As the 2008 NFL draws to a close, the Broncos have spent the last month planning for the 2009 campaign and beyond.
The shock and surprise of the team’s first head coaching change in 14 years has now settled into the reality that the Josh McDaniels era is underway at Dove Valley.
Ultimately, time will tell how successful Coach McDaniels is. This past week there were strong indications that he is off to a great start.
Broncos’ quarterback Jay Cutler told 850 KOA last week that he wasn’t exactly a happy camper when he heard the news of Coach Shanahan’s dismissal.
“I was mad, I was shocked, I was disappointed,” Cutler admitted. “Coming off my third year, we had a lot of success and I felt like we were going to take some steps back and start all over again. When it first happened, I wasn’t very happy about it.”
But after speaking with his new head coach several times, Cutler believes the Broncos hired the right guy.
“He impressed me from the start,” Cutler told 850 KOA. “(He’s) very sharp, you can tell he had a lot of energy. A month removed (from the change), after the fact, you can kind of understand why it was time for a change.”
Obviously I am no football coach and I didn’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. But I know the Broncos’ new coach had to get the quarterback is his corner.
Coach McDaniels is winning Cutler over and the quarterback believes the rest of the players will soon learn why he is so excited about his new head coach.
“I think the guys are going to be able to relate to him,” Cutler said. “I don’t think they’ll have any problems respecting him even though he is 32 because he has a presence about him and I haven’t even met him in person. This is just (from talking with him) over the phone. I have a good feel about him.”
Certainly none of this guarantees a spot in the playoffs next year but it is undoubtedly a good start.
Coach McDaniels has spent the last few weeks filling out his coaching staff. Most notably, former 49ers’ head coach Mike Nolan is the Broncos’ new defensive coordinator.
Nolan has often used the 3-4 scheme, one which many people have pointed out doesn’t fit the Broncos’ current personnel. Given the struggles the Broncos’ have had on defense the last few years, we would all be hard-pressed to think of a defensive scheme they could run that would produce a vastly improved result.
Furthermore, to think that Nolan can only coach a defense that runs a 3-4 seems short-sighted to me. The man has been coaching in the NFL since 1987. He knows defense, not just one defense.
Again, the credentials don’t guarantee a thing. But let’s at least give him a chance to unpack the moving boxes before we start telling him what defense to run.
Change can be unsettling. In this case, the sudden and dramatic nature of it turned the Broncos’ football operations partially upside down. That is difficult for all involved.
But that time is quickly becoming the past. Now Coach McDaniels is settling in and Cutler, for one, is embracing the change.
“I put down the phone (after their first conversation) and texted Casey (Wiegmann) and said, ‘You need to call this guy; he’s the real deal,’” Cutler shared. “When Josh was hired everyone (was thinking), ‘He’s 32 and he hasn’t had any head coaching experience.’ But it’s going to be fun.”
Coach Shanahan is a great football coach and will one day be in the NFL Hall of Fame. Before that, he will likely land a another really good head coaching position in the NFL. Moreover, his legacy will rightly be as one of the best coaches in Denver sports history. A big, big part of me wishes he were still the Broncos’ head coach.
I can also say that as the days go by, I find myself more excited about Coach McDaniels and his staff. I am looking forward to the off-season more than I have in a long time.
Now that the assistant coaches are on board, what are your thoughts about the new staff? I ask you keep your comments respectful; I enjoy reading your posts.
Thanks and I’ll catch up with you next week and share some thoughts about the Super Bowl.
Best,
Mike
Tags: Jay Cutler, Josh McDaniels, Mike Nolan
Yes I am back baby, Stupid Blog spam filter saying that I can’t post. But I am back now. Ok what I miss, Champ at safety, think he is a little undersized and is a bit late in his career for him to changing position. Though its Champ he can do just about everything, probably DL too.
I think Dre stays, hasn’t been hurt in years and is a starter. The team would be looking at fixing push rush and run stopping to help these guys.
Bronco#80, love the LB, few problems though. Doom won’t get the start until he has proven himself there but I hope so. And I like Larsen as a starter but I think the coaches would be looking for a more solid and talented player, someone with speed. That why I think they go Maulaga in the 1st and a NT in the 2nd. Also I think Raji will go alot higher than 12, had a great senior bowl and his stock might rise with a great combine.
Also read somewhere on NFL.com that the Broncos are one of a few teams have a good long look at Peppers. What a pickup that would be.
