NFL Coaching Carousel Hits Denver

The Denver Broncos are now searching for a new head coach after John Elway met with John Fox on Monday. This wasn’t even 24 hours after Denver was beaten by Indianapolis in the Divisional Round 24-13. These talks are not unusual. A lot of teams sit down with the head coach to talk about the season. During that meeting John Fox wanted more power on roster moves and the draft. That’s when Elway knew they were both on different pages and agreed to let Fox go. The Broncos fired John Fox after 4 great seasons where he won the AFC West title 4 straight years but couldn’t win the big game, the Super Bowl. We are going to take a look at his 4 years in Denver.

Fox accepted the head coaching job in 2011. His first year, Tim Tebow led the Broncos to an 8-8 record and an AFC West title. In the Wildcard Round, they beat Pittsburgh 29-23 before losing to the Patriots 45-10. 2012 was the first year with Peyton Manning and the Broncos were 13-3. They received the number one seed and a first round bye. Baltimore upset them 38-35 in double overtime. In 2013 again it was 13-3 and the number one seed. They got past the Chargers 24-17 in the Divisional Round and in the AFC Championship knocked off New England 26-16 to head to New York for the Super Bowl.   In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks drummed the Broncos 43-8. This year was another great regular season going 12-4 and getting a first round bye but ended with another disappointing loss as Indianapolis won 24-13 win.

Fox was great in the regular season as he was 46-18. It was the playoffs that ultimately cost him his job in Denver. Three years as a top two seed and only one trip to the Super Bowl and no Super Bowl ring did him in. It was time to let him go. As we all know in sports its “what have you done for me lately.” Lately John Fox has gotten it done in the regular season but not the playoffs.

The big question for John Elway is who is going to replace John Fox and here is a list of the candidates who could be in the Broncos coaching search. In the organization are two big names who are interviewing for head coaching positions. Those are Adam Gase and Jack Del Rio. Gase is a great offensive coordinator but is he is ready to take the next step to be a head coach which he has never done. As for Jack Del Rio, he is going to meet with Oakland for a second interview. The only good thing about Del Rio is he has head coaching experience with Jacksonville. He was there from 2003 to 2011. He went 68-71 and had two playoff appearances.

Outside of the Broncos staff there are a few Denver should consider. Dan Quinn is the Seattle Defensive Coordinator. He doesn’t have NFL head coaching experience but his style of defense would help the Broncos to be a top defense in the league. The Broncos interviewed Todd Bowles, the Arizona Defensive Coordinator. He interviewed for the job 2009 but Denver went with Josh McDaniels. At least Bowles is a familiar name in Broncos’ coaching searches.

The one name that makes the most sense is Gary Kubiak. Kubiak was the backup to John Elway from 1983 to 1991. He also was on the Broncos coaching staff as the Offensive Coordinator from 1995-2002 and helped Denver win back to back Super Bowls in the 1998 and 1999 seasons before accepting the Houston Texans’ Head Coaching job in 2006. Kubiak did say Sunday he wasn’t interested in any coaching jobs and wanted to stay with Baltimore as the Offensive Coordinator. This was before the Denver job opened up. Denver is his dream job. Kubiak has the history with John Elway and the organization. Would he come back is the only question.

Who do you think should be the next head coach of Denver?

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