Shanahan takes one for team

[SoCalBronco]

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_2984773

broncos
Shanahan takes one for team
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer





Mike Shanahan: "If it were anybody but Maurice Clarett, nobody would even be talking about it. You don't try to cover mistakes. You look at what's best for your football team and you go with it." (Post file)

In many ways, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan could have made his life easier by keeping Maurice Clarett.

He could have avoided the aggravation of listening to critics say "I told you so," by hiding the controversial Clarett on the practice squad for a year. He could have waited for the moody former college star to mature, then provide the talented running back with another shot next year.

Redirecting the football hounds off their scent, however, would have put Shanahan in conflict with his concern for a much smaller group that gathers each day in the Broncos' locker room.

Imagine how maintaining custody of Clarett just because he was a third-round draft pick would have gone over in the locker room when, say, 86 of the 87 players who gathered for training camp five weeks ago had worked harder for their chance at employment.

How could Shanahan justify the disruption of the sum by holding on to a troublesome part? In the end, Shanahan essentially took one for the team. He cut Clarett despite the running back's high profile, despite drafting him a good two rounds higher than the Mel Kiper Juniors of the draftnik world had projected.

Never mind only once in NFL history has a Joe Montana been there waiting in the third round. Or that the Broncos were hurried because they didn't have a fourth- or fifth-round choice. Or that the pick was not only the team's third in the third round - after cornerbacks Karl Paymah and Domonique Foxworth - but untradable as a compensatory selection.

The pundits were right, right from the start. Clarett was a mess. When the Broncos officially said uncle this week, the salvos already were loaded.

"You know me long enough to know we're going to make a decision on what's best for the football team, not based on criticism," Shanahan said. "If it were anybody but Maurice Clarett, nobody would even be talking about it. You don't try to cover mistakes. You look at what's best for your football team and you go with it."

Meanwhile, inside the locker room, there was peace. Maybe even some gratitude.

"Maurice is a good kid, but he has to understand that he keeps people out of reach," backup quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt said. "He has to learn how to be part of a group. He has to be more coachable. And when you're out there on the field, you have to go full speed. I know I didn't always conduct myself the way people would have liked last year, but at least when they saw me on the field, they




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saw me going full out."
Given a second chance by the Broncos after sitting out the previous two years because of eligibility and legal issues, Clarett acted as if he had it made all along.

Although he occasionally demonstrated his enormous talent early in training camp, Broncos coaches constantly harped on him for lackluster effort. He then missed an inordinate amount of practice time with a pulled groin.

The end for Clarett came when the team went to Houston for its first preseason game. Shanahan kept him home from that trip, hoping to send the message that a player can't play if he doesn't practice. When the team returned and Clarett was not ready to resume workouts, his days in Denver were numbered.

"He was the last pick of the third round. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't," Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said through a team spokesman. "You don't know how the draft is going to work for three or four years."

Once Shanahan saw that tailbacks Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell and Quentin Griffin had dispelled health concerns during the preseason, the Broncos' coach decided to cut his losses with Clarett in return for maintaining respect in the locker room.

"Anytime you cut somebody in the third round, obviously you feel like you made a mistake," Shanahan said. "When you do that, you (admit) your mistake and you go on. That's not saying Maurice doesn't have a chance to go to another team and contribute. But in a true evaluation of your entire organization, anytime you use a third- round draft choice and he doesn't make your team, that's not good.

"We've made mistakes before, we'll make mistakes in the future. But we're going to do what's best for our team. Just because you draft somebody in the third round doesn't mean he's going to make your football team."

Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-820-5440 or mklis@denverpost.com.

[Pezman]

Honestly, not to tread a beaten subject already, but the re-emergence of Ron Dayne really did cook Clarett's future here and no matter how bad Shanny now looks for wasting the pick, he at least has a decent fall back running back stable to look forward to. Had Dayne not been effective, or MA for that matter, there would have been some heavy duty ugliness on the coaching staff as they debated whether or not to keep MoC.

All in all, Shanny's teflon persona has been taking quite a hit nationally, and deservedly so. But I still agree with the decision that they made in taking Clarett. It really was a low risk, high reward chance going into camps. Now, on the other hand, taking him at the end of the 3rd? Well, hindsight is 20/20 right? We sure could have used that pick better and gotten some great value....

