Surprise Pink Slip

There were four head coaches fired in the NFL after last week’s final regular season game. The coaches of the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns coaches were expected to be fired, while the New York Jets coach was fired after it was suspected that he would receive a contract extension on Saturday evening. The final firing of the week left many asking the question how does a coach who has become too big for an organization in his own mind, come crashing back down to earth. In the case of the Denver Broncos it was last Tuesday, when Mike Shanahan the “Offensive Genius” was fired by owner Pat Bowlen during a brief 5 minute meeting. During this meeting in Bowlen’s office, it was explained to the face of the zone blocking scheme that the team was simply going in a different direction after 14 years. According to many sources the meeting only took five minuets because Bowlen had been contemplating this move for more than a year, which may also come as a shock to many.

While the majority of people are calling the Shanahan’s firing a surprise move, I have to ask the question was it really a surprise? Let’s just look at Shanahan’s record DE (During Elway) and AE (After Elway).

1995- 1998 1999-2008

W-L 47-17 91-69

Win pct. .734 .569

Division titles 2 1

Playoff W-L 7-1 1-4

Since John Elway left the Broncos franchise after the 1999 Super Bowl Mike Shanahan has lost much of his luster to all but fantasy football GMs who are searching for suitable Running Backs because of the prolific yardage gained by any back in the Zone blocking Scheme. Mike Shanahan has essentially become a mediocre coach who was riding the reputation of his sterling past. Gone is the magic of all those 4^th quarter comebacks, and Super Bowl victories. In the place of all of his early success in Denver is the reality of Shanahan’s most recent coaching performances, which was this December’s collapse because of his lack of ability to get consistent play out of the Quarterback position. The expectation of missing the playoffs has also begun to set into this proud franchise because of their pronounced absence for the past three postseasons.

Many casual observers may ask, what was Mike Shanahan’s true down fall in Denver? The informed fan will surmise that he just simply lost his magic, but I will tell you that the issues in Denver were much deeper than that. When a team takes Detroit Lions (0-16) rejects Boss Bailey, and Dre Bly’and insert them into their starting lineup they are not changing the culture in their organization of accepting not making the playoffs for the past three years, they are only perpetuating that culture. When a team has a Quarterback who has done nothing in the NFL but throw for a ton of yards and interceptions, who thinks he has a better arm than John Elway and is out to prove this point on a consistent basis, all he is doing for said team is providing wins only if they are playing fantasy football. Oh, and lets not even talk about the defense which allow 375 yards a game, 44 percent conversion rate on third down, and gave up an average of 28 points a game. These are the real reasons that Shanahan got canned in Denver. With all that being said Shanahan should thank Jay “I AM THE MAN” Cutler and Bob Slowik the teams Defensive Coordinator for the past four years for his unexpected departure in Denver.

Who should be Shanahan’s replacement in Denver for the 2009 season? The answer is a dual answer since Shanahan acted as Coach and General Manager; Bill Parcells AKA The Tuna should be brought in to be the GM, while Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys should be the coach. The Tuna should be begged in as GM by Bowlen because of his strong eye for talent and his desire to win now. The Tuna as we all know has some form of A.D.D. when it comes to winning and with the foundation currently in place the Broncos are set up to win now with a few tweaks to the roster. Jason Garrett should be brought in to be the coach of the Broncos because he has worked with the Tuna previously in Dallas, and with that being said we must also remember the T.O. factor. What is the T.O. factor you ask? The answer is any coach who can lead an offense and put up with T.O. without going mad can handle the adversity of following a coaching icon. Garrett is also a good young, bright coach with the intelligence to allow his Defensive Coordinator to come in and coach that side of the ball up, while maintaining enough control to hold that coach accountable. Garrett’s influence on the young Cutler which will surely make him more efficient and effective will truly be a welcome sight for ownership, fans and fantasy owners alike. I predict Garrett would have Denver back in the playoffs in a weakened AFC West in 2009, but it will certainly diminish the value of running backs in fantasy leagues.