McDone in Denver

In a sudden, but not so unexpected move, the Denver Broncos have fired Head Coach, Josh McDaniels, who be replaced by Running Backs Coach, Eric Studesville. The move comes after Sunday's ugly loss to division-leading Kansas City, in which the Broncos only mustered a measly 247 yards of total offense. What surprised me more than the outcome of the game was the maturity showed by McDaniels and Chief's Coach, Todd Haley, who shook hands and hugged at midfield, just weeks after Haley refused a post-game handshake when he felt McDaniels had run up the score. It appears the Broncos were not as impressed by McDaniels' actions though, as he was let go with a month left in the season, and two years remaining on his contract.

It is common practice that when a team is struggling as mightily as the Broncos, the Head Coach and/or the Quarterback receive most of the blame, and are often the first to go. What bothers me about McDaniels' situation is he appears to simply be a victim of circumstance. He was given the reigns of a professional football team in his early thirties, which was not a dream roster. The Broncos shocked the world with a 6-0 start last season, but faded in the second half to miss the playoffs. Many expected Denver to build on their early success from last season, but the team's 3-9 record is a clear indication that won't be happening. While McDaniels should take the brunt of the mistakes he has made off the field (i.e. videotaping an opponent's walk-through practice, again), the Broncos struggles this season can be contributed to missing components, and a sub par roster. In the off-season the Broncos traded their best player, Brandon Marshall, to the Dolphins. The team then lost their new, best player, Linebacker Elvis Dumervil, to injury in training camp. With the injuries and player movement McDaniels was left with a roster of underachievers, head-cases, and a few quality players. Perhaps Denver's front office should have focused less on the coach, and more on the talent (or lack of talent) surrounding him.

I understand the knee-jerk reaction to try to start fresh with an interim coach, especially when Jason Garrett of the Cowboys, and Leslie Frazier of the Vikings have a combined 5-1 record as interim coaches this season. What separates Garrett and Frazier from interim coach, Eric Studesville, is Garrett was being groomed for the Head Coaching job before this season, and was the clear choice to take over when Wade Phillips was out of the picture. Frazier was also (in all likelihood) going to be a Head Coach next season, even if it was not in Minnesota. Garrett and Frazier were promoted to change the culture of their teams, but there seems little chance of that happening in Denver. Eric Studesville will coach the remaining four games on the Broncos schedule, but to be honest, there is virtually no chance of him keeping the job. So I don't particularly understand the need to fire a guy after twelve games (who, at 34, still has a lot of good years ahead of him), when your team's playoff hopes are gone, and you're not going to change the culture of your team until the off-season.

The one positive for Josh McDaniels is he gets off a sinking ship faster than expected, and has an extra month to explore positions with other teams. Based on the performances of almost every team in the West conferences this season (AFC and NFC), it appears there will be more than a few opportunities for a free agent coach in the near future.