Indianapolis – Jim Bates walked briskly through the hotel lobby, out into a heavy sleet, and didn’t even scrunch or squint against the elements as he crossed the street.
Where was he going? The new man in charge of the Broncos’ defense had hastily made an appointment to meet near the hotel coffee shop at 5 p.m., but now, just 10 minutes prior, he was ducking into a moderately upscale sushi restaurant. At 4:59 p.m., however, Bates walked in and sat down in the coffee shop. No, he didn’t need anything. He had sushi ordered across the street.
“Take all the time you need,” he said at the NFL combine.
A bit of advice to Broncos defensive players: The new boss believes in showing up on time. Traffic, slow service, dog ate the scouting report – there is no excuse.
“You’ll see when we get on the football field, I coach with a lot of energy,” Bates said. “I always have. We’ll be a very active defense. And the Bronco fans can look forward to us playing lights-out. There should never be a question of effort with our defense.”
At 59, Bates is a frontline baby boomer, gray, strongly built, a married father of two, including Jeremy, who will coach quarterback Jay Cutler and his unknown backup next season.
As he speaks, Bates measures his words, often pausing before communicating his next thought. His eyes are intent, serious.
“I think he’s just what our defense needs,” Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said.
The résumé goes back 39 years, starting with 1968 when Bates was a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee. Then he coached in high school, college, the now-defunct United States Football League, the Arena League and, starting in 1991, the NFL.
“I liked it all,” Bates said. “I liked high school, and I thoroughly enjoyed college. In fact, I had never aspired to get into pro ball, but I was in Florida with coach (Steve) Spurrier, and opportunity came.”
When evaluating Bates’ background, remember that statistically, yards allowed may be a truer defensive measure than points allowed. How’s that? Points can be affected by a team’s offense and special teams. It’s not the defense’s fault when its quarterback throws an interception for a touchdown or a punt is blocked deep in its territory.
But yards can only be surrendered by the defense. Under coordinator Larry Coyer the past the two years, the Broncos’ defense ranked in the top 10 in points allowed, but often stayed on the field too long, ranking 14th and 15th in yards per game.
Again, it’s how stats are viewed. In six of Bates’ previous seven seasons as a defensive coordinator – one with the woeful 2005 Green Bay Packers and five with the Miami Dolphins – his defenses were ranked among the league’s top 10 in yards.
There were numbers on paper and there was the queasy feeling in Mike Shanahan’s stomach. The Broncos’ head coach felt a change was necessary. Coyer, defensive line coach Andre Patterson and linebackers coach Kirk Doll were fired after the Broncos’ 9-7 season and replaced with Bates, Bill Johnson and Joe Baker, respectively.
“We shook it up, and I know from talking to him, that hurt Mike,” Broncos safety John Lynch said. “I know it pained him to do that, because he’s a loyal guy. Everybody talks about how he has a comfortable lifetime contract and all that, but the man’s job and mission is to win a championship. He’s doing whatever he can to give us the best opportunity to win. People may not like all the decisions, but you respect him for doing it, because you know it wasn’t easy on him.”
A coaching shakeup is probably just phase one of the Broncos’ revamped defense for 2007. With the opening of the free-agent and trading markets Friday, the Broncos figure to alter their defensive roster, particularly up front, where Bates likes his ends attacking the pocket and his tackles to stand stout against the run.
“That’s the total objective right now with free agency and the draft coming up, to be better than we were in 2006,” Bates said.
With that, he was off to have some sushi, cold.
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
