New Broncos coach's young looks deceiving

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 12, 2009 at 11:44 p.m.

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Photo by Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky

Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen introduces Josh McDaniels as the new head coach for the Denver Broncos.

For the second time in two weeks, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen stepped to a podium to announce a change of direction for his organization. And this time, he said:

"I'm ecstatic, I'm excited and I'm ready to introduce the new head coach of the Denver Broncos. "

And with that, the Josh McDaniels tenure formally began Monday. McDaniels was introduced as the team's 12th coach, a 32-year-old, three-time Super Bowl winner as a New England Patriots assistant who now is the youngest head coach in the NFL.

"Well, he certainly knows what it takes to win a Super Bowl," Bowlen said. "That's why I'm here. Otherwise, I'd be surfing in Hawaii."

McDaniels arrived at the team's Dove Valley complex Monday afternoon, and though he had yet to actually sit at his new desk, he said the evaluation of the team he was hired to lift off the deck would begin "right now."

In the end, seven candidates were interviewed for the job McDaniels has, and Bowlen said it was McDaniels' "horsepower," that pushed him to the front of the line. He was the only candidate who was interviewed twice - both times in Providence, R.I. - by team officials.

Asked if he had any concern about McDaniels' age, Bowlen said: "He's 32 years old, he's obviously the youngest coach, but that doesn't scare me one bit. He's aggressive. He wants to have this job."

"My age has never been a factor, never going to be a factor," McDaniels said. "It is about what you're capable of getting the players to do, about the information you can give them, about doing your job to the best of your ability."

McDaniels, who has agreed to a four-year contract, takes over for the franchise's winningest coach and two-time Super Bowl winner, Mike Shanahan.

But he also inherits a team that missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons and has only one playoff win since it closed the 1998 season with its second Super Bowl win.

"Josh McDaniels is one of the finest people and brightest, most talented coaches I have ever worked with," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in a statement Monday. "He is the product of a pure football environment, which is evident in his approach to the game."

Bowlen called him simply "a football guy, a football coach." And it was McDaniels' background as the offensive coordinator behind the Patriots' record-setting offense, as a defensive assistant for one of the team's Super Bowl winners and his time in the team's personnel department that was important to the Broncos.

Seeking veteran aides

The Broncos find themselves trying to maintain the vocational growth of quarterback Jay Cutler, who set a single-season passing-yardage mark this season en route to his first Pro Bowl trip, while also repairing a defense that finished 29th overall this season and near the bottom of the NFL's rankings in virtually every major category.

To that end, McDaniels is expected to pursue veteran assistants as well as some up-and-comers for the Broncos' new coaching staff.

Mike Nolan, with whom McDaniels already has spoken about joining the team, is expected to be appointed defensive coordinator in the coming days.

Dom Capers, a former Texans and Panthers coach who has a year left on his contract as the Patriots' special assistant/secondary, also is expected to discuss a position on the Broncos' staff once they formally seek permission to speak with him.

The Patriots conceivably could block the move if Belichick wishes, but Bowlen said McDaniels had presented a plan for the team's defense that included hiring some "veteran hands" to coach the unit.

Though Nolan and Capers long have coached a 3-4 look, they have experience in multiple defensive schemes.

And McDaniels said no decision would be made on a defensive scheme for the Broncos until the coaching staff was in place and it could evaluate the team's personnel together.

"We do want to bring some consistency to (the defense)," McDaniels said.

McDaniels also has some interest in current Eagles secondary coach Sean McDermott, but McDermott's team still is in the playoffs and he is believed to have another year on his contract.

Offensively, things also could be far more fluid than was expected two weeks ago, when Shanahan was fired.

On his way out, Shanahan said the next coach "would have to be crazy" not to keep the team's offensive staff in place, and Cutler has called for quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, who called plays this season, to remain.

But , McDaniels said Monday he will call the Broncos' offensive plays, which would mean Bates no longer would have that responsibility.

Bates recently signed a two-year contract extension, which has three years left on it overall.

Also, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison, who headed the team's running game and interviewed for the head coaching job, interviewed for the offensive coordinator position in San Francisco.

The Broncos had given all their assistants who were not already fired permission to interview with other teams.

Defensive line coach Bill Johnson has taken a new job in New Orleans.

McDaniels said he would like to have his staff in place before the scouting combine next month and that the new staff would be assembled before he meets with the Broncos players as a group.

"I would hope to," McDaniels said. "The sooner we can put together a staff of the best coaches we can to help this organization win, that's when that will be done."

Offense is calling card

McDaniels was the Patriots' offensive coordinator in 2007 when the team shredded the record book for scoring and set a team single-season scoring mark, with quarterback Tom Brady throwing a record 50 touchdown passes and winning the league's Most Valuable Player award.

This season, McDaniels guided Matt Cassel, who had not started a game since high school, to a 3,000-yard passing effort in the wake of Brady's knee injury in the opener.

McDaniels also was a defensive assistant for Belichick, having worked with the team's secondary in 2003, another of the Patriots' Super Bowl seasons.

