Many a comment in this blog in recent weeks has focused upon the status of assistant head coach Jim Bates.
Tuesday, his status was resolved with the announcement he would not return for the 2008 season.
In a statement, Bates said that he had the chance to remain with the Broncos but opted to stand down after just one season in Denver.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity and very saddened that things did not work out,” he said.
“I had the opportunity to stay. (Head Coach) Mike (Shanahan) has been very fair with me, and the final decision, for the Broncos and for me, was to step aside.”
Discuss below …
Tags: Jim Bates
and why is everyone want shanahan gone? he is the best coach in the nfl. its just bates that needed to leave, maybe the specail teams coach too. oh yeah the broncos need a SUPER FAST RETURNER. keep andre hall doing the kickoffs but need a different punt returner because Martinez is too slow to be a returner. i hope Selvin can have a another good season next year too. Can’t wait till 2008 SEASON. and GO BRONCOS!!!!
Shannahan is not the best coach in the nfl. That title belongs to Bill Belichick. 16-0. Come on!!!!!! what is this I hear about Slowick coming to be he DC. What the FU*#!!!! Man our special teams is absolutely miserable, and now we will have to endure another dismal defensive season. This is horrible. What the hell, there has to a better choice than Slowick for DC. This better just be a nasty rumor. I’m anxiously waiting next year. If We fans have to endure another F-UP’d season, Shannahan will have no choice but to retire. Please take your time and choose wisely. There is time left before you have to commit to another DC.
switching to the 3-4 does not make any sense. we have alot of young talented d-linemen, especially if we draft another DT, and only one real quality linebacker. With Moss back next year and hopefully someone like sedrick ellis we could have a very solid d-line with a new coordinator.
The reason to switch to a 3-4 is to beat Indy.
Thank God Bates is gone!
Someone forgot to tell him about the invention of the blitz. You know when you’ve got great man-to-man corners like Bailey & Bly, you can afford to blitz now and then.
Because of him, the Broncos got rid of solid run-stoppers like G. Warren and M. Myers and ended up playing a bunch of no names that composed the worst run defense I’ve seen in Denver.
For the 9th straight year, I’m begging Mike Shanahan: please sign a top flight pass rusher! Last year they decided the great Daniel Graham was worth more than Patrick Kerney who has been selected to another Pro Bowl.
That worked out well! The run game stunk, Scheffler is the receiving TE, and the Broncos mounted an amazing 30 sacks or so.
3-4 would be a great idea!
Not many teams run it and many teams don’t know how to handle it since they don’t face 3-4s often enough. You can always blitz at least one man, even if you are only rushing four.
Dumervil and/or Moss could be great pass rushers from the OLB spots. Plus they could use their speed more and not get overpowered by OTs who weight 100 lbs more than them.
It is incredibly hard to find great pass rushing DEs, and even harder to fit them under the cap. But if you look at a team like the Steelers, they plug in different guys at OLB every other year and get double digit sacks out of them. There are so many guys out there that are too small to play DE, but would be great at OLB.
Remember Derrick Thomas? He was as good as LT as a pass rusher at OLB, but when KC moved to the 4-3 and put him at DE, he got overpowered, people said he sucked and couldn’t stop the run, and his sack numbers went down.
Same thing happened when the Broncos switched to a 4-3 and moved Simon Fletcher to DE. The Broncos were always among the league leaders in sacks when they ran a 3-4.
FIRE THE SPECIAL TEAMS COACH!!
The Broncos had the worst special teams unit I’ve seen in 23 years of watching pro football.
I was afraid every time they kicked off that it would be returned for a TD. The punt coverage sucked. Kickoff returns were atrocious until the second half of the year. How many punts did they get blocked or almost blocked? Punt returns weren’t very good except Martinez’s TD, but all his fumbles made up for that.
Last time I looked, the Broncos had the worst starting field position in the league, which doesn’t help with a young QB and injury-riddled OL.
News Flash!
Al Wilson has been cleared to play for the 2008/09 season!
I say sign and crown him!
I’d still like to see D.J. keep developing into the great MLB that he’s becoming. Possible switch for Al to the outside (less action, less chance of re-injurying). Anyway either or at the mike position is solid.
Now sign the guy Shanny!
I too am surprised by the responses to this news. I thought it would be a good riddance mania. I was calling for his head by game 7 after the revoving door on defense and the gashing the defense was getting from opponents including the no name RBs. I never wished the guy ill will and I wish him the best, but I’m glad he’s not in Denver anymore.
Shannhan is fine. I’m sure after a losing season that he will not make the offense so predictable, even to us armchair QB’s. I have to remind myself that our QB is still young along with the O-line, RBs and WRs. He was keeping it simple for them(I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt).
