Is John Elway a Coach-Killer? (comments about John Fox)
Nov 22, 2017 15:23:14 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2017 15:23:14 GMT -6
Is John Elway a Coach-Killer?
Mike Freeman
November 22, 2017
Denver Broncos general manager John Elway watches his players prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Green Bay Packers, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Denver. AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Has John Elway lost the trust of the coaching fraternity?
1. Denver, Where Coaches Get Hired to Be Fired
Talk to team executives and assistant coaches about John Elway, and you come away with the notion that there is great admiration and respect for him and what he's done in leading the Broncos front office. Some genuinely adore him.
He built a Super Bowl winner. He won a recruiting battle to get Peyton Manning. He built a once-in-a-decade defense. Elway also was a legendary player who worked hard to understand how front offices and scouting work, which became apparent in the top-notch talent he added around him.
But his admirers are almost stunned by what they are seeing from Elway now.
One NFC assistant coach who describes himself as an Elway fan said Elway is increasingly being seen as a coach-killer.
"Coaches are starting to see the Broncos as a death trap," another assistant told B/R.
The cycle started three years ago. The Broncos made the Super Bowl in 2013 but lost to Seattle. Then, after a loss to Indianapolis in the divisional round the following year, coach John Fox was gone, despite having won 38 games over his final three seasons in Denver.
"I think in any relationship, whether it be player-coach, coach-GM, you're always going to have bumpy patches," Elway said at a news conference to announce Fox's departure in 2015. "I think the main thing between John and I was we disagreed how to get to the next level. We accomplished so much, four AFC West championships. But I think the biggest miss between us was how we can take that next step and what it was going to take to get to that next step. I think that's where that disagreement came from."
Fox's departure wasn't all unusual. These things happen. Coaching tenures run their course.
Elway didn't push out Gary Kubiak, but there wasn't much chance for the relationship to sour. Kubiak walked away after winning a Super Bowl and only two seasons on the Denver sideline.
But now comes the latest chapter in this awkward story, kicked off last week when Elway called his team soft. Coaches around the league saw the comments as a direct shot at his head coach, Vance Joseph.
Jack Dempsey/Associated Press
Remarks like Elway's shouldn't be aired publicly, the coaches with whom I communicated said.
Days after Elway's comments, the team's offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, was fired.
"It was my decision," Joseph said at a news conference, according to the team's transcript. "It was my decision only. John and I talk every day about the football team. He watches every practice and every meeting, but it was my decision."
Few people in football believe that. They say Elway's fingerprints are all over the move.
Team officials across the sport believe Elway is using Joseph and McCoy as scapegoats for his poor quarterback moves. Trevor Siemian has been awful. Brock Osweiler has been putrid and, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano, will get benched for Paxton Lynch. And there's no indication Lynch will be any good, either.
The common thread tying the three together: all were Elway decisions.
It's rare when you can trace a franchise's successes and failures so clearly to one man. But in the same way Denver's recent Super Bowl appearances can be traced to Elway, the struggles of the team can also be traced to him. Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend, Denver is 3-7 and in last place in the AFC West. That isn't because it is soft but because it lacks continuity.
Coaches around the NFL with whom I spoke believe more sideline changes are on the way for the Broncos. In other words, Joseph isn't safe.
As respected as he is as a player and executive, Elway is gaining a reputation as someone who is rash and impatient with his coaching staffs, someone who sees coaches as disposable. And someone who isn't taking full responsibility for his personnel decisions.
Mike Freeman
November 22, 2017
Denver Broncos general manager John Elway watches his players prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Green Bay Packers, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017, in Denver. AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Has John Elway lost the trust of the coaching fraternity?
1. Denver, Where Coaches Get Hired to Be Fired
Talk to team executives and assistant coaches about John Elway, and you come away with the notion that there is great admiration and respect for him and what he's done in leading the Broncos front office. Some genuinely adore him.
He built a Super Bowl winner. He won a recruiting battle to get Peyton Manning. He built a once-in-a-decade defense. Elway also was a legendary player who worked hard to understand how front offices and scouting work, which became apparent in the top-notch talent he added around him.
But his admirers are almost stunned by what they are seeing from Elway now.
One NFC assistant coach who describes himself as an Elway fan said Elway is increasingly being seen as a coach-killer.
"Coaches are starting to see the Broncos as a death trap," another assistant told B/R.
The cycle started three years ago. The Broncos made the Super Bowl in 2013 but lost to Seattle. Then, after a loss to Indianapolis in the divisional round the following year, coach John Fox was gone, despite having won 38 games over his final three seasons in Denver.
"I think in any relationship, whether it be player-coach, coach-GM, you're always going to have bumpy patches," Elway said at a news conference to announce Fox's departure in 2015. "I think the main thing between John and I was we disagreed how to get to the next level. We accomplished so much, four AFC West championships. But I think the biggest miss between us was how we can take that next step and what it was going to take to get to that next step. I think that's where that disagreement came from."
Fox's departure wasn't all unusual. These things happen. Coaching tenures run their course.
Elway didn't push out Gary Kubiak, but there wasn't much chance for the relationship to sour. Kubiak walked away after winning a Super Bowl and only two seasons on the Denver sideline.
But now comes the latest chapter in this awkward story, kicked off last week when Elway called his team soft. Coaches around the league saw the comments as a direct shot at his head coach, Vance Joseph.
Jack Dempsey/Associated Press
Remarks like Elway's shouldn't be aired publicly, the coaches with whom I communicated said.
Days after Elway's comments, the team's offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, was fired.
"It was my decision," Joseph said at a news conference, according to the team's transcript. "It was my decision only. John and I talk every day about the football team. He watches every practice and every meeting, but it was my decision."
Few people in football believe that. They say Elway's fingerprints are all over the move.
Team officials across the sport believe Elway is using Joseph and McCoy as scapegoats for his poor quarterback moves. Trevor Siemian has been awful. Brock Osweiler has been putrid and, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano, will get benched for Paxton Lynch. And there's no indication Lynch will be any good, either.
The common thread tying the three together: all were Elway decisions.
It's rare when you can trace a franchise's successes and failures so clearly to one man. But in the same way Denver's recent Super Bowl appearances can be traced to Elway, the struggles of the team can also be traced to him. Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend, Denver is 3-7 and in last place in the AFC West. That isn't because it is soft but because it lacks continuity.
Coaches around the NFL with whom I spoke believe more sideline changes are on the way for the Broncos. In other words, Joseph isn't safe.
As respected as he is as a player and executive, Elway is gaining a reputation as someone who is rash and impatient with his coaching staffs, someone who sees coaches as disposable. And someone who isn't taking full responsibility for his personnel decisions.
