McD interview with Logan - Part 2 (final) - The Orange Mane

Hulamau · 04-12-2009, 11:25 PM

Thoughts From The Coach - Part 2
April 9th, 2009 - 8:01am by mike_rice

On Friday, April 3, the Broncos traded quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears for two first-round draft picks, a third-rounder and quarterback Kyle Orton.

The day of the trade, Broncos’ head coach Josh McDaniels spoke with Dave Logan and Lois Melkonian on 850 KOA’s “The Ride Home.” Here is the second and final part of that interview. Again, 850 KOA tried to contact Jay Cutler but did not receive a response.

KOA: In Jay Cutler’s performance on the field or how he conducts himself off the field, did anything strike you after you took this job that caused you concern (so) you would say, “I’m not sure this is going to be the guy we go forward with?”

JM: Absolutely not. No. I’ll tell you this. There are a lot of things we need to do to improve our team. The perception is the offense has all the answers and the defense cost us a lot of games. The reality is the offense has significant improvement to go through. We had 17 two-minute drives last year and scored one field goal. (We) had 30 turnovers which was second-worst in the league. (There are) a number of things that aren’t necessarily as glowing as you might think they would be. We were last in the league in field position; we were 28th in kickoff return. So there are a number of reasons why we weren’t as successful as Denver and this community wanted it to be last year and our goal is to address all of them including the play of the offense. There’s significant improvement that needs to be made in order for us to compete at a high level but none of that was directed at the quarterback. There were a lot of other things that needed to be fixed. That’s what we were going to work hard to do.

Nice diplomacy on Jay, actually I'm sure Josh felt he would win with Cutler, if Cutler was onboard. But after making it clear he doesn't put all the offensive blame on Cutler he does make a good case for why our offense may have racked up big stats but other wise was mediocre where it counted. Much of that blame lies with the coaching and gunslinging play calling of Shanny & Bates that look great on video but struggled inside the 20s. Shanny was just too in love with Jay and lost balance with the over all team. Shanny got complacent pure and simple. But Jay certainly shares some of the blame for that bad turnover margin and lack of conversion on 2 minute drills

KOA: One of the things Jay Cutler said (in his introductory press conference in Chicago) was if he had to do it all over again, both sides might do things a tad differently. Knowing now how he responded to word of a possible trade, is there anything you would have done differently?

JM: The one thing I wished we could have done differently throughout the last month is communicate better. We tried to do it and we wanted to have effective lines of communication to resolve the issue. We stated a number of times we were committed to him and committed to that and we wanted to get to a resolution. The only way to do that was to get in the same room as many times as we needed to do it to get to the point where we felt like we could move forward. That was something that was made impossible. At the point where they made (Broncos’ owner) Pat (Bowlen) very aware that it wasn’t ever going to work out, Pat felt it was best that we move forward and we agreed.

KOA: As you sit here today, can you make the case that your team is better than the team you inherited when you took the job?

JM: There are a lot of things that go into that. We’ve had a pretty drastic roster makeover. We have 15 or 16 new players and there’s going to be another eight, 10, 12 additional draft choices. The only answer for that is we’ll see in September. Winning is a production business. It’s all about winning and I know that. That’s what I care about. I’ve been used to doing that for eight years in New England and that’s what I’m going to try to bring here. I know this: There’s a million ways to win in this league. You don’t win the same way every week and it’s not one player that’s going to make or break one team. I’ve been on teams where we’ve scored 36 points a game and didn’t win the Super Bowl. And I’ve been on a team where we scored 19 points a game and we did win the Super Bowl. My big thing is we’re going to improve the TEAM. Like I mentioned, there’s a million things that we can address offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. To me, if we improve in those three phases, you have a chance to be a better team.

KOA: As you look at the upcoming draft, will defense be the area you focus on or is it still whatever player fits in, even an offensive player, you’d be willing to make the move?

JM: The best player we can acquire at a place where we need a player, that’ll be the choice. We know there are needs on defense, they’re still needs on offense and there are players we can add to help ourselves in the kicking game. At whatever point in the draft we feel like this is the best player for us because we need a player at this position and he’s the best one we have, then that will be the choice. (General manager) Brian (Xanders) and I and the scouts have been working diligently to make sure our board is set up the way we need it to be set up. There is not set pattern. It’s not going to be automatically two defensive players first or a defensive player and then an offensive player, a lineman. We’re going to try to upgrade our team with every selection we make.

KOA: Do you hope Broncos’ fans hear that to quell some of the panic they might be feeling right now?