Ok monodono on your D, Happy with CB, your safeties are ok. I believe Barrett would get a shot. At FS not sold on James Butler, good solid player just doesn’t have that X factor. Jermaine Phillips good but getting up in years solid guy. But I like Sean Jones, big young guy played well on a crappy team, made pro bowl and takes ints. On LB you didn’t include Woodyard that kids a beast. And Haggan is big but can he play outside, not sure, but his size will help at that position. Like your DT and DE, I have to change what a said early about Berry he is a solid player but is an older guy 13th or so seasons. I like Peppers as a better pick up. Like your ideas on the two biggest guys we got I think they will figure into the rotation at NT this year but we will get a rookie like Taylor or Brace to help in that department.
WOW! No idea how I missed Woodyard I swear I typed Him in, should’ve re-read.
Peppers would be an awesome pick up!
I meant to give a back up at CB as well then I found out both Karl Paymah and Domonique Foxworth are UFA’s!
Rank Name Type Yr Ht/Wt College 2008 Team
CB 1 Nnamdi Asomugha UFA 6 6-2/210 California Oakland
CB 2 Dunta Robinson UFA 5 5-10/184 South Carolina Houston
CB 3 Jabari Greer UFA 5 5-11/175 Tennessee Buffalo
CB 4 Phillip Buchanon UFA 7 5-11/186 Miami (FL) Tampa Bay
CB 5 Domonique Foxworth UFA 4 5-10/180 Maryland Atlanta
CB 6 Kelvin Hayden UFA 4 6-0/195 Illinois Indianapolis
CB 7 Andre’ Goodman UFA 7 5-10/185 South Carolina Miami
CB 8 Adam Jones UFA 3 5-10/185 West Virginia Dallas
CB 9 Bryant McFadden UFA 4 6-0/190 Florida State Pittsburgh
CB 10 DeMarcus Faggins UFA 7 5-10/178 Kansas State Houston
CB 11 Ricky Manning Jr. UFA 6 5-9/193 UCLA St. Louis
CB 12 Ronald Bartell Jr. UFA 4 6-1/205 Central Michigan St. Louis
CB 13 Deltha O’Neal UFA 9 5-11/194 California New England
CB 14 Justin Miller UFA 4 5-10/201 Clemson Oakland
CB 15 Eric Green UFA 4 5-11/194 Virginia Tech Arizona
CB 16 Kevin Dockery RFA 3 5-8/188 Mississippi State NY Giants
CB 17 William James UFA 8 6-0/200 Western Illinois Jacksonville
CB 18 Daven Holly UFA 4 5-10/185 Cincinnati Cleveland
CB 19 Ralph Brown UFA 9 5-10/185 Nebraska Arizona
CB 20 Corey Ivy UFA 8 5-9/188 Oklahoma Baltimore
CB 21 Karl Paymah UFA 4 5-11/204 Washington State Denver
CB 22 Keiwan Ratliff UFA 5 5-11/188 Florida Indianapolis
CB 23 R.W. McQuarters UFA 11 5-10/195 Oklahoma State NY Giants
CB 24 Lewis Sanders UFA 9 6-1/200 Maryland New England
CB 25 Charles Gordon RFA 3 5-11/180 Kansas Minnesota
CB 26 Chris Carr UFA 4 5-10/180 Boise State Tennessee
CB 27 Reynaldo Hill UFA 4 5-11/180 Florida Tennessee
CB NR Ahmad Carroll UFA 5 5-10/190 Arkansas NY Jets
CB NR Stanley Wilson UFA 4 5-11/189 Stanford Detroit
CB NR Travis Daniels UFA 4 6-1/195 LSU Cleveland
CB NR Aaron Glenn UFA 15 5-9/183 Texas A&M New Orleans
CB NR Donald Strickland UFA 6 5-10/187 Colorado San Francisco
CB NR Scott Starks UFA 4 5-9/178 Wisconsin Jacksonville
CB NR Benny Sapp UFA 5 5-10/190 Northern Iowa Minnesota
CB NR Hank Poteat UFA 8 5-10/195 Pittsburgh NY Jets
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
Pittmans a FA so he may not be comin back so cant count on him to be FB buddy i noticed that too. we need to pick up lorenzo neal. and woodyards good but u know there not gunna start him right away hes gunna have to work his way to it i thin Haggan will be starting if they shift DJ back to MLB again. we have Cap room to bring a few big named people and if peppers isnt tagged i wouldnt be suprised to see us jump on it. Raji isnt gunna be good in the next level hes to slobbish. i wanna see us pick up free agents for our line and draft MLB’s if we go to the FA for LB’s i wanna see Suggs or Scott.
