Mike Shanahan likes to call Denver the closest thing the NFL has to a college atmosphere. And why not? With a passionate fan base, jam-packed stadium and generally even-handed media, coaching the Broncos is much like coaching at the University of Florida, Shanahan’s last stop before graduating to the pro game.
Well, don’t look now, but there’s trouble on campus.
The Broncos’ three-year run of mediocrity — Thursday’s victory over Cleveland moved them to 21-20 since the 2005 AFC championship game — has made for a groundswell of discontent among fans. And make no doubt, Shanahan has heard the boos. He acknowledged last week that this has been the most difficult time of his 14 years as head coach.
“It’s a challenge right now,” Shanahan said. “Any time you lose a couple of guys like we’ve lost, it’s a great challenge to our coaches and our players. Guys have got to step up.”
The litany of injuries, including those to defensive captains Champ Bailey and D.J. Williams, is one of many issues confronting the Broncos. Quarterback Jay Cutler has been wildly inconsistent, accounting for most of the Broncos’ 16 turnovers in a five-game span before breaking loose for a career-high 447 passing yards vs. the Browns. Those 16 turnovers have left the Broncos at minus-11 for the season, last in the NFL.
Then there’s the team’s porous defense, which qualified as a patchwork unit even before injuries hit. Only three of the usual 11 starters are draft choices, the others free-agent signees or trade acquisitions. A year after allowing 409 points, the highest total of the Shanahan era, the defense is on pace to yield 446, a total which hasn’t been seen since the Broncos’ laughingstock days of the ’60s.
Before the comeback victory Thursday night, the Broncos were arguably at their lowest point since Shanahan succeeded Wade Phillips in 1995. But the answer to the question is no. There are no visible signs Shanahan’s job is in jeopardy.
Not that he isn’t feeling the pressure.
“I understand that this is a performance-based business,” Shanahan said. “If you don’t perform, you don’t keep your job. I understand that as well as anybody. . . . The bottom line is, if (owner) Pat (Bowlen) feels like someday his best interests are to go in another direction, I know he’d sit down with me and we’d have a great conversation. Because he’s a great owner, one of the best. That’s his decision, to feel what direction he wants to go.
“I know one thing, I plan on fulfilling my contract and turning this thing around.”
Downward spiral since 2005
Bowlen declined an interview request for this story, but has steadfastly supported Shanahan in the face of the team’s decline from the glory days of 1996-98, when it won two Super Bowls and more games in a three-year span than any team in NFL history.
Others within the Broncos organization haven’t been so fortunate. Shanahan’s coaching staff once was a model of stability. In recent years he has fired two defensive coordinators, Greg Robinson and Larry Coyer, and another, Jim Bates, resigned under pressure. Still another, Ray Rhodes, asked for his release for health-related issues, only to take the same job with Seattle soon after.
Then there’s former general manager Ted Sundquist, who was fired by Shanahan this year for what Bowlen referred to as a dysfunctional environment in the team’s player-personnel department.
Through it all, Bowlen stayed resolute in his faith in Shanahan despite a lone playoff victory since 1998. It’s a type of faith neither of Shanahan’s predecessors experienced.
Dan Reeves, like Shanahan, once was viewed as the Broncos’ coach for as long as he wanted the job. But he was fired one year after taking the team to the 1991 AFC championship game. Reeves, under Bowlen’s ownership, took the Broncos to three Super Bowls in a span of four years and never missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. His departure came after his philosophical differences with quarterback John Elway erupted into a public feud.
Phillips was fired after two seasons, 1993-94, during which the Broncos went 16-16 and made one playoff appearance. Shanahan was hired in January 1995, a matter of days after winning a Super Bowl ring as the 49ers’ offensive coordinator. Since then, he has climbed to 17th on the list of all-time winningest coaches in NFL history.
With two Super Bowl victories, he figures to get strong consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but his image as one of the game’s great strategists has taken a beating.
The team’s downward spiral has accelerated since 2005, when Pittsburgh beat the Broncos in the AFC championship game. The Broncos started 7-2 the next season, only to lose four consecutive games and miss the playoffs. Last season, with their defense in disarray, the Broncos had separate stretches of four losses in five games and five out of six.
The 2008 season began with considerable promise, what with Cutler going into his third season in Shanahan’s offense. About the same time frame had produced a Super Bowl victory for Elway, a 19-touchdown, four-interception season for Brian Griese, and a conference-championship game appearance for Jake Plummer.
Sure enough, the Broncos broke out of the gate 3-0 this season, and averaged 38 points per game. But a malaise has since set in, compounded by key injuries, mounting turnovers, a charge by Bailey that the defensive players’ “attitude stinks” and a public questioning last week of defensive coordinator Bob Slowik’s pass-coverage strategy by wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
Said Shanahan, when asked if he felt like he was still connecting with the players: “I don’t think that really has anything to do with it. If anything, you get better at it because you’ve kind of been through it. You’ve been through the highs and the lows, and you understand what’s important and what’s not important. But the bottom line is, offensively, we’ve got some young, talented players. You’ve seen that at times, with the level we’ve played at, but to win games in the NFL, you’ve got to play like that every week.”
Young talent stockpiled
Yes, at times, the Broncos have been impressive. Case in point: Thursday night, when they showed considerable guts and determination in rallying from a 23-10 deficit. But at other times, they’ve been nothing short of an embarrassment.
They’ve allowed 40-plus points four times in the past two-plus seasons, one fewer than the first 11 seasons of Shanahan’s regime. They were outscored 64-6 by the Chargers in two games in 2007, including a 41-3 loss at home when Invesco Field was half-empty in the third quarter.
Shanahan’s critics point to his draft-day failures — three players remain from the 2001-05 drafts — as the overriding reason for the Broncos’ decline. But any such criticism has to be balanced by an appreciation of recent drafts. Nine starters, seven on offense, have arrived in the past three drafts, including four from 2006. And that doesn’t count tight end Tony Scheffler, who essentially is a starter in passing formations.
Of those nine young players, several appear headed for stardom, including Cutler, Marshall and rookies Ryan Clady and Eddie Royal. Those are the names Shanahan plans to build around.
“I feel very good about the direction of the franchise,” Shanahan said. “We’ve got a lot of talent, more talent than we’ve probably had since I’ve been here with young players on offense. But there are always going to be growing pains with young players.
“I understand the big picture. I understand you’ve got to get through these highs and lows. If you can’t work through it, then you’re not in it very long.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
“D” stands for decline
The Broncos’ defense is at its lowest point since Mike Shanahan became head coach in 1995. Here’s a look at the point totals allowed by the Denver defense in the past five seasons, plus the projected total for this season:
Season Points allowed Record
2003 301 10-6
2004 304 10-6
2005 258 13-3
2006 305 9-7
2007 409 7-9
2008 446* 5-4
* Projected point total
