Shanahan did it again!

[Skkorpion]

He fired his defensive coordinator. Again. Isn't that 4 guys scapegoated in six years?

I can't believe Shanahan is still employed.

 

[Assface]

The Denver OL is the most overrated unit in the NFL. Their streak of 1000 yard rushers makes people forget how bad they suck at pass blocking.

 

[ajcardfan]

He fired his defensive coordinator. Again. Isn't that 4 guys scapegoated in six years?

I can't believe Shanahan is still employed.

I guess he has a reputation for being "classy". Surely he wouldn't scapegoat anybody!

 

[KingLouieLouie]

He needs to seriously convince the Broncos into hiring Billy as their GM:
http://bangcartoon.com/cartoons/index.cfm/fa/viewcartoon/cartoon/2005Archive|broncowwm.swf

I seriously believe he would work wonders there... Probably would even do a better than what Matt Millen is doing in Detroit.....












I love bangcartoon.com ..............

 

[conraddobler]

I guess he has a reputation for being "classy". Surely he wouldn't scapegoat anybody!

That's pretty mean.

Funny though.

I hate that guy more than any other coach.

Just goes to show you though there's no shortage of guys waiting to get on the train to hades.

 

[ajcardfan]

That's pretty mean.

Funny though.

I hate that guy more than any other coach.

Just goes to show you though there's no shortage of guys waiting to get on the train to hades.

I can't stand him either. He's two-faced, and if you're not helping him he'll throw you under the bus so fast you won't even have time to say "Goodbye".


Guys like McGinnis and Green were too loyal to bad assistnats (Mean Joe, Richard Solomon). While that was not good, at least I can relate to it.

 

[Second Deck]

I think Jake was thrown under the bus also. I still like Jake for getting us to the playoffs and beating the Felons. Changing QB's when you have a winning record was an odd move.

 

[Stout]

Wait a minute, the coordinator of a defense that overachieved and was the top defense in the league for about the first quarter of the season?

 

[vinnymac]

Wait a minute, the coordinator of a defense that overachieved and was the top defense in the league for about the first quarter of the season?

it wasn't the cordinator in bronco land. he did a great job considering the broncos offense couldn't hardly move the ball.

 

[joeshmo]

Interesting Candidate to look at for our DC spot if our new coach doesnt want pendy.

He was able to do more with Clevelands front 4 (after Denver signed or traded for all of them) then anyone would have thought possible.

 

[nurnay]

I love bangcartoon.com ..............

I love their stuff, too. Funny as hell. But the one thing that I can't stand is the sound quality of their cartoons. It goes from insanely loud on one character to way too quiet on the next. The Billy cartoon was a perfect example. You can barely hear Shanahan, so turn the volume up, then Billy comes in and your eardrums get shattered.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

He fired his defensive coordinator. Again. Isn't that 4 guys scapegoated in six years?

I can't believe Shanahan is still employed.

Actually it would be 3 in 12 seasons; Robinson- 6, Rhodes- 2, and Coyer- 4.

You also have no idea what you're talking about if you think he was scapegoated. After leading the league in ppg for the first 7 games, they gave up about 29 ppg the last 9. Guys on the team (D-Will (RIP)) and not on the team (P Manning) have called the defense vanilla and mentioned that it cannot adjust when opposing offenses do. This was completely evident watching the Broncos hold Indy to 6 and SD to 7 points in the first half, only to watch the defense not stop them once in the second half.

I also question how Shanahan stays employed too, 1 losing and 9 winning seasons in 12 years as the Broncos HC. Every other franchise in the league has had at least 2 losing seasons in that time, most much more than that. Just totally idiotic that Bowlen would want to retain him and people would actually want to call him one of the best handful of coaches in the league.

 

[Russ Smith]

I think Jake was thrown under the bus also. I still like Jake for getting us to the playoffs and beating the Felons. Changing QB's when you have a winning record was an odd move.