My line up for the D a little modified
LE – Crowder/ 2nd or 3rd round draft pick
NT – Tank Johnson/Robertson/ or 2nd or 3rd round Draft pick (not first)
RE – Peppers
LOLB – Jamie/Woodyard
MLB – Suggs/Scott and 1st round pick
ROLB – DJ
LCB – Champ
FS – Barrett
SS – 4th pick / FA
RCB – Trade Bly (to much of a cap hit to cut him) away and Pick up Nnamdi or leave Dre and work in a rookie occasionaly to give him rest.
Yo monodono did you just see the news on the broncos site, they released 5 players. Anthony Alridge, Alex Haynes, Chad Mustard, P.J. Pope and Cliff Russell. I thought Alridge and Mustard still had some value guess I was wrong. As for the CB look for a guy that could be a solid backup since we have Dre and Champ. Also don’t forget Jack Williams who we drafted last year.
Hey raiderhater78, like your lineup, think your idea to rest Dre and rotating in rookies is a good idea. I don’t think we will let him go because we won’t get much for him since he is old and hasn’t performed lately. I hope Dre bounces back in a big way this year.
I liked Pj Pope the most on that list Chad Mustard also has alot of upside as well, Alridge will be a good pickup for someone. I’m sure there is more to come. Good Luck men.
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
Hey, I was just about to say the same thing BroncoAussie about those 5 players. I kind of thought Pope had a little something to give to this team next season but forget that idea. Mustard I definitely thought had some value left… not totally surpised with the other releases, could’ve been worse!!!
And I too hope Dre can be stronger for us next season. He’s got talent, potential and he’s (in my opinion) good years behind him. He needs to come back stronger or he’ll no longer be with this team.
monodono – I left you a message on another blog, the 2nd half of the Pro Bowl blog but I’ll post here what I said. Sure you’ll find it humorous!! You said you wanted a job posting a blog… here’s my response:
haha, monodono – wanna make me your writing partner!!!??? You’ll gather all the information humanly possible which you’re VERY good at by the way and I’ll type these people a nice little novel!!! I would kill to have a job in this organization… of course what Bronco fan wouldn’t!!! Talk about a dream come true. Then you & I could give Coop a run for his money!! hahaha
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ‘09!!!!
Giving Coop a run for His money would’nt be that hard, He fishes more than He writes especially with you as a partner. …..don’t tell Him I said that.
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
monodono – that was hilarious!! LOL!!!!
And I promise I won’t tell but next time he puts up another blog we definitely should give him a hard time about how often he comes on here… or lack thereof!!
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
I’ve been meaning to ask this question and see if anyone knows what’s going on with this. Why haven’t we got a GM by now? Is Bowlen not wanting to hire one or what? Did I miss something? I know, I know alot of questions, probably very few answers but its been bugging me lately why I haven’t heard any talk of us even looking for one. If I had a say in this, Elway would be an awesome GM for us but I know he probably wouldn’t want to be doing mountains of paperwork… neither would I!!! But right about now I’d take any job in this organization… need a water girl? So there, lol!
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
bronco#80, your right about Karl Paymah is very good but Jack Williams has not proven He can make it in The NFL yet and at 5’9″ I have my doubts He ever will against the ever growing recievers of the League. Josh Bell and Rashod Moulton looked better.
With your starting D are you saying you would rather keep Larson at FB than LB? Personally I think He’s a better LB.
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
Hey Bronco#80 love your D, but who are you looking at to fill your FS and DE position that you should would be Draft picks or FA. I like Sean Jones and Julius Peppers.
As for Jack Williams I think he could be a great 3 CB you know your dime and nickel guy. As for Larsen he is definitely a better LB than FB but is he worth a starting position. I think he has great skills just not the speed thats needed for the speed. But he will definitely be on ST and rotate in with the other LBs.
I meant ‘speed for the position’, not thinking straight.
monodono – Im not able to watch most of the games being that i live in IL (all I can watch is Bears, Colts, Packers, Browns, and Vikings) so i take ur word on Jack Williams but in the Pre season he did amazing, again i wasnt able to watch the games so i dunno who he picked off, but i thought he was ok atleast good enough as a back up.
But i think that those releases were 100% exceptable Mustard wasnt bad but we dont need 4 TE’s on the Roster and I like Nate much more than chad,and obviously Scheff and Ghram. I was kinda lookin forward to what Aldridge was gunna do maybe be a returner cause i hate leavin Eddie in he’s to good at receiver to leave him back to return. Pope had a good game but Def. a practice Squad guy, and the other 2 i know nothin bout lol.
bronco#80 – i like ur D but y do u keep putting Marcus Thomas at DE he is WAY to fat and Slow, Robertson really not a great Idea eather but better than Thomas. i think we need to Pick up some ends in the draft and FA. Im not so Sure bout DJ at MLB either we tried that before his max potential is at Weak side LB. Id like to see Doom at LB but not sure itll happen atleast not rite away.
broncos#80 – you uh wanna run that by me again. Bowlen today just named Brian Xanders as our new GM and Jim & Jeff Goodman are gone. I just read the article 2 seconds ago. And just because Bowlen put McDaniels in charge doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have a GM… McDenver (my football stud gave him that name, I like it) is in charge of our team, namely the players, he can’t have that much authority being it his beginning year with this team.
