Hate to say it, but the day Shanahan left, this organization went down the drain.

[bronco0608]

Who knew Shanny was the glue that held this disfunctional organization together? Through all his absurd draft picks, free agent signings, and meglomania he kept the pride and prestige of the Broncos lofty among NFL standards. We were never the butt of jokes. But we are now.

The Broncos were always a threat because we had the Mastermind. When Shanahan left, everyone agreed it was time to leave because he had grown stale. Too many 8-8 seasons. Too many bad defenses. But, ****, we obviously needed a guy like. One guy, for better or worse, who made it work with an aloof owner, no front office. At least he was a freaking "football guy."

We are directionless now. Seriously. We all love Elway, but in no way is he qualified to be leading an organization. He's not a personel guy, he has no previous NFL front office experience. We essentially hired a guy off the street to do this. Six months ago, Elway was getting hammered with his boy at ASU, now he is "the brains" behind the front office. The only single qualification Elway has is that he threw a damn good football.

This is goofy. Joe Ellis was a marketing guy, but then he became head of the organization when Shanny left and he hired Josh Mcdaniels. Didn't end well, right? Well, thats what the **** you get when you hire a marketing guy to run your professional football team. Then on top of that, we had a GM in name, but with no power.

Oh well, this is our team. Go Broncos! If these dyfunctional clowns can run this team, there is hope for all of us to be Presidents and GMs of teams one day. What they got that we don't have?

[broncocalijohn]

If we kept this ship in the same position, we would never have a due course. He wasnt the glue, we later found out he was helping tear the team apart. That isnt glue, those are scissors. Our GM in name only? Shanny was also our GM and I dont think he will ever be hired as a GM only when he doesnt want to coach anymore.

[bowtown]

That's what happens when you purge a guy who had all the power for so many years without a real plan in place. I'd be concerned about Pat's mental facitilites at this point, but Doc Bronc told me not to worry.

[Dr. Broncenstein]

It was time for Shanny to go. It just wasn't time to repeat the mistake of giving total control to a head coach. Then we picked the wrong head coach.

[KevinJames]

Don't let hacks like Mike Florio and Peter King feed your head with this non-sense.

have faith in the team John Elway loves this team and hes going to do everything he can to move us in the right direction, just gotta be patient its not going to be a one or two year turn around most likely but hey you never know.

[Jesterhole]

[scttgrd]

Originally Posted by Dr. Broncenstein

It was time for Shanny to go. It just wasn't time to repeat the mistake of giving total control to a head coach. Then we picked the wrong head coach.

Exactly, the right choice followed by a great mistake. It has to be right this time, or things could get to be a long term problem.

[Dedhed]

Replace "Shanahan" with "Elway", and I think you'd be far more accurate.

Hopefully, now that he's back, we'll be relevant again.

[Dr. Broncenstein]

Originally Posted by bowtown

That's what happens when you purge a guy who had all the power for so many years without a real plan in place. I'd be concerned about Pat's mental facitilites at this point, but Doc Bronc told me not to worry.

There is nothing to worry about. Mr. Bowlen's mental state is a sharp as ever. There was no slurred speech. The lines were not rehearsed. There will be no questions, because questions are not needed.

[Chris]

The glue while he hollowed out the team's skeleton.

We made one bad choice - hiring Mcdaniels. A big one. But not insurmountable.

[ghwk]

Did you really start this thread and intend to defend it Did you forget how we did under Shanny after Elway retired? Whatever glue Shanny had holding us together was of the band aid adhesive type that quickly comes undone.

[SoCalBronco]

Originally Posted by bronco0608

Who knew Shanny was the glue that held this disfunctional organization together? Through all his absurd draft picks, free agent signings, and meglomania he kept the pride and prestige of the Broncos lofty among NFL standards. We were never the butt of jokes. But we are now.

The Broncos were always a threat because we had the Mastermind. When Shanahan left, everyone agreed it was time to leave because he had grown stale. Too many 8-8 seasons. Too many bad defenses. But, ****, we obviously needed a guy like. One guy, for better or worse, who made it work with an aloof owner, no front office. At least he was a freaking "football guy."

We are directionless now. Seriously. We all love Elway, but in no way is he qualified to be leading an organization. He's not a personel guy, he has no previous NFL front office experience. We essentially hired a guy off the street to do this. Six months ago, Elway was getting hammered with his boy at ASU, now he is "the brains" behind the front office. The only single qualification Elway has is that he threw a damn good football.

This is goofy. Joe Ellis was a marketing guy, but then he became head of the organization when Shanny left and he hired Josh Mcdaniels. Didn't end well, right? Well, thats what the **** you get when you hire a marketing guy to run your professional football team. Then on top of that, we had a GM in name, but with no power.

Oh well, this is our team. Go Broncos! If these dyfunctional clowns can run this team, there is hope for all of us to be Presidents and GMs of teams one day. What they got that we don't have?

I really enjoyed your post. Rep.

