NFL Great Debates: Were the Denver Broncos Right or Wrong to Fire Mike Shanahan?

January 9, 2009

NFL Great Debates: Were the Denver Broncos Right or Wrong to Fire Mike Shanahan?

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Mike Shanahan - Jeffrey Beall/Flickr.com

NFL Outsider's Greg Trippiedi and Anthony Brown debate the issue: Were the Denver Broncos right or wrong to fire Mike Shanahan?

Greg Trippiedi provides a few reasons why owner Pat Bowlen and the Denver Broncos franchise were right to fire Mike Shanahan:

During the 2008 off-season, the Broncos fired their G.M. Ted Sundquist. This was somewhat pointless at the time, because Sundquist went through all the G.M. motions, but deferred to Shanahan on most decisions. It's clear through the years that they both had an eye for talent, but as the Broncos roster started to suffer from diminishing returns, Shanahan gave Sundquist the axe.

At this point, nothing had really changed in the power structure. The Broncos easily replaced Sundquist in the organization, and Shanahan continued to make all the decisions. But this move did signify the end of the era that credited Mike Shanahan for all the successes of the organization, and simply deferred the blame. Shanahan would now be accountable for his own personnel decisions.

If you grade Shanahan on the development of QB super-prospect Jay Cutler into a pro bowl level player, then perhaps he deserved to keep his job. And he handled the offense as well as he always had this year, with 32 year old Jeremy Bates calling the plays. But where the Broncos certainly expected the defense to improve from a poor showing in 2007, it managed to reach historically bad depths when CB Champ Bailey -- a Shanahan staple acquisition in 2004 -- went down with an injury. Mike Shanahan has simply shown no ability in his career to build or coach a defensive unit, and at this point, without Sundquist, he became a liability to the Broncos.

The Broncos were correct to let Mike Shanahan go, because the alternatives were to suffer another wasted season much like this past one, or admit a mistake and strip Shanahan of his personnel duties. The latter should have been done a long time ago. Faced with reality, the Broncos simply needed to move on, and they made the right decision to fire Mike Shanahan.

Anthony Brown argues the Broncos were wrong to fire Shanahan:

They did WHAT? The Denver Broncos fired MIKE SHANAHAN?

Jerry Glanville once said that NFL stood for "not for long," but who would have guessed that Shanahan, Denver's winningest coach ever with 138 victories, would get axed.

Since 1995, when Shanahan was named head coach, Denver ranks No. 1 for total offensive yards (81,060) and rushing yards (30,993), ranks third in points scored (5,449), and ranks fourth in win percentage (.616).

By all accounts, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen's decision to dismiss Shanahan was sudden and unexpected, apparently without forethought or plan or clue to move forward.

Yes, losing your division to an 8-8 team coached by Norv Turner causes heartburn. But, Bowlen's next move is more likely to lead to decline than to the Super Bowl. That's the problem.

Rather than build a constructive plan in collaboration with one of the NFL's most successful coaches, who was on full alert that his job was on the line, Bowlen and his front office will rebuild on the run with some high profile, untried, assistant coach getting his first shot at the top job.

Isn't that what you do when replacing an unsuccessful coach? Baltimore's Brian Billick, with a Super Bowl win and an overall record of 144-80, at least fell to 5-11 in his last season.

There were alternatives. Bowlen could have separated Shanahan's general manager and his coaching duties as Seattle did with Mike Holmgren before the Seahawks' Super Bowl year.

They might have brought in new defensive coaches and schemes. Defense was Denver's Achilles heel this season.

Or, they could have waited for their players -- Champ Bailey, Boss Bailey, Selvin Young, Michael Pittman -- to get healthy again again and return to the active roster.

Instead, they took the most drastic of all their choices.

Good luck, Denver, as you step into that dark night along with Detroit, Oakland and the Jets. Watch that first step. And send us a postcard or two. We won't be seeing you for awhile.

Tags: Denver Broncos, Mike Shanahan, NFL

Discussion

4 Comments on "NFL Great Debates: Were the Denver Broncos Right or Wrong to Fire Mike Shanahan?"

Posted by Nicolas A. Lewis, January 10, 2009 6:32 AM

shanahan deserved to go. i think the fact that you cite those highly successful statistics offensively, and that they can be combined with a team that never did anything in the postseason, says enough about the guy.

i think that shanahan received too much credit for the two super bowls he earned with elway, and the fact that the team has been good but not great since then - a time period where practically everything BUT shanahan has changed - is proof that he was wearing thin.

if i were pat bowlen, even if i were on the fence, the nail in the coffin would have been getting outcoached by norv farking torner TWICE in the same season.

