Josh McDaniels was falling down, falling down, well before London.
Would he have been the Broncos’ coach in 2011 if not for the video infraction?
Maybe not. For as the McDaniels era dragged on in season two, it became increasingly apparent his immense football intelligence was too often clouded by his emotional volatility.
During McDaniels’ long, introductory news conference in January 2009, one statement about his team philosophy stuck out: “I want this team to be tough, smart and prepared to play well under pressure.”
Play well under pressure. The Broncos, remember, had just finished a 2008 season in which they had blown a three- game lead with three to play.
Mike Shanahan’s teams were known for starting fast, but fading late. When the pressure was on, in other words.
Now here comes the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, the most poised team in the league with their cool quarterback and emotionless head coach. The Pats are not flash. They are cold, calculating efficiency.
Broncos owner Pat Bowlen believed his team wasn’t going to just win under McDaniels; it would win when it mattered most.
Instead, the head coaching position turned McDaniels into a spaz.
“I think Josh had some really good concepts coming in,” said former Broncos great Karl Mecklenburg. “The franchise had gotten away from the team concept at the end of Shanahan’s tenure and I know Pat wanted to get it back to a team game. And that’s what McDaniels was trying to do. Unfortunately I don’t think he really knew how to do it.”
McDaniels’ history in developing quarterbacks other than Jay Cutler can’t be denied. He can again become a successful NFL offensive coordinator with a pass- oriented team. As an architect, he was correct in transitioning the Broncos to bigger and stronger players up front and at linebacker.
McDaniels’ greatest flaw as head coach, however, was he wasn’t presidential enough. Eric Studesville is presidential. The Broncos can do worse than remove the “interim” portion of his new title.
If McDaniels eventually does get another chance at becoming an NFL head coach, he must work on his sideline comportment. Ease up on the fist pumps in victories or when the good guys score. Dial down the animated lectures when the bad guys are in control and all is not well.
The first sign McDaniels was too high- strung for such a monumental job was in victory. It occurred when his Broncos defeated his former Patriots in Game 5 last season.
It wasn’t necessarily McJaygate, because that was a he said-he said case. No one really knew what to believe in the dispute between McDaniels and Cutler.
But men, women, children and God saw McDaniels lose it against the Pats. First he reacted too angrily at special- teams coordinator Mike Priefer during the game. Then McDaniels was way too exuberant afterward. McDaniels was 5-0 after the New England game, on his way to 6-0, so his emotional displays were mostly praised locally, if still a turnoff in enemy lands such as the head coaching office of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Either way, successful leaders can’t act that way. With the game in the fourth quarter this year, the Broncos were either leading, tied or within one score of Jacksonville, Indianapolis, the New York Jets, San Francisco, St. Louis and Kansas City.
The Broncos lost them all. There were similar scenarios last season in games against Pittsburgh, Washington, Indian- apolis, Oakland and Philadelphia. That’s 11 games in two years the Broncos either lost, or failed to seize, in the win-or-else fourth quarter.
McDaniels finished with an 11-17 record, so you do the math on what could have been.
McDaniels is a good man. He’s got more guts than his millions of critics put together. He holds hands with his wife in public.
“I’ll always do that,” he said.
To know him is to like him. But many people who didn’t really know him didn’t like him. His uneven sideline decorum was the biggest reason.
It did not inspire confidence in the masses, and more important, in the players, who needed it to play well under pressure.
Eye on …
Sam Bradford, QB, Rams
What’s up: The rookie has helped turn a team that was 1-15 last season into one that is 6-6 and tied for the NFC West lead. Bradford and the Rams meet Drew Brees and the Saints at 2 p.m. today in the Superdome.
Background: Check out the first five games played by the No. 1 overall draft pick vs. the next seven games.
First five: 2-3 record, .567 completion percentage, eight touchdown passes and eight interceptions.
Next seven: 4-3, .640, nine and two.
Klis’ take: Going back to the 2000 draft, when Chad Pennington was selected No. 18 overall, there have been 28 quarterbacks taken in the first round. Michael Vick and Ben Roethlisberger might be the best all-around quarterbacks in that group. Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers are the best passers. But when their careers are finished, Bradford, if he can stay healthy, may well wind up higher on the all-time passing lists than any of them. Rivers and Rodgers got late starts on their passing stats. It’s way early for Bradford, but he has the makings of a once-a-decade QB.
On the hot seat
Kubiak, GM Smith under microscope in Houston
Who: Gary Kubiak, coach; Rick Smith, GM, Texans.
When: Monday night vs. the Baltimore Ravens at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.
Why: Kubiak and Smith were with the Broncos until they headed to Houston in 2006. It appears the Texans will miss the playoffs for a fifth season. Even if they’re under contract through 2012, Kubiak and Smith can’t afford to lose the rest of their games. Attractive as it may sound to some, it’s not likely Kubiak and Smith will return to Denver as a coach-GM duo. It sounds too much like Mike Shanahan without the steakhouse and 35,000-square-foot mansion.
Ups and downs
THREE UP
1. Patriots: Can you really blame Pat Bowlen for at least trying to bring the methods of the No. 1 franchise to Denver?
2. Steelers: They have wins against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Baltimore. Only losses were to Baltimore, New Orleans, New England.
3. Bears: QB Jay Cutler has clinched his first winning season since his senior year in high school.
THREE DOWN
1. Chiefs: Sure, they’ve won three in a row. Yes, they have a 2-game lead with four to go. But QB Matt Cassel had appendicitis attack just in time for the Chargers showdown.
2. Jets: When it comes to mind games, Rex Ryan was served by Bill Belichick.
3. Titans: Too bad they haven’t won at least one for the Dinger.
