The End of an Era in Denver

A highly successful era in Denver Broncos history ended yesterday when owner Pat Bowlen fired head coach Mike Shanahan after 14 years at the helm of the Broncos.  In those 14 seasons Shanahan was 138-86 in the regular season winning 3 division titles, making the playoffs 7 times, and winning 10 or more games 7 times.  Shanahan was 8-5 in the postseason winning back-to-back Super Bowls with John Elway in 1997 and 1998.

But, there in lies the biggest criticism of Shanahan, his inability to win without Elway.  In the four years with Elway, Shanahan’s record was 47-17, a .734 winning percentage with two division titles.  In the postseason he was 7-1 including the two Super Bowl wins.  In the 10 seasons since Elway retired Shanahan’s record in Denver is 91-69, a .569 winning percentage with his only division title coming in 2005, the last time the Broncos made the playoffs.  In the playoffs he’s 1-4 without Elway with an average margin of defeat of 22.8 points.

You’ll probably hear a lot about how he’s just 24-24 over the last three seasons since the Broncos last made the playoffs.  But, in reality it’s even worse than that given they started 2006 7-2.  Since that point they are just 17-22 and have played some of the worst defense in the NFL.  The ranked an okay 14th in total defense in ‘06, dropped to 19th in ‘07, and then all the way down to 29th this season.  Couple that with a report that he wouldn’t fire the defensive coordinator and the picture of his dismissal becomes clearer.

Now in all fairness this year’s Broncos suffered some tough injuries using 7 different running backs and missing one of the top cornerbacks in the league in Champ Bailey for seven games.  But, even with all that they sat at 8-5 with a three game lead and just three games to play and were unable to get it done, culminating with an embarrassing effort in a do or die game at San Diego that resulted in a 52-21 loss.  But, this isn’t the first time they’ve closed the season poorly.  Last season they lost four of their last 6 games and 2006 it was five of the last seven.  The blame for that has to reside with the head coach.

So, what’s next for Shanahan.  There are a few openings at this point and I think of those currently available I think he would be a great fit for the Cleveland Browns.  With his pedigree of offensive success, he would be a terrific coach to mentor Brady Quinn.  Also, his reputation as a disciplinarian could help rein in some of the troubled personalities the Browns have like Kellen Winslow, Jr.  Now, the Browns have some defensive issues like Denver but, if they bring in a separate GM so Shanahan can focus solely on coaching that can be rectified, as well.  I just think it would be a good fit.  After Cleveland, if the position was to become available the Dallas Cowboys would be a great place for Shanahan as he has already shown that he can take a team ready made to win to the Super Bowl.  Of course, he could choose to go the Mike Holmgren route and take a year or so off.

The other question coming out of this is what’s next for the Broncos.  If he’s interested in coaching next season I think you have to do all that you can to get Bill Cowher to come to Denver.  The Broncos have plenty of weapons on offense, although getting a running back that can stay healthy would be good.  But, they need a lot of help defensively so bringing a defensive coach like Cowher would be a definite step in the right direction.  In 15 seasons in Pittsburgh Cowher’s teams ranked in the top ten in total defense 12 times ranking #1 twice.  In the other three seasons they ranked 13th, 12th, and 11th.  Now of course it will cost some money to get him and the Broncos might not be inclined to spend too much given the reported $20 million they owe Shanahan over the next three years.  In that case I think an assistant like Steve Spagnuolo from the Giants would be the next best option.

However, no matter what the next steps are for both Shanahan and the Broncos, yesterday was defintiely a sad day for Broncos fans as one of the most successful eras in team history came to end.