Tip of the Hat to Pat

[Drek]

Originally Posted by kappys

The difference between Bowlen and many of the horrible horrible owners(Chuggers, Chiefs, Raiders among others) is that he recognized his mistake and got rid of McDaniels in a timely fashion instead of giving him more time to drive the team further into the ground.

While keeping large chunks of McDaniels' staff, FYI.

I'd say THAT is the big thing Bowlen has brought to this franchise. Fair evaluation for all. Matt Russell wasn't shown the door when McDaniels left, even though he was a McDaniels hire. A lot of the current coaching staff were brought in by McDaniels and when he was fired Bowlen didn't do what most owners do and cut the entire staff, instead he let Fox and Elway evaluate and decide who stays and who goes.

No grudges, no slanted perspectives. That's a huge part of how you need to run an organization this large from the top, with a "I hired the right guy for this job so I trust him to hire the right guy for that job" mindset.

Shanahan did great with this early on but fell into a quagmire of nepotism and surrounded himself with yes men. When it was clear that became a detriment to the team (wanting to keep Slowick) Bowlen let him go.

McDaniels brought a lot of new blood in from successful organizations (the aforementioned Matt Russell worked with NE and Philly, working under guys like Dimitroff and Grigson), when he personally failed to show the maturity needed to be a leader of men he was removed but the baby wasn't thrown out with the bathwater.

It'd be real nice if he could spend money on par with the other top 10 earners in the league but that's the reality of his ownership and I'd take a Bowlen who understands that owning an NFL team is largely about stewardship and community over those who see it as a tool for personal aggrandizement like the wealthiest owners who spend big money.