams have never seen. I wish Mike Shanahan the best in all his future endeavors; hopefully he coaches somewhere in the NFC.

These guys have already had full careers, mostly with one team. Dungy’s leaning towards retirement and Cowher ’s already there. Even if one of them does want to sign with the Broncos, how long is he going to stay?

It would be nice if they wind up finding the next Mike Tomlin. Some one who will adapt to the offense and strengthen the D. Tomlin was a 4-3 cover 2 and knew he had a strong 3-4 so he adapted to it. If they found a young 4-3 Defensive Co. that would leave the offensive scheme mostly intact. I believe they have some young talent on D, they just need better coaching and a solid scheme. Look at Justin Tuck he nearly was traded for old Al Wilson, the Giants at the time of the trade didn’t see him as a star, yet with good coaching they are glad Al failed his physical.

we have got to get a head coach with a defensive background, or all of this makes no sense. there are several out there that are good, including spags. i don’t know if he will make a good hc, but he will be a hc, somewhere. johnson, ryan, and others may get a look. if we get an excellent dc and a good gm with an eye for defensive talent, then that may work, too.

this is going to be a restructuring of the front office, to say the least, but if shanny refused to do anything on the defensive side of the ball at dc, or at least reduce his role as gm, then i support bowlen in this move. shanny, i love you, but you needed help on the defense, and never got a real dc and talented players to play there for a number of years. very tough call, but i believe a necessary one. even at the press conference he was talking about “we” regarding the future of this team, and his legacy will never be forgotten. now, let’s draft/acquire some bigger, tougher players, and finish the job that he started. all ready?

Some interesting points there HT.

I’m assuming that the coaches will have to undergo some sort of interview and I’d be very worried if a coach comes into the interview and says that they want to overhaul the offense and abandon the zone blocking AND then gets the job. At least in the short term.

What I’d expect is have the new coach to come in is explain how he’s going to completely rebuild the defense in one offseason to make them at least respectable – I’d be interested to hear what players he’d keep, what sort of players he’d like to sign and what he’d do to get the best out of them. Sure he can have his ideas on how to fine tune the offense but if I was writing the interview questions (and I think I may have just got an idea for my first fan post!) they’d all be defense and special teams based.

As for the way the players will react – if I was running this search (and Mr Bowlen, I could spare a few weeks if you’re interested), then I’d certainly talk to Champ and Jay about the new coach. I’m not saying I’d let them pick the coach but they’re the closest the Broncos have to Franchise players so why not keep them in the loop – if nothing else it will help the transition.

As for who I’d pick – not sure I’d pick Cowher or Dungy. I’d much rather find the next Bill Cowher rather than have the current one.

Another good point:

“New Era
It would be nice if they wind up finding the next Mike Tomlin. Some one who will adapt to the offense and strengthen the D. Tomlin was a 4-3 cover 2 and knew he had a strong 3-4 so he adapted to it.”

While the interviewing of Morris does fulfill the requirements of the Rooney Rule, he would appear (Thank you TedB) from what I can find and read to be exactly what Markus was asking for, at least potentially. I’d be excited – I don’t credit ‘league sources’, especially since 1 may just parrot what the next one said, but whether the Slowik debacle was a reason for firing Shanahan or not, we’re in desperate need of a scheme and an identitiy.

The defense needs an overhaul and we as Broncos fans are used to seeing something different every year. The offense however has been a staple of Denver Bronco football for over a decade. Thanks for shedding some light as to what to look for in the future.

As for who we get. I agree with Spock, way up there, about not wanting Cowher or Dungy. I hope that Bowlen brings in a young coach that keeps some sembalence of what Mike built and coaches successfully in Denver for another 15 years. I just don’t see these experienced coaches giving nothing more than a couple years trying to cement a place in Canton. I don’t want to be used like that, sorry.

The last few years have been frustrating for me because I am a fan of running the football. I want to to dominate on the ground. The defense is going to stink for a little bit but we are only one player away on offense from being unstoppable. Thanks again HT, nice write up.

I seriously hope that the new HC keeps the zone block system too.

I saw it in his eyes in the press conference (BTW, who the heck has a pc with the coach that was just fired, it speaks volumes about both Bowlen and Shanahan), Mike Shanahan wants to coach, and probably this year. I have been saying everywhere that he ends up at the Jets, I hope he gets to torment the Pats 2x a year! I’ll be rooting for him to do well as long as he’s not coaching in KC or SD.