[watermock]

That kinda sums it up. Sounds like Rod Smith, Dayne and others tried to get him in the fold. He wasn't a T.O. in the NFL. We was a rookie. The fact he didn't fight like one led to his demise.

Rod Smith fought. Terrell Davis fought. Neither were drafted as high as MoC.

Shanahan made the record staight, and takes the heat. He's a fine, fine coach. When people call for his head like BloodSunday, I always think "who"?

Well the same thing came up with Griese, and Plummer was the best thing out there, and the best thing for Brian. He made that Oakland game his lithmus test and failed, and was broken at that point. I'm not against drafting a QB next year, but I think BVP has fared OK and Jake has 3 plus more years and looks good.

He could use a little better pass protection as he ages. Lepsis has done well, but something on the OL needs to get stronger. Teams are pushing us back. These 310 DL are starting to take that ferret Nalen to task. Hamilton isn't any bigger, but he's younger. I really want a LT and WR in this draft. I'm always open to BPA, but the OL looks like it's going to be pushed back this year. The left side is small. Why do you think Jake rolls right?

[bloodsunday]

Shanahan made the record staight, and takes the heat. He's a fine, fine coach. When people call for his head like BloodSunday, I always think "who"?
Show me one quote where I asked for Shanny's head? You won't find one. I like Shanny. I just want him to start acting a bit more responsibly as the acting leader of this franchise. We aren't going to be winning Super Bowls anytime soon with kind of personnel mistakes we have made (IHOP, Griese, MoC). I wrote a post yesterday outlining our draft over the past 3 years (including this year).

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showthread.php?p=724313#post724313

I am projecting that 11 of 26 picks will be on this year's 53 man roster (if I am wrong on the low side it might get to 13) and only 2 starters. That's not good. Our drafting needs to improve if this team is serious about having Super Bowl aspirations. The big problem I have with the Clarett pick is not that he was a risk/reward player, but that it was Clarett had no chance of making this team. He was not a calculated risk, he was a total risk. He never even came close to making this squad. And it was totally predictable that he would quit on this team. Why does a team so deep at RB and so close to greatness (at least in their own eyes) need a headache like that? It'd be different, IMHO, if he was capable of hanging around and going through a couple of camps and giving us a fair shot to evaluate him. But the moment he hit adversity, he quit just like he always has. That's why it was a dumb pick. Hoping that a player can manage to stay healthy (Toviesi, Middlebrooks, C Brown) is different because there is at least some luck involved.

The bottom line IMO is that Shanny had a competitive advantage when he came to Denver in 1995 because he understood FA better than most franchises and he had a HoF QB. Now that everyone has caught up to him in FA and Elway retired he has lost his edge. In the business you either evolve or you die. Shanny has clearly kept his edge in the coaching and game planning department, but this team has not made good personnel adjustments for sometime now. It's not hard to go down the roster and see that the talent level of this team has declined since 1998. If Shanny was not such a good strategist and coach, we'd be in big trouble.

I am not calling for Shanny to be fired. Instead, I'd like to see him adapt. If he is willing to get a good personnel man (ala Piloli and BB) and adapt his philosophies, then that might be the edge this team needs.

[Bronco9798]

Good for Shanny. He made the right call.

[bloodsunday]

Good for Shanny. He made the right call.
drafting him or cutting him loose? both?

[Bronco9798]

drafting him or cutting him loose? both?

You don't give up, do you? I'll tell you what. He did what he thought was the right thing at the time. He realized the mistake and corrected it. Big ****ing deal. You ever make a mistake??

[bloodsunday]

You don't give up, do you? I'll tell you what. He did what he thought was the right thing at the time. He realized the mistake and corrected it. Big ****ing deal. You ever make a mistake??
Relax. I've made mistakes. I was just clarifying your opinion. There are those that would say that taking a chance on Clarett was a good move. Man, don't get so bent out of shape that I disagree.

[Bronco9798]

Relax. I've made mistakes. I was just clarifying your opinion. There are those that would say that taking a chance on Clarett was a good move. Man, don't get so bent out of shape that I disagree.

