Broncos

DENVER (CBS4) ― When I lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling wondering what the Broncos are going to do, I pray that Pat Bowlen will not hire another offensive guru as head coach. Obviously, Bowlen wants to hire the best prospect available regardless of his area of specialization, but the Broncos defensive problems are so acute, that fixing that side of the ball must be Bowlen's first priority.

Early reports suggest that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is the front runner for the job, and Bowlen has interviews this week with Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and Broncos offensive coordinator Rick Dennison.

All three of these men are fine coaches, and I'm sure that each of them will be a fine NFL head coach for someone, but I believe that Bowlen would be making a huge mistake if he hires an offensive-minded coach to fix a team that is riddled with defensive problems.

Denver needs a head coach with previous experience as a defensive coordinator.

Denver needs a head coach who can pull out the tapes from the 2008 season and identify the problems and come up with solutions.

Denver needs a coach who will arrive with a clearly defined defensive philosophy that has proven successful for other teams.

Denver needs a coach who can look at the Broncos current defensive roster and figure out how to use the talented players already on this team to create a unit that can actually stop opponents on the field.

Denver needs a defense.

The offensive arsenal is already well stocked, and the new defensive-minded head coach would be wise to retain some of the offensive coaches from Shanahan's regime.

The offense has quarterback Jay Cutler, wide receivers Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokley, tight ends Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler, offensive tackles Ryan Harris and Ryan Clady, and a boat-load of quality running backs all coming off injured reserve.

Despite not having a running game, despite having little defensive support and despite persistent red zone sputters, this offense was still the 2nd best in the league and has the potential to be the top unit next season.

That's why Bowlen must hire a defensive coach. The offense needs minor tweaking; the defense needs an overhaul.

In 2008, the defense was soft against the run, soft against the pass and too generous in the red zone. The "D" finished the season ranked 29th in the league, and dragged the Broncos to three straight defeats to end the season just short of the playoffs. That's the primary reason that Mike Shanahan was fired.

Yes, I've heard the rumors that Shanahan was fired, because Bowlen didn't feel that he could communicate with the head coach any more. But the only thing I can imagine that Bowlen would have wanted to talk about was the defense.

Bowlen is a hands-on owner who is very hands-off about everyday decisions. He's in his office every day; he's very active on NFL committees; he's very involved with the non-football operations side of the Broncos business; he keeps a very loose grip on the purse strings so that his personnel department can reach in whenever they need cash to bring in high-priced free agents and coaches, and he's absolutely committed to winning. Pat Bowlen embodies most of the qualities you would want in an ideal owner.

He does not interfere with football operations. He's not like Jerry Jones or Mark Cuban. He doesn't get involved in personnel decisions. He doesn't debate the efficacy of this offense or that defense. He doesn't evaluate players or assistant coaches. Bowlen delegates all of those decisions to his head coach, and then he gets out of the way.

The only exception to that rule is that if things are not going well on the field Bowlen might try to talk to his head coach about the problem. The defense has become progressively worse during the past three seasons, and if Bowlen tried to talk to Shanahan about it and couldn't, then the communication gap might have compelled him to fire the coach, but the underlying problem was the defense.

That underlying problem will continue to rot the legs out from under this franchise unless Bowlen deals with it during this coaching search.

He needs to hire a defensive coach.


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