JM: Our expectations have not changed. We talked with our team about that. We’re expecting to win. They’re not going to put the season on hold for us and we don’t want them to. We’re going to improve. We’re going to have a great off season; the players have already committed to that. They’re doing a great job of focusing on what they can to do help our team improve. We’re going to go through the spring and get better every day we’re out there. Then we’re going to head into training camp and have a heck of a training camp and go into the season ready to compete at a high level. That’s our goal and it’s never going to change. We want to win and we’re not going to wait to do it.

Thanks for reading,
Mike

scttgrd · 04-12-2009, 11:29 PM

All that sounds good, but now it's a win now and no excuses situation. Get it done, no BS. It will be interesting seeing how this all plays out.

lazarus4444 · 04-13-2009, 12:22 AM

wow a coach that mentions all three phases of the team, haven't had one of those for a while. Thank God for Josh.

TheChamp24 · 04-13-2009, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scttgrd

All that sounds good, but now it's a win now and no excuses situation. Get it done, no BS. It will be interesting seeing how this all plays out.

I don't understand the "win now, no excuses"
Broncos have been 24-24 the past 3 years, why are the expectations so high for this team?

gyldenlove · 04-13-2009, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jth1331

I don't understand the "win now, no excuses"
Broncos have been 24-24 the past 3 years, why are the expectations so high for this team?

Because 24-24 wasn't good enough, if we had the same coach we had during the 24-24 years then you wouldn't expect to win. By saying that .500 is not enough, you say that you expect to win. It seems pretty simple to me.

TheElusiveKyleOrton · 04-13-2009, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jth1331

I don't understand the "win now, no excuses"
Broncos have been 24-24 the past 3 years, why are the expectations so high for this team?

Expectations are so high only for those folks who think that having the second ranked offense in yards gained matters to anyone, anywhere.

Rohirrim · 04-13-2009, 09:07 AM

Nice read, Hula. Thanks.

Requiem · 04-13-2009, 09:22 AM

Fantastic read, thank you.

HEAV · 04-13-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jth1331

I don't understand the "win now, no excuses"
Broncos have been 24-24 the past 3 years, why are the expectations so high for this team?

It's the Shanny loyalist and McDaniels hater mob crying call this year.

Basically you have a group of brainwashed Shanny robots wanting the old coach back and are going to place Super Bowl or nothing on McDaniels first year in Denver.

McDaniels has to win the Super Bowl in 09-10 for the haters to be happy, even then the nimrods will only give him one more year thinking it was a fluke that he won...

gyldenlove · 04-13-2009, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HEAV

It's the Shanny loyalist and McDaniels hater mob crying call this year.

Basically you have a group of brainwashed Shanny robots wanting the old coach back and are going to place Super Bowl or nothing on McDaniels first year in Denver.

McDaniels has to win the Super Bowl in 09-10 for the haters to be happy, even then the nimrods will only give him one more year thinking it was a fluke that he won...

Mcdaniels has to live up to expectations and as he said himself, the expectations are to win. Winning implies finishing above .500, which was the expectation when Shanahan was coach and will be the expectation now that Mcdaniels is coach and will be the expectation for the next coach whenever he is hired.