I would love to see Al back in the line-up, even as a back up I think he would bring some fire and passion that was apparent wasn’t there this last year. I agree with Vinci, putting him on the outside. I think Gold has lost a step and he’s not big enough to lose a step. Speed was the reason he didn’t have to be bigger. Lauranitas will be long gone before Denver picks and I don’t think Rivers warrants a pick till later in the draft. Winborn played great of late and this doesn’t look so bad does it-
WLB- Al Wilson/Ian Gold
ILB- D.J. Williams/Nate Webster
SLB- Jamie Winborn/Warrick Holdman
Don’t forget these guys, FA’s- Lance Briggs/Jonthan Vilma
Still going to need help on D-line in a draft flooded with good ones! Also agree Denver needs an electric returner and possibly a veteran O-lineman. Safety FA’s include Deon Grant and Ken Hamlin, otherwise the only S in the draft that could make an immediate impact is Kenny Phillups who I think Denver would be silly if he falls to them and they don’t pick him, assuming they don’t pick up one of the 2 mentioned above.
Try and lure TN with Walker for Haynesworth. Vince needs a WR and Albert helps this team more than a self-centered WR. His best play this year was “doubtfull’!
Alen Fneca would be a good pick up.
Mason, what is the situation of the Broncos CAP room? Is Denver forced into rookies?
Mason, one last thing….do you know of any candidates for the D-coordinator that the Broncos are interested in?
ya broncoisexile. bly was a dissapointment
So i just read that Al Wilson has been cleared to play in 2008, http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3189580, We better be the first ones to call him, we really need his leadership back and he is one of top MLB in the league, This would also help us in the draft because we would not need to draft a LB
Well, so much for keeping continuity. Another season of “adjustments” and failed expectations in 2008.
“Kenny Phillups who I think Denver would be silly if he falls to them and they don’t pick him” - Keep in mind you are talking about the same management personnel that didn’t pick Ed Reed when he fell to them in 2002.
I surely think we need Al back on this team if nothing else for leadership but he belongs in the middle. I do not agree with moving him to the outside because we will go through yet another year with a LB playing out of position. We NEED DJ’s speed on the outside covering TEs and breaking up the screen pass that we never seem to be able to stop, and oh by the way, that San Diego uses at will.
I know we have the ability, and have shown it quite often, to drop big money on big time FAs and now it is time to turn that attention to the defense. Vilma, Briggs and Jason Taylor (yes I said his name again) would take this defense to an unimaginable level. Then focus the draft on adding Phillips (should Shanahan oblige this year) and a quality DT capable of plugging the middle. I doubt Tenn will let Albert go since the world now knows how different of a team they are when he is not on the field. I would let Vince go before I let him go if I was Fisher.
So to recap: and unfortunately I don’t control the money or make decisions but:
Defense:
DTs - Marcus T., Draft Pick
DEs - Elvis D., Jason T. (J. Moss and T. Crowder backups)
OLBs - DJ, Lance Briggs
MLB - Jon Vilma for speed and ability/Al Wilson for leadership (Not sure which is more important right now)
SS - Hamzah A.
FS - Kenny Phillips
CBs - Champ, Dre
Offense
QB - Cutler
WRs - Marshall, Walker (I think he needs to stay but not my call), Stokely, (draft pick - Danny Amendola)
TEs - Graham, Sheffler
RBs - Selvin, Andre (Henry gone)
GDs - Holland, Hamilton (Kuper backup)
LT - R. Harris (or draft pick)
RT - E. Pears (or draft pick)
C - C. Myers (Dont know if Nalen will be back)
I would Sh#$ if we got taylor and briggs. I would love to see wilson back as well. If we can get Briggs, that alone would significantly improve our D. Briggs is a bad ass and Taylor is the pass rusher we have wanted for years.
See ya Bates. The End.
Now the team must give the next step fast. Move on!!
We need Faneca.
Period, end of story.
Al Wilson…..???
I love him….but I’m not breaking the bank for him.
Sentiment only goes so far.
He is owed an apology, the rest he has to earn.
We need Faneca!!! FAneca FAneca FAneca
nailbok we didnt decide to choose Daniel over Patrick.. Patrick said he had a better shot at a superbowl in the NCF…get ur facts right………Simon Fletcher is a great great legend of this game and should get his due….if u put his sacks up there with Reggie white and Bruce smith during a long stretch there…they were all about equal…but Simon didnt even get any luv for a probowl…thats with over 4 seasons with 10 or more sacks…but denver allways lets are good passrushers go…for instance Bertrand Berry, all be it old..had a great year for us…and Reggie Hayward was a beast both over 10 sacks…but money is a factor
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