Did you happen to notice the numbers that Cutler put up? 5 starts 9 td to 5 int, rating of 88.5 over 7 ypa. Jake in 11 starts threw 11 td 13 INT, 68.8 rating 6.3 ypa. How can anybody argue that Cutler wasn't a large improvement?

Yes he got to play against both us and SF in those 5 starts, but also SD, Seattle and Cincy all very good teams.

I'm surprised they fired Coyer but there's no question their defense fell apart this year. 20 or more points in 6 of the last 7(19 in the one game), over 30 twice in that span, 48 against the Chargers.

I guess to me throwing under the bus means making someone else take the fall for something you were involved in(like Green and Rowen). I'm pretty certain Shanahan isn't calling their defense, although he did reportedly tell Coyer not to blitz as much to avoid big plays.

 

[CT Card Fan]

He fired his defensive coordinator. Again. Isn't that 4 guys scapegoated in six years?

I can't believe Shanahan is still employed.

And here I thought that Skkorp was going to be referring to this little nugget of information from rotoworld.com. Seems like they like former Cards QB in Denver.

Broncos signed QB Preston Parsons to a future contract.

Who's next for the Broncos? Shawn King or "Leon" Blake

 

[Young Card]

The defense totally fell apart the second half of the season. When you have Al Wilson, Ian Gold, DJ Williams and Champ Bailey it becomes unacceptable to have such poor showings on D. Furthermore, Shanahan made an excellent decision with Cutler who has looked great and, once again, they have a 1,000 yard rusher.

 

[Broncogirl1]

He fired his defensive coordinator. Again. Isn't that 4 guys scapegoated in six years?

I can't believe Shanahan is still employed.

What I can't believe is that Tom Coughlin from the Giants is still employed. Fans can't stand him, players can't stand, his own Mother probably can't stand him.

Say whatever you want about Mike Shanahan. The record speaks for itself: 130-79. He was a bit "off" this season, though.

 

[Evil Ash]

What I can't believe is that Tom Coughlin from the Giants is still employed. Fans can't stand him, players can't stand, his own Mother probably can't stand him.

Say whatever you want about Mike Shanahan. The record speaks for itself: 130-79. He was a bit "off" this season, though.

Coughlin is lucky that he has one year left and that they are looking for the GM's successor, otherwise he would be gone.

It may work out in the long run for the Giants though considering both Fisher and Cowher will be available after next season

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I can't believe Shanahan is still employed.

The fact that you continually support Rod Graves' employment while suggesting Shanahan should be handed a pink slip is laughable at best. If the Broncos were dumb enough to fire Shanny every team in the NFL would contact him to give him a job in some facet.

9-7
13-3
10-6
10-6
9-7
8-8
11-5
6-10
14-2
12-4
13-3
8-8

That's 123-69 in the regular season with two Super Bowls victories, two AFC West Championships, and seven playoff appearances. If Shanahan's track record deserves to have him unemployed then Rod Graves' should have him exiled to a small desert island somehwere off the coast of South America.

 

[SECTION 11]

Why in the world would they fire Shanahan?
Coughlin? He blows, but Shanahan is solid.

 

[Skkorpion]

Shanahan works for the best owner in football who buys him every toy he wants. Given that, Mike underperforms, IMO.

And if that's not good enough, I just don't like the turd.

 

[vince56]

And if that's not good enough, I just don't like the turd.

and the truth shall set you free!!

It's ok Skkorp, I don't like Dan Marino in much the same way you don't like Shanahan

 

[Kel Varnsen]

He fired his defensive coordinator. Again. Isn't that 4 guys scapegoated in six years?

I can't believe Shanahan is still employed.

After just one season, defensive coordinator Bates out in Denver

Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Jim Bates came to a mutual agreement to part ways Tuesday.

Bates, who was a head coach candidate when he was with the Green Bay Packers, was hired last year to turn around the Broncos defense. But the team went backward instead of forward, finishing 19th in overall defense and 30th against the run, drops from a year before when coordinator Larry Coyer was fired. Rather than accept a reassignment to the staff, Bates decided to walk away with two years remaining on his contract. Bates and Shanahan met Monday and came to a resolution late Monday night.