:thumbs: :wave:

[Rascal]

Good move by Shanahan. Clarett may join up with another team and become a good NFL back, but the time and situation wasn't right in Denver. Shanahan took a risk picking him and it didn't turn out. All well, it's not like our previous third rounders in the past have lived up to expectations either. Release the kid before he becomes a detriment to the team. He already was a problem due to his media hype in addition to his work ethic being questionable. Now he is gone and the only thing to worry about is some moronic reporters who choose to blast the "teflon coach". If Clarett had performed then Shanahan would have been praised as the matermind yet again. Let the media focus on the Clarett incident, then when they realize how we stole quality defensive lineman for practically nothing they will come back and jump on the bandwagon and proclaim Shanahan is the mastermind. You win some, you lose some.

[DBroncos4life]

I think chicken little told Blood that the sky was falling.

[Crushaholic]

I can't argue with that viewpoint. No matter how much talent he may have shown after about a year of NFL seasoning, his attitude won't allow him any room to grow as a player. I commend Shanahan for seeing that.

[coachmastermind]

Show me one quote where I asked for Shanny's head? You won't find one. I like Shanny. I just want him to start acting a bit more responsibly as the acting leader of this franchise.


There is no greater characteristic that a leader can posses than to take responsibility for himself and admit when he's wrong... Shanny did just that.

I'd follow someone with that kind of character any day over someone who may make better personal decisions. Leadership in coaching isn't all on the field.

[bloodsunday]

There is no greater characteristic that a leader can posses than to take responsibility for himself and admit when he's wrong... Shanny did just that.
Good for him, he screwed up an owned up. I applaud that. Never was an issue in my mind.

I'd follow someone with that kind of character any day over someone who may make better personal decisions. Leadership in coaching isn't all on the field.
The question is, should we have two people doing this job? In other words, hire a real personnel man. I don't know this for a fact, but knowing how the situation unfolded and Shanny's reputation, I suspect that he and Sundquist aren't always on the same page. I am talking about having someone that Shanny has great synergy with. Someone that can stand up to him and say he's wrong once in a while. Would that really be such a bad thing for this organization?

Here's a great quote that describes what I am talking about:
"While free agency has helped the Redskins, it has its limitations. Free-agent signings eat up salary cap room and shorten the window of opportunity for players to gel as a team. For the 2006 season, the Redskins already have $116 million of cap dollars committed, second only to the Broncos. That's a manageable number if the cap goes toward $100 million, but even if it doesn't, the Redskins will have to make tough decisions on which players to keep."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/preview05/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2146705&num=1

If Denver did better through the draft, then cap space would not be as much an issue. It will be hard to add upgrades at the major positions when we fight for cap space every season because we use so many FAs to backfill holes in our roster.

[listopencil]

Good for him, he screwed up an owned up. I applaud that. Never was an issue in my mind.
-snip-
The question is, should we have two people doing this job? In other words, hire a real personnel man. I don't know this for a fact, but knowing how the situation unfolded and Shanny's reputation, I suspect that he and Sundquist aren't always on the same page. I am talking about having someone that Shanny has great synergy with. Someone that can stand up to him and say he's wrong once in a while. Would that really be such a bad thing for this organization?
-snip-



He already has someone helping him with Running Backs that he listens to quite a bit. Bobby Turner, the RB's coach. The guy is great at evaluating potential. The problem here is that Clarret didn't live up to his potential. What Shanny could use is the same kind of guy that the Patriots got, a sports psychologist kind of guy that evaluates the state of mind of potential draftees/free agents. The Broncos are good at recognising talent, not so hot at reading personalities.

[bloodsunday]

He already has someone helping him with Running Backs that he listens to quite a bit. Bobby Turner, the RB's coach. The guy is great at evaluating potential. The problem here is that Clarret didn't live up to his potential. What Shanny could use is the same kind of guy that the Patriots got, a sports psychologist kind of guy that evaluates the state of mind of potential draftees/free agents. The Broncos are good at recognising talent, not so hot at reading personalities.
Hey... someone I agree with. I don't have any issues with Bobby Turner or his evaluation of Mo as a "talent". If his record had been clean since the OSU mess, I might even say give the man a shot. But he quit at the combine a month before we drafted him :hitself: He's a quitter. Not to mention he dragged the OSU thing on way too long after it was all over. It's a good thing we cut him before he wound up going Eddie K style on us.

As far as evaluating the make up of a player... that is what I am talking about. We need to take a fresh approach to this team. It might not be able to happen in one season. But this whole bit about turning over 25% of our roster with $5 million in cap space ain't cutting it. It's really going to be a problem when Nalen, Rod, Trevor and Lepsis are gone.