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
I have to say I’m shocked at this move with Xanders who’s only been with The Broncos since May 5 08 and The Goodmans brought in players like Dumervil, Moss, Larson, Hillis, Royal, Clady ect… TOTALLY SHOCKING! ! !
More than the fireing of Mike Shanahan!
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS! ! !
While this is a pretty shocking move… to give a guy a GM position and he hasn’t even been with the team a full year, there is no way this is more shocking than Shanny getting let go. I fell out of my chair when I read what happened to Shanny, this just dust brushed off my shoulder. But it still is quite shocking Bowlen would pick a GM that hasn’t been here a year. Of course Mr. B has made some shocking moves this offseason, I won’t even go there but he has. He’s getting really good at boggling my mind lately… too good.
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
BroncoAussie, you might be on to something. Definitely sounds like Bowlen wants to save every penny he can. I mean it would make sense because if we end up getting some vet that wants some big money, like Peppers, something could get negotiated and yet it could be reasonable. I’m probably dreaming when I say we should seriously think about getting Peppers but if he could help re-establish our defense it could be worth every penny of what we would pay him. But it makes sense that Bowlen would be trying to save money for next season. I also thought the Goodmans were very good at their jobs… all I can say is Bowlen better know what he’s doing. He makes me nervous.
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
i just understand why ud move them from DT’s to DE’s they’re slow fat guys u need a big powerful guy like peppers. i mean i understand u need big guys in a 3-4 but dont move fat guys to DE’s Kenny Peterson and Robertson not so bad but Thomas no hes a big goolish man lol ment to block up holes in a 4-3 def not gunna fit in to our 3-4
Correction *just dont understand*
No worries bronco#80, I could’ve sworn I heard Bowlen say the same thing you did at some point… that he was going to give McD total control but forget that noise. I’m kinda glad he didn’t go that far so soon… I mean Shanny had to earn his right to have several titles outside head coach. It only makes sense that as a first year coach for this team that McDaniels focuses more on getting his staff put together and getting to know/work with the players. Giving him the rights to make a decision on who our GM should or should not be would be too much for his beginning year.
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
The More I read about Brian Xanders, the more I understand the move. He Has a bachelor’s degree in business managment and a master’s degree in business administration from FSU. He clearly will be good at the business and legal contract side of operation’s and hopefully don’t get into contract’s like the Niko Koutouvides contract. The Broncos cut a couple salaries with Jim and Jeff Goodman, as well as leave personnel choices to Coach McDaniels and Dave Bratten in the scouting dept. which still includes Tyler Goodman.
The Broncos surely will miss Jim Goodman and I wish Him good luck in the future (Please, Just don’t stay in The AFC West). Jeff, it’s time to get a job on your own.
On another note I’m glad Josh shaw is gone He was a trouble maker off the field. I hope Mathias Askew will keep it straight and stay He’s got a good upside and may turn out to be the Diamond we need (they are friends from collage). Matt McChesney look’s like a guy who could play Offense and Defense we shall see.
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
I do think that McDaniels had a lot to do with what has happened the last few days. think about it, why did pat wait so long to tell us? it was to see if they had a working relationship.
as for as the goodmans go i think they were shannys ‘yes men’. look at what they (from the G/M on down to the last or lowest preson) have done to the denver broncos….last on D in the NFL, one playoff win in forever, letting our good players go down the road and become great, cutting players too soon (miss you lynch), foxworth is starting, ect. ect. and did we not have some great DEs and DTs that we would die for now. and don’t tell me salary cap THAT WAS THEIR JOB
right….bowlen is saving for next year. 7 mill to who? don”t you think pat gets ribbed at the club? Oh, how many first year coaches made the playoffs? and by the way did you hear that a second year coach won the S/B? what was your record after ELWAY left. ya right, the man is trying to do the best for next year and beyond. sounds to me that bowlen has pulled his head out of the sand.
and yes i am a fan going on 40 years, we had the same thoughts some 14-15 years ago and before that bla bla bla
thanks for letting me get some of this off my chest
This isn’t your D is it? your missing some names.
go to the next post
By go to the next post, monodono means hit the “Trying To Get Back To The Top »” link on the top. Took me 3 days to figure that one out!