04-12-2009, 11:25 PM	#1
Hulamau Polynesian Paralysis In the Pocket Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Hulaville and Sedona Posts: 8,035 Adopt-a-Bronco: Eric Decker	McD interview with Logan - Part 2 (final) Thoughts From The Coach - Part 2 April 9th, 2009 - 8:01am by mike_rice On Friday, April 3, the Broncos traded quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears for two first-round draft picks, a third-rounder and quarterback Kyle Orton. The day of the trade, Broncos’ head coach Josh McDaniels spoke with Dave Logan and Lois Melkonian on 850 KOA’s “The Ride Home.” Here is the second and final part of that interview. Again, 850 KOA tried to contact Jay Cutler but did not receive a response. KOA: In Jay Cutler’s performance on the field or how he conducts himself off the field, did anything strike you after you took this job that caused you concern (so) you would say, “I’m not sure this is going to be the guy we go forward with?” JM: Absolutely not. No. I’ll tell you this. There are a lot of things we need to do to improve our team. The perception is the offense has all the answers and the defense cost us a lot of games. The reality is the offense has significant improvement to go through. We had 17 two-minute drives last year and scored one field goal. (We) had 30 turnovers which was second-worst in the league. (There are) a number of things that aren’t necessarily as glowing as you might think they would be. We were last in the league in field position; we were 28th in kickoff return. So there are a number of reasons why we weren’t as successful as Denver and this community wanted it to be last year and our goal is to address all of them including the play of the offense. There’s significant improvement that needs to be made in order for us to compete at a high level but none of that was directed at the quarterback. There were a lot of other things that needed to be fixed. That’s what we were going to work hard to do. Nice diplomacy on Jay, actually I'm sure Josh felt he would win with Cutler, if Cutler was onboard. But after making it clear he doesn't put all the offensive blame on Cutler he does make a good case for why our offense may have racked up big stats but other wise was mediocre where it counted. Much of that blame lies with the coaching and gunslinging play calling of Shanny & Bates that look great on video but struggled inside the 20s. Shanny was just too in love with Jay and lost balance with the over all team. Shanny got complacent pure and simple. But Jay certainly shares some of the blame for that bad turnover margin and lack of conversion on 2 minute drills KOA: One of the things Jay Cutler said (in his introductory press conference in Chicago) was if he had to do it all over again, both sides might do things a tad differently. Knowing now how he responded to word of a possible trade, is there anything you would have done differently? JM: The one thing I wished we could have done differently throughout the last month is communicate better. We tried to do it and we wanted to have effective lines of communication to resolve the issue. We stated a number of times we were committed to him and committed to that and we wanted to get to a resolution. The only way to do that was to get in the same room as many times as we needed to do it to get to the point where we felt like we could move forward. That was something that was made impossible. At the point where they made (Broncos’ owner) Pat (Bowlen) very aware that it wasn’t ever going to work out, Pat felt it was best that we move forward and we agreed. KOA: As you sit here today, can you make the case that your team is better than the team you inherited when you took the job? JM: There are a lot of things that go into that. We’ve had a pretty drastic roster makeover. We have 15 or 16 new players and there’s going to be another eight, 10, 12 additional draft choices. The only answer for that is we’ll see in September. Winning is a production business. It’s all about winning and I know that. That’s what I care about. I’ve been used to doing that for eight years in New England and that’s what I’m going to try to bring here. I know this: There’s a million ways to win in this league. You don’t win the same way every week and it’s not one player that’s going to make or break one team. I’ve been on teams where we’ve scored 36 points a game and didn’t win the Super Bowl. And I’ve been on a team where we scored 19 points a game and we did win the Super Bowl. My big thing is we’re going to improve the TEAM. Like I mentioned, there’s a million things that we can address offensively, defensively and in the kicking game. To me, if we improve in those three phases, you have a chance to be a better team. KOA: As you look at the upcoming draft, will defense be the area you focus on or is it still whatever player fits in, even an offensive player, you’d be willing to make the move? JM: The best player we can acquire at a place where we need a player, that’ll be the choice. We know there are needs on defense, they’re still needs on offense and there are players we can add to help ourselves in the kicking game. At whatever point in the draft we feel like this is the best player for us because we need a player at this position and he’s the best one we have, then that will be the choice. (General manager) Brian (Xanders) and I and the scouts have been working diligently to make sure our board is set up the way we need it to be set up. There is not set pattern. It’s not going to be automatically two defensive players first or a defensive player and then an offensive player, a lineman. We’re going to try to upgrade our team with every selection we make. KOA: Do you hope Broncos’ fans hear that to quell some of the panic they might be feeling right now? JM: Our expectations have not changed. We talked with our team about that. We’re expecting to win. They’re not going to put the season on hold for us and we don’t want them to. We’re going to improve. We’re going to have a great off season; the players have already committed to that. They’re doing a great job of focusing on what they can to do help our team improve. We’re going to go through the spring and get better every day we’re out there. Then we’re going to head into training camp and have a heck of a training camp and go into the season ready to compete at a high level. That’s our goal and it’s never going to change. We want to win and we’re not going to wait to do it. Thanks for reading, Mike Last edited by Hulamau; 04-13-2009 at 12:17 AM..

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04-12-2009, 11:29 PM	#2
scttgrd Just treading water Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Aurora Posts: 1,288 Adopt-a-Bronco: Brandon Mashall	All that sounds good, but now it's a win now and no excuses situation. Get it done, no BS. It will be interesting seeing how this all plays out.

04-13-2009, 12:22 AM	#3
lazarus4444 Ring of Famer Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Colorado Springs Posts: 1,240 Adopt-a-Bronco: Coach McDaniels	wow a coach that mentions all three phases of the team, haven't had one of those for a while. Thank God for Josh.

04-13-2009, 09:07 AM	#7
Rohirrim Partisan Human Cannonball Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Twixt Hell & Highwater Posts: 48,849	Nice read, Hula. Thanks.

04-13-2009, 09:22 AM	#8
Requiem ~~~ ~ ~ ~ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Earth Division Posts: 19,594 Adopt-a-Bronco: Gilgamesh	Fantastic read, thank you.