FanPost

Changing horses in mid stream

The conversation concerning the potential fate of Josh McDaniels has a tendency to get a little heated. The biggest argument I hear from the ‘keep McD’ crowd is that it takes three years to rebuild a team, and that dumping him now would mean we start that three year cycle all over again. Frankly, that is a very poor argument.

The argument assumes several things. First it assumes there is a magic 3 year building period. I don’t really buy into that. I seen many teams go from worst to first in one year. I seen others that are bottom dwellers no matter what they try. If there is a magical three year rebuilding period then we still have three years left. Our defense is terrible! It was bad enough when Shannahan was fired. Nearing two years into the McDaniels era it is now even worse. The entire defensive side of the team needs to be completely rebuilt and restocked.

The argument also assumes that a coaching change automatically comes with a complete rebuilding process. Mike Shannahan turned the Bronco’s around in the second season and had a SB win in his third. Tony Dungy’s departure from Indy did not result in a rebuilding process, neither did the departure of Bill Cower.

The argument assumes that the incoming coach will not be able to work with the players handed to him by the outgoing coach. Some of the players don’t deserve to be retained. Some will retire. Some will simply move on to greener pasture. Most of the players will adapt to the changes in the offensive philosophy - there currently is no defensive philosophy so adapting to one may be more problematic. The free agent market has shown that most players can move from team to team and still perform at there previous level. Offensively, the Broncos are rich in Quarterback and receivers that will continue to be the core of any passing offense of any incoming coach. We are thin at running back and the O line, but out starters are highly talented and useable in almost any offensive scheme. I believe it is rather unusual for a new coach to get deeply embroiled in personality disputes with the players - we would not lose talent simply due to the change in coaching as we did with McD.

Finally the argument assumes that we will somehow be magically better next year. This is where we must disagree. Other than the fact that we will have a top five draft choice, I see nothing to indicate that we will get anything other than what we have been receiving. Doom will return, but we were 2-8 in his last 10 games so he will not change the direction of the team single handedly. Free agents of any quality will likely steer clear of Denver unless the money is too good to refuse. The culture in Denver has gone from one of the best in the league to being one of losing and controversy. Losing a coach like Nolan hints that there may be problems attracting the best assistants. Everyone in the NFL has a huge ego, none of those egos would look forward to being called into the owner’s office to be dressed down by a young punk head coach.

What is the basis of believing one more year will make a difference? Where has there been even marginal improvement since shanny’s last day? Remember back to ‘08, Shanny’s final game was to determine the AFC West Champion ... he lost. Today it would take a major miracle to even put us in contention. We went from first (almost) to worst in two years. The direction of the franchise is decidedly down hill - no matter how much kool-aide you drink.

I certainly don’t want Pat Bowlen to take a page from the Al Davis play book and fire the head coach at the first sign of trouble. Riding a dead horse don’t get you anywhere either. The Negatives of sticking with McDaniels are pretty obvious, any positives that may be seen are highly speculative and largely based on unfounded assumptions. My advice to Pat Bowlen ... find a defensive minded head coach that will bring in an aggressive pass oriented offensive coordinator that can utilize the assets this team already has. Preserver, as best we can, the positives that McD has assembled while giving the much need support to the side of the ball that has been neglected for the past 5+ years.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.