The ideal situation would have been Mike remaining as HC but bringing in a great GM, although having Shanny stay on as HC and GM would still be significantly better than what we have now. While flawed as an administrator and judge of talent, he worked hard to improve in that area and two of his final three drafts were absolutely excellent. I do miss Mike and his ability to will us to at least a halfway decent record despite his flaws in the personnel aspect was very valuable trait. It was definitely something we took for granted. We learned the hard way that change is not always good.

At this point, the team would be well served to return to Shanny's proven and balanced offensive system so that we can take advantage of Tebow's non conventional talents and manufacture a strong run game even without equivalent talent. If we can pair that with a good, solid defensive mind and a commitment to getting some more defensive talent, we'll be in good shape. For all his flaws, Shanny was an amazing coach for this team. It's unfortunate we had to learn this in a painful way.

[bronco0608]

You guys know we are the only organization that hired their former star to run it.

You don't see Barry Sanders running the Lions? What about Joe Montana in San Fran? Or how about Eric Dickerson with the Rams? Why aren't they running those teams? Because they are not freaking qualified to do it!!

Its not as if Elway worked his way up. No, he was completely a guy off the street. He has no legitimate NFL front office experience. Its like handing down the company to your son and skipping all the qualified people to do it. It's like Tommy boy.

[bowtown]

Originally Posted by bronco0608

You guys know were are the only organization that hired there former star to run it.

You don't see Barry Sanders running the Lions? What about Joe Montana in San Fran? Or how about Eric Dickerson with the Rams? Why aren't they running those teams? Because they are not freaking qualified to do it!!

Its not as if Elway worked his way up. No, he was completely a guy off the street. He has no legitimate NFL front office experience. Its like handing down the company to your son and skipping all the qualified people to do it. It's like Tommy boy.

Maybe you didn't watch all the way to the end of that movie, but things turned out pretty darn well for Callahan Auto Parts.

[bronco0608]

Originally Posted by bowtown

Maybe you didn't watch all the way to the end of that movie, but things turned out pretty darn well for Callahan Auto Parts.

[baja]

Originally Posted by Chris

The glue while he hollowed out the team's skeleton.

We made one bad choice - hiring Mcdaniels. A big one. But not insurmountable.

Hiring him wasn't the mistake giving him Shanahan powers was.

[theAPAOps5]

Because Shanny is lighting it up in his new gig. Love the dedication you guys give Shanny who has been nothing but mediocre since Elway retired. Keep building him up though. Its fun to watch.

[broncocalijohn]

Our OP complains about Elway being in the front office but didnt hear a peep about Shanny being the GM or Ellis being in the front office where he probably shouldnt be. Difference is Elway knows his place.

[schaaf]

What is wrong with letting a savior of a franchise, one who would do absolutely anything to make sure that they won every single week be involved in the front office. Elway knows his limits, he isn't going to make mistakes that will hurt this franchise.

[baja]

Question;

Why are we crucifying Ellis?

[bowtown]

Originally Posted by schaaf

What is wrong with letting a savior of a franchise, one who would do absolutely anything to make sure that they won every single week be involved in the front office. Elway knows his limits, he isn't going to make mistakes that will hurt this franchise.

Nothing so far... doesn't mean there aren't a few concerns. But here's to John. Hopefully he wins at this like he has at everything else in his life. I won't bet against it.

[Royalfan19]

Originally Posted by theAPAOps5

Because Shanny is lighting it up in his new gig. Love the dedication you guys give Shanny who has been nothing but mediocre since Elway retired. Keep building him up though. Its fun to watch.

The Skins, despite their troubles played better football towards the end of the season than at the beginning of it, and had 50% more wins this year than before Shanahan took over, and that's on a tougher schedule.

I wouldn't call a coach with less than a handful losing seasons in nearly 2 decades of coaching a mediocre guy.

[montrose]

Mike is the greatest coach in Broncos history but - while light years better than where the team is now - I'm not totally convinced if he had stayed that the squad would be much better than those 2003-2004 teams that got smashed by Indy. I do agree with SoCal that I would've been intrigued to see him with a great GM but that just wasn't going to be an option and at this point in his career I personally think his best days of coaching are behind him.

If I could have Pat do something thing different back in 2008, and Taco and I have talked about this - maybe before the SD game, Buffalo game or even after the Raiders loss - I would've leaked to the media that I'm thinking about making a coaching change depending how the season finished. That would've provided a good gauge for what the fanbase and league would think regarding making a move so it didn't hit like a ton of bricks, and possibly justified the move if Shanny failed. In essence, it's exactly what Mike did to Jake before the Thanksgiving game in 2006. I just wonder how that would've changed things.

[Dedhed]

Originally Posted by baja

Hiring him wasn't the mistake giving him Shanahan powers was.

Giving Shanahan Shanahan's powers was a mistake.

[schaaf]

Originally Posted by bowtown

Nothing so far... doesn't mean there aren't a few concerns. But here's to John. Hopefully he wins at this like he has at everything else in his life. I won't bet against it.

Honestly, I think Tebow and Elway are in a lot of the same position right now, they are very raw, and could end up being a disaster but the potential for them to be great is huge. This is a great time to be a fan IMO.