[Tredici]

If Denver did better through the draft, then cap space would not be as much an issue. It will be hard to add upgrades at the major positions when we fight for cap space every season because we use so many FAs to backfill holes in our roster.

That's pure speculation. And a discredit to the veteran free agents who have kept the team competitive. --Many of whom have signed at minimums.

Anyone who plays and contributes will want to be paid. Regardless of how they come to be on the team.

I would suggest the majority of the dollars spent are going towards homer vets of long standing. Both the Free Agents and the draft picks are getting leftovers. And it doesn't matter which pool you sign them from.

[Blueflame]

Honestly, not to tread a beaten subject already, but the re-emergence of Ron Dayne really did cook Clarett's future here and no matter how bad Shanny now looks for wasting the pick, he at least has a decent fall back running back stable to look forward to. Had Dayne not been effective, or MA for that matter, there would have been some heavy duty ugliness on the coaching staff as they debated whether or not to keep MoC.

All in all, Shanny's teflon persona has been taking quite a hit nationally, and deservedly so. But I still agree with the decision that they made in taking Clarett. It really was a low risk, high reward chance going into camps. Now, on the other hand, taking him at the end of the 3rd? Well, hindsight is 20/20 right? We sure could have used that pick better and gotten some great value....

Good points, Pez... in fact, I think maybe it was the impressive preseason performances of Anderson, Bell, and Dayne that made Clarett expendable. Face it, even if we'd kept him, he would have been buried five places deep, as judging from reports, I believe Q would have outperformed him as well. There was extremely small odds that he was ever going to see any significant playing time and his ego apparently couldn't handle that.

Bottom line... the Clarett experiment, while unsuccessful, was relatively inexpensive to the team.

[sirhcyennek81]

How was drafting clarett a mistake? they took him with an untradeable pick that they would not have had normally. clarett had to prove he was worth the selection, and he didnt. bye bye maurice. broncos will be better for it, hopefully, maurice will be, too.

[Ballhawk]

The question is, should we have two people doing this job? In other words, hire a real personnel man.

If Denver did better through the draft, then cap space would not be as much an issue. It will be hard to add upgrades at the major positions when we fight for cap space every season because we use so many FAs to backfill holes in our roster.

Blood, I think Shanny is acyually a great personel guy. Just looking at this year, Warren for a 4th was a steal, JE for Middlebrooks was a steal, Trading out of the first was a steal, getting Meyers and EE for RD was a steal. Only play that did not work out for Shanny was MoC, which was done on the recomendation of Turner, for Turner.

Everyone wants to point out the big three misfires; Griese, Carter, IHop. Griese wasn't a bad pick or play at QB, just a bad contract. With Easy Ed, Rod and Sharpe, and TD trying to regain form I think Shanny wanted a QB deperately to get another ring and did not want to start over so he gave the contract to Griese. Then he went out and got, at the time a top CB in Dale carter ho with money just lost his mind and focus on football. IHop was a mistake, but once again he owned up and moved on.

As far as Draft picks go he is better than most. Only three misfires here of Nash, Deltha, and Tovassi (sp). But for every 1st day failure, there is a positive like Walls, Herndan, Spragen UDFA that are starters in this league.

Overall Shanny has handled both hats as well as any I can think of since Walsh.

[Rock Chalk]

We sure could have used that pick better and gotten some great value....
Or wasted it on someone else doomed to be cut.

[jayman_37]

Even Salisbury said he thought shanahan was a great guy for the move and for admitting his mistake and stinky backed him up and they talked about how much they respected shanahan. Who would have thought that he would have gotten more respect for cutting a third rounder than for all the success he has had.

[Rock Chalk]

Good for him, he screwed up an owned up. I applaud that. Never was an issue in my mind.


The question is, should we have two people doing this job? In other words, hire a real personnel man. I don't know this for a fact, but knowing how the situation unfolded and Shanny's reputation, I suspect that he and Sundquist aren't always on the same page. I am talking about having someone that Shanny has great synergy with. Someone that can stand up to him and say he's wrong once in a while. Would that really be such a bad thing for this organization?
Do you follow anyone besides Denver's draft? Because you need to look around. 9 out of 10 teams have more failures from the draft than successes and the 1 out of 10 that has more successes, is not by much. Shanny does about as well as anyone when it comes to getting the personell that can keep us competitive from the draft. The only exception is not my Belichik, no, but Brian Billick. That draft team is probably the only one that hits more than misses.