In that 2003 season, McDaniels received praise from around the league for his work with the Patriots' injury-riddled secondary, with then-starters Ty Law and Tyrone Poole having been injured.

The Broncos even borrowed from the Patriots' wide-open attack this season, putting Cutler in the shotgun much of the time, even in some run-down situations, as McDaniels had done with Brady during the 2007 season. McDaniels said he would run a similar attack in Denver and that he would quickly convey that to Cutler when they speak.

Cutler has been out of town, and Bowlen and McDaniels each said they hope to reach him in the coming days.

"Jay's very talented . . . he's got a lot of ability," McDaniels said. "Very intelligent person, very intelligent player. . . . I think Jay's going to enjoy playing in this system. This offense is very quarterback-friendly, once you can use all the tools."

Added Bowlen: "Look, the chance to get this young man was very intriguing to me. I think he's going to be a great coach and I think he can fix our defense. . . . I think we've got a great young coach who's ready for the job."

New age for Broncos

How old their coaches were the day they were hired.

• January 13, 2009

  5 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Juice writes:

  Both Capers and Nolan to help the defense? I like that possibility. I don't think the offense will drop any and I like the idea of the head coach calling the plays, especially McDaniels. They destroyed Denver this past year (I know that is not saying much). I love his passion...it will all come down to the players buying into McDaniels and his plan.

  The Defense should, at least, be in the middle of the pack if either or both coaches are there (should be better, but there are talent issues to overcome) and the offense should be the same or better. My biggest concern is special teams, that area MUST improve dramatically.

  Give him a chance... the toughest thing is the waiting...September is a long way away.

• January 13, 2009

  8:34 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Broncody writes:

  Do we keep Prater? I want to know more about who he plans to drop and who he wants to keep.

• January 13, 2009

  9 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Triumph writes:

  "New Broncos coachs young looks deceiving"
  Why is that? Is he really Benjamin Button?
  We will just have to wait and see what he has under that coach's headset. After this season of the Broncos I can move on to better things until september.

• January 13, 2009

  9:21 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  chill134 writes:

  Does anyone know what the terms of his contract are? I haven't seen any numbers. Just curious.

• January 13, 2009

  9:25 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  RustyWon writes:

  I would hope we keep the O-Line coaching and style intact.
  They did a stellar job this past season and it would be a shame to start from square one with a different blocking scheme.
  Dennison would be valuable to McDaniels.

  I think the Pats ran a similar look, so that should be good.

  Nolan and Capers, along with McDermott sounds good to me.
  Anything would be better than what we had on D last year.
  We need an infusion of talent at every position there.

• January 13, 2009

  9:43 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  primafacie writes:

  Did Pat Bowlen hire this kid or adopt him?

• January 13, 2009

  10:33 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  DesertBroncoFan writes:

  The terms of the contract are 4 years at $2M/year.

• January 13, 2009

  11:26 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  HankReardon writes:

  Man, I hope we replace Prater.

• January 13, 2009

  11:30 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  dl1011 writes:

  Shanahan could unload his house to this guy.I understand its nice.

• January 13, 2009

  11:36 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  davies writes:

  I do not have very big footyball nowlege, but this guy is a young pup. But his wife is hot so she can consoul him if he stincks and fans yell you sukk.

• January 13, 2009

  12:36 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  catrachomilla writes:

  You guys crack me up..Prater? lol!

  Prater's the least of my worries. Our defense this year was silly and last year was even worse. Coaches, fans and sportswriters all seemed to put it mildly and even sometimes a positive spin on our inept defense. Even in criticism, I felt people were blind to the reality that our defensive personnel has been junior varsity for awhile. We have no secondary whatsoever aside from Bailey. Bly can only be an asset with a monster pass rush, otherwise he's useless. Webster, Robertson, Ekuban, Moss, Crowder to name a few are completely benign.

  For example, if we had the Ravens-like personnel on the defensive side of the ball this tear, we would be competing for the AFC Championship this week.

  But we don't, we have Webster and Moss...

• January 13, 2009

  1:02 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Spider writes:

  SuperCharger writes:

  "New Broncos coachs young looks deceiving"
  Why is that? Is he really Benjamin Button?
  We will just have to wait and see what he has under that coach's headset. After this season of the Broncos I can move on to better things until september.

  Like playing with your Woody and Buzz Lightyear dolls....err... I mean your phyllis rivers and lt dolls?

• January 13, 2009

  1:42 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  mojambo writes:

  McDaniels is to Phillips as Shanahan is to Kubiak

  Bowlen will be paying Shanahan almost as much PER YEAR to sit for the next 3 years as they'll be paying McD the entire length of his cotract

  Folks, he's keeping the seat/padding his resume while Pat waits for Kubs to get fired or walk after his contract expires.

  Mark it, dude!

• January 13, 2009

  10:18 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Cutler6 writes:

  Everyone, get off the past Kubiak is not coming here, at least not for the next four to five years so you had better just get on board with MCDaniels

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