Posted by Anthony Brown, January 10, 2009 8:37 PM

While it's true that Shanahan never won a Super Bowl without Elway, it's equally true that neither Elway nor Denver won a Super Bowl without Shanahan.

I went for humor in my comments. That may have masked my point. Denver fans should be deeply concerned with how this deal went down.

From the outside, it looks like there was no plan. What's the strategy to IMPROVE on Shanahan?

Denver is not Detroit. A Steve Spagnuolo, or Josh McDaniels, or Leslie Frazier may work out when you are replacing Rod Marinelli. There's nowhere to go but up. Things get dicey when replacing a coach destined for the Hall of Fame.

What's more, this is an opportunity for Pat Bowlen to separate Shanahan's GM role from his coaching role (which he might also have done with Shanahan). Picking the right GM is more important than picking the right coach. That's not the first step Denver is taking here.

It's not so much the move to dump Shanahan that concerns me. It's how it came about and what's happened since.

Denver has some hard seasons ahead.

Posted by Casey, January 11, 2009 12:43 PM

Mike Shanahan should have been fired at least after last season, if not earlier. How is it that after going to the AFC Championship, the Broncos ended up going 9-7, 7-9, and 8-8 the following seasons? It's because their defense has been horrendous. Being a Bronco fan I have witnessed first hand just how painful it is to watch this defense. They have to rank up there with the worst defenses ever. Everybody knows defense wins championships. Just ask the Giants or Ravens. Shanahan is a great offensive coach, but even that he has lost over the past few years. He just doesn't get fired up about anything. We need someone new who can build a decent defense, and continue to improve the offense. Of course it will take a couple years to get a playoff worthy team, but we weren't going anywhere with Shanahan.

Posted by Ken (Colorado Native), January 12, 2009 4:44 PM

I find it hard to believe that any long term fan would be in favor of Mike Shanahan’s untimely firing. The decision to fire Mike Shanahan seems to be popular with fans that joined the bandwagon in ’98-’99 and expected the good times to continue to roll despite radical changes in personnel. As a Colorado native, I’ve been a fan of the Bronco’s since early childhood (late 60’s) and spent many years rooting for our AFL/AFC underdogs. Bronco fans first chance to witness true success was during Red Miller’s “Orange Crush” defense and our trip to a very overmatched Superbowl against the Dallas Cowboys. The following years with Dan Reeves were very dark days from a coaching perspective – four additional Superbowl losses as our team was consistently outclassed by better coaching and superior NFC teams. Although this may not be fair to Mr. Reeves – I feel that there was a consistent struggle through those years between a competitive, driven quarter back in John Elway and an insecure, ego driven coach. When Mike Shanahan was promoted to head coach, the Broncos finally had a coach that had participated in a winning system (the same 49r’s that crushed the Broncos in the Superbowl) and knew how to exploit the considerable talent on our team. Under Mike’s leadership, he took 17 point underdogs to the Superbowl and gave the fans something that we could only dream of in the past 30 years – a win – and then did it again. Winning is a two way street – the players have to be A) talented and B) willing to truly sacrifice. Mike’s ability to spot raw, untapped talent is unrivaled in the modern league – Terrell Davis, Ed McCaffery, Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, actually – too many to name. One of Mike’s fatal flaw was his inability to translate that same eye for talent to the free agent market. The Bronco’s have had a revolving door of over-priced, under-achieving, prima-donnas that are unwilling to sacrifice and have been plagued by health issues – Plummer, Henry, Walker, Bly, and (at times) even Champ have not lived up to their potential. Although you can blame the coach to some degree for veterans not achieving, I remember that John Lynch- a true warrior , never took a play off and continued to be a leader both on and off the field. If Bowlen had acquired a strong GM to manage Free Agent acquisitions and a strong Defensive coach, it may not have set well with Mike Shanahan, however, he would have been the professional and continued to do what he does best – Coach. Scanning the league, I don’t see another AVAILABLE coach that is Shanahan’s equal – I’m afraid that Bowlen “threw the baby out with the bath water”. I for one will miss Shanahan’s presence and fire on the sideline, he IS the best coach that Denver has ever had now and in the near future – and I will cringe as his new team is kicking our A**.