Here's a great quote that describes what I am talking about:
"While free agency has helped the Redskins, it has its limitations. Free-agent signings eat up salary cap room and shorten the window of opportunity for players to gel as a team. For the 2006 season, the Redskins already have $116 million of cap dollars committed, second only to the Broncos. That's a manageable number if the cap goes toward $100 million, but even if it doesn't, the Redskins will have to make tough decisions on which players to keep."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/preview05/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2146705&num=1

If Denver did better through the draft, then cap space would not be as much an issue. It will be hard to add upgrades at the major positions when we fight for cap space every season because we use so many FAs to backfill holes in our roster.
FA's like CHamp who is backfilling a hole in our roster and Jake Plummer. The two highest paid FA's and two of our best players.

Yeah, dumbass Shanahan for getting these two schmucks. He should have drafted people better than them. (A case could be made for Plummer, but its pretty freakin hard to find corners in the draft better than CHamp).

[Bronco LB 59]

Shanahan took one for the team? Did he nail a fat bitch?

[Rich Karlis]

Keep the media on Clarett and off of Jake.

[TotallyScrewed]

Just out of curiosity, how many of those 26 draft choices need to be members of the final 53-man squad? I mean if 12-13 isn't good enough...15-20?? So you want 1/3 of all the players to have no more than 3 years NFL experience.

Most linemen (O and D) don't get it for several years. There's 20-24 members of the final 53 who work the lines. More if you count the blocking TE's. More yet, if you count the specialist (long snapper, etc...).

Most QB's don't get it for several years. (2-3)

Often, whether true or not, WR's seem to take several years to break out. (5-6+)

Corners usually have a big learning curve. (4+)

So where do you see these young players being used effectively...I'm just saying that they can't all be young pups. And I'm not saying Denver can't do better. I do think that "better" or "worse" is more a matter of luck. Had the pro-personnel guys been able to effectively evaluate talent, they wouldn't have waited until the 3rd round to select Montana or the 6th to select T. Davis.

[Broncoman13]

Good for Shanny. He made the right call.


Not only did he make the right call but he stepped up to the plate, admitted the mistake, gave the reasoning for his demise, and in the process took away all most all of the bullets the national media had waiting for him. Shanny is a fine coach. I've been a strict critic when it comes to Shanny but this situation is proof positive that he still has "it"! Locker room stays together, team stays together, can't argue with that!

[Broncoman13]

Just out of curiosity, how many of those 26 draft choices need to be members of the final 53-man squad? I mean if 12-13 isn't good enough...15-20?? So you want 1/3 of all the players to have no more than 3 years NFL experience.

Most linemen (O and D) don't get it for several years. There's 20-24 members of the final 53 who work the lines. More if you count the blocking TE's. More yet, if you count the specialist (long snapper, etc...).

Most QB's don't get it for several years. (2-3)

Often, whether true or not, WR's seem to take several years to break out. (5-6+)

Corners usually have a big learning curve. (4+)

So where do you see these young players being used effectively...I'm just saying that they can't all be young pups. And I'm not saying Denver can't do better. I do think that "better" or "worse" is more a matter of luck. Had the pro-personnel guys been able to effectively evaluate talent, they wouldn't have waited until the 3rd round to select Montana or the 6th to select T. Davis.


Bro, you and just about everybody else understands this... you're wasting your time with this cause!

[DBroncos4life]

What our coach has had a few busted draft picks and a few FA's that didn't workout for us??? Lets fire him and bring in someone with a perfect record. That list should be real long for us to pick from :pity:

[Merlin]

If Denver did better through the draft, then cap space would not be as much an issue. It will be hard to add upgrades at the major positions when we fight for cap space every season because we use so many FAs to backfill holes in our roster.
You keep on making this claim, yet I have no idea what your measure is. If you look at Denver's picks for the past ten years and see how many are playing in the NFL, Denver is among the better teams in the league, and this is despite the fact that they have one of the best records for the past ten years. So what are your facts? Show 8 teams (that is the top quartile) that have a better record than Denver and that had a similar draft slot (the bottom half in 8-9 of the past 10 years). You will be lucky if you find 5 once you include the draft slot. To be honest, this is much I do about nothing.

Merlin

[SpringStein]

An article like this gives me hope that Klis will be a valuable contributor to the DPO.