Horse Tracks - 1/12/09 - Josh McDaniels Edition

DENVER POST

Pat Bowlen must dread the process of hiring a head coach.  He kept Mike Shanahan around for 14 years, even though the last 10 had just one playoff win. For his next head coach, Bowlen hired someone half his own age, perhaps an indication that if all goes well, the Broncos' owner may have made the last big hire of his life.

Josh McDaniels is a young, updated, modernized, fresh-faced, new-millennium model of Mike Shanahan. That's what the Broncos believe, and he's who Pat Bowlen believes in.

After taking away Mike Shanahan's toy box in a huff, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen turned around and gave it to a kid.  At eight months and 20 days past his 32nd birthday, Josh McDaniels won't be the youngest head coach in NFL history. But he definitely cut to the front of the line in Denver, one of the best jobs in the league.

Football fans gave mixed reviews Sunday night after hearing the news that New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will be hired to replace former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. The Denver Post gathered opinions at the ESPN Zone on the 16th Street Mall as well as on denverpost.com.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

With a quarterback they hope to nurture to the championship tier and a franchise- shaping decision to be made, the Broncos agreed to terms with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to be their next head coach.

At age 32, Josh McDaniels won't be much older than some of the players he'll coach in Denver.  That doesn't seem to bother Broncos players, who, themselves are skewing Generation Y.

Two Broncos players said Sunday night they had been told Dom Capers would be the team's new defensive coach. Capers is a former Steelers defensive coordinator – the team had the league's No. 1 defense in 1992 during Capers' tenure – as well as former Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans head coach.

Not his fault, but Josh McDaniels follows in the footsteps of Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini. Between them, they've held four head coaching jobs since departing Belichick's lightless bunker. The first three haven't worked out that well, but Mangini, the next big thing just three years ago, now starts as fresh in Cleveland as McDaniels does in Denver.

OTHER

The Denver Broncos reached agreement with New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on Sunday night to make him their new head coach.  ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen first reported the hiring, which was confirmed by team spokesman Patrick Smyth.

McDaniels, New England's 32-year-old offensive coordinator, is considered one of the best young offensive minds working in the league today. Shanahan -- fired by Denver less than two weeks ago after 14 years -- is one of the best offensive minds the NFL has ever seen.

The Broncos think McDaniels is going to be a coaching star. But his lone role, at least for now, is to coach the team on the field. He will not have any power, such as having the final say in personnel decisions. That goes along with being a 32-year-old first-time head coach.

McDaniels’ most significant hire will be his defensive coordinator. And Denver’s new defensive coordinator is expected to be former 49ers head coach Mike Nolan, a Broncos source confirmed Sunday night.