"I had the opportunity to stay," Bates said in a written statement. "[Shanahan] has been very fair with me, and the final decision, for the Broncos and for me, was to step aside."

The Broncos signed Bates to a three-year, $3.9 million contract last year.

Bates, whose title was assistant coach-defense, had success with his system with the Packers and Miami Dolphins, but the Broncos were unable to master it.

A few weeks into the season, the Broncos were allowing nearly 200 yards a game on the ground and decided to ditch the hallmarks of Bates' ballyhooed system, replacing their big, beefy interior linemen with smaller, quicker tackles who could pressure the passer and putting safety John Lynch in the box as an eighth defender against the run.

Things improved but the progress came haltingly and the Broncos (7-9) ended up allowing 409 points, fifth-most in franchise history, while posting just the second losing record in Shanahan's 13-year tenure.

Bates said he was "very saddened that things did not work out."

Team spokesman Patrick Smyth said the Broncos would have no comment beyond Bates' statement. Shanahan has scheduled his season-ending news conference for Thursday, when he's expected to announce that Bob Slowik will assume Bates' duties.

Slowik was promoted to defensive coordinator last year after Bates was hired as assistant head coach in charge of the defense. Slowik was also in charge of the secondary.

Slowik served as defensive boss once before, for Mike Sherman in Green Bay in 2004. That didn't work out well and Slowik parted ways with his good friend and joined the Broncos the following season.

Some players suggested Bates' system didn't take because there were so many new faces on the line and others blamed too much holdover from Coyer's philosophies.

"I just don't think we had any consistency or any confidence at any point in ourselves as players or in the scheme that we were running," defensive back Domonique Foxworth said last week. "I think it's important that we build that into the next season, that we find something that we're good at and we stick with it from start to finish."

Defensive lineman Kenny Peterson, who worked for Bates in Green Bay and benefited from the change in personnel and philosophy as the season progressed, said: "It was unfortunate it didn't work here because I like his system. He has a good system, it's proven, it's tested."

Linebacker Nate Webster said too much youth put the Broncos in a pickle, but Foxworth suggested the problems stemmed from the scheme actually being a hybrid.

"It wasn't 100 percent commitment, I don't think, from Day 1 to the new scheme," he said.

Information from ESPN.com senior writer John Clayton, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame writers' wing, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[Skkorpion]

Thank you, krepich. Rolling Thunder will be along shortly to refute everything obvious to all.

Nice job finding this thread from last year. Save it. We'll need it again next January.

 

[40yearfan]

Actually it would be 3 in 12 seasons; Robinson- 6, Rhodes- 2, and Coyer- 4.

You also have no idea what you're talking about if you think he was scapegoated. After leading the league in ppg for the first 7 games, they gave up about 29 ppg the last 9. Guys on the team (D-Will (RIP)) and not on the team (P Manning) have called the defense vanilla and mentioned that it cannot adjust when opposing offenses do. This was completely evident watching the Broncos hold Indy to 6 and SD to 7 points in the first half, only to watch the defense not stop them once in the second half.

I also question how Shanahan stays employed too, 1 losing and 9 winning seasons in 12 years as the Broncos HC. Every other franchise in the league has had at least 2 losing seasons in that time, most much more than that. Just totally idiotic that Bowlen would want to retain him and people would actually want to call him one of the best handful of coaches in the league.

The Broncos had a worse record than the Cards this year.

 

[40yearfan]

The fact that you continually support Rod Graves' employment while suggesting Shanahan should be handed a pink slip is laughable at best. If the Broncos were dumb enough to fire Shanny every team in the NFL would contact him to give him a job in some facet.

9-7
13-3
10-6
10-6
9-7
8-8
11-5
6-10
14-2
12-4
13-3
8-8

That's 123-69 in the regular season with two Super Bowls victories, two AFC West Championships, and seven playoff appearances. If Shanahan's track record deserves to have him unemployed then Rod Graves' should have him exiled to a small desert island somehwere off the coast of South America.

I thought the Broncos record was 7 - 9 this year?