Onto the Broncos situation. In order, these are the guys I want:

1. Cowher – You rarely see a Cowher coached team get blown out, not ready to play, etc. He can motivate. He may not be the x’s & o’s guy that Shanahan is, but you know what you are getting. There is a lot less risk in bringing him in.

2. Spagnuolo (DC – Giants) – We all know the story of the Giants D the last 2 years, he has them playing even better this year minus Strahan and Osi Notgonnaspellhislastname.

3. Schwartz (DC – Titans) – The Titans defense during his tenure as DC (2001 to present) has been nothing short of spectacular. Jeff Fisher would be on this list if he was up for grabs, but we’ll have to settle for the architect of his defense.

Please go to college and be the next Jo Pa

a few things that I don’t think have been brought up.

1. the last two times Bowlin hired a head coach he did not go with an experienced head coach, even a Super Bowl coach, though they were available. Bowlin took a chance first on Wade Phillips (DC), then on Shanahan (OC). I’ve see no reason for him to change this approach.

2. Bowlin has made it clear that he wants to return to the elite levels in the NFL, and soon. Anyone he hires is probably going to have to have a plan to get there soon. Revamping the offense when so much obviously is needed with the defense, is probable not the path to a quick return. Hence, I suspect that however is hired is going to have to work with the offense we have now.

3. When Bowlin brought in Shanny there was a sense of urgency to win the big one before Elway retired. I suspect there will be similar pressure to get it done while Jay is in his prime and not just eventually. Further reason why sudden changes to the offense are not likely.

I think the new head coach will be an up-and-comer who can quickly restore legitimacy to the defense while also allowing the offense to flourish.

Coach Shanahan said that two of the toughest coaches he faced were Jeff Fischer and Bill Cower. It would be nice to get a coach that Mike had problems with as an opponent.

I totally agree that Cowher is the only canidate that will bring the credibility that the vets aren’t going to question him, that can win over theteam immediately. If Parcells comes (and I hope not because I doubt he would stick it out more than three years), I see him gutting the team when I think we need to be selective. I think Cowher has the utmost respect for what Shanahan has built on the offensive side and would look only to improve it in way of effeciency and ball control (which I think would of been a focus of Shanahan this year if he had been retained). So I would see Cowher keeping guys like Bates, Dennison, and Turner to run the O side and focus his attention on defense and ST until those units are up to snuff. I really think this team needs a guy like Cowher that can inspire and get them focused. With an unproven guy, I think you run the risk of having a mutiny if things don’t start out great.

and at least see what’s there, however I think he may go somewhere else on the fact that Cowher will be expensive. Believe me I would love to have Cowher be our HC. I will be interested to hear what names pop up in the next few weeks or however long it takes. It does need to be soon because the draft will be here before you know it. Whoever it is, I hope he has a defensive mind or at least brings in a solid DC.

It is just a waiting game right now.

I don’t think Cowher makes that much sense to me. As an established HC, he will want to come in and install his own offensive coaches. I would not expect him to come to town and keep Bates, Turner or Dennison.

I believe Spagnuolo is the best fit. I don’t like the coaches out there with moderate experience as an NFL HC, so the next level would be coordinators with experience in winning programs. Here in New York, the Giants were a decent team with maddening inconsistencies and a head coach under fire until 2007. Eli Manning was already considered something of a bust, and Tom Coughlin was as close as one can get to getting fired after the 2006 season as one can be. Personally, I was stunned that he kept his job (and got an extension, to boot). There are several factors that contributed to their Super Bowl run last year, including the retirement of Tiki Barber, the injury of Jeremy Shockey, the emergence of Eli Manning as a leader and the hiring of Steve Spagnuolo as the DC. The Giants’ defense went from 25th in the NFL to 7th and we all saw the results. Spagnuolo brings an attacking style to the defense, which we all crave.

Spags has been a part of winning organizations for a long time, and I think he would command plenty of respect in Denver. HT makes (as usual) a great point about the new HC garnering respect from the veterans, with the young players to follow. However, while I agree that is important, I am not worried about this. The veteran leaders on this squad (Bailey, Ekuban, Wiegmann, Graham) strike me as respectful and hard-working men. I would not expect them to be rebellious in any manner. The young stars (Cutler, Marshall, Royal, Clady) also seem to be quality guys as well. Obviously, I could be wrong on these assumptions. But this team doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of troublemakers anymore. Perhaps it doesn’t have the appropriate number of PLAYmakers (on defense), but I think the number of troublemakers is just fine!