Thursday, January 15, 2009

The Boy Wonder in Bronco land

Friends have been asking me what I think of Denver's new head coach, Josh McDaniels.

Well, by gosh, Josh, I hope you can coach.

I can't say the choice has me as excited as when Mike Shanahan was hired 14 years ago. At 32, McDaniels is awfully young. And coming from the Bill Belichick coaching tree is losing its shine, despite the Hooded Snarler's three Super Bowl titles tarnished by Tapegate. Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini have been fired - though I think the Jets (like the Broncos) overreacted to a late-season swoon - and Charlie Weis' record at Notre Dame earned pink slips for predecessors.

Having said all that, I'm willing to give McDaniels a chance to be the next Madden or Gruden - coaches who excelled at similarly young ages. You can't ignore what he accomplished with Tom Brady and the offense for the 16-0 Patriots last year or with perennial back-up Matt Cassell this year. 11-5 would have made the playoffs almost any other year. In fact, the last team to miss the playoffs with an 11-5 mark was......the Broncos.

But one of the new coach's first hires leaves me with a sinking feeling. He chose former 49ers head coach Dick Nolan as the latest defensive coordinator. Nolan's resume as a defensive coordinator is mired in mediocrity.

It's not like he forged the mighty Ravens defense that took Baltimore to its Super Bowl title several years ago. He took that squad and made it....middle of the pack. In fact, "middle of the pack" seemed to be where most of Nolan's defenses gravitated, no matter where he served.

Mind you, a mid-level defense might be enough to win a Super Bowl in Denver, with the offensive talent in place....but that seems a risky approach given the strength of so many other defenses around the NFL these days. Baltimore? Pittsburgh? Tampa Bay? The New York Giants? Tennessee? Did you notice three of those teams play in the same conference as Denver? And that doesn't even mention McDaniels' former employer, the Patriots.

Nolan's arrival doesn't inspire confidence. He'll have the opportunity to show me I'm wrong...and I hope he does.

This Broncos fan wants to buy more Super Bowl champion memorabilia before my current sets are old enough to drive - and that won't be long.

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