John Fox has already told one team he has taken over in his career it wasn’t tough enough. The Broncos may have to get themselves ready to hear the same thing in the coming weeks.
There were times over the last two seasons when some Broncos players bristled at the “negative” feedback they received from the team’s coaches — that the guys at the front of the meeting rooms were too tough on them at times, too unwilling to admit some good had been mixed in with the bad.
It was especially true after Josh McDaniels’ first season — 2009 — when a smattering of veteran players were dissecting the team’s crumble down the stretch to finish 8-8 after a 6-0 start. Those veterans said some of the team’s younger, less-experienced players were going to have to toughen up some.
This season the team’s cave-in against the Raiders — a 59-14 loss in Invesco Field at Mile High — came the week following a hard-fought loss to the Jets. In retrospect, there are many who work for the Broncos who will say the players felt pretty good after the Jets game about their efforts and where those efforts may lead them, but they were met with a pile of negative thoughts to the contrary by McDaniels and the staff the next week.
And the dismal effort against the Raiders was the response to that.
The Broncos really never recovered from that. Spygate and a pile of losses closed out the season.
The team’s decision-makers also have made their choice to dig out from that, and it’s Fox.
Fox is not considered a negative-reinforcement coach. He is continually lauded by the guys who played for him, including many players who suffered with him through the Panthers’ 2-14 season, for keeping things together, keeping guys practicing hard and playing with at least some emotion.
But make no mistake: He’s a tough guy who not only preaches tough football, but practices it on the way to each Sunday.
And the Broncos’ defense isn’t going to be somebody else’s problem on the coaching staff now, it’s going to be the head guy’s deal. The head coach isn’t going to be meeting with the quarterbacks for much of the week or calling offensive plays on game day.
He won’t be sitting, looking at pictures, when his own defense is on the field.
No, the guys who play defense for the Broncos can expect a new day. This will be a new experience for all of them.
Defense is on the front burner. The running game is on the front burner. Roll-up-your-sleeves football is on the front burner.
And it’s just a different deal when the head coach is keenly interested in your side of the ball. Frankly, it’s time the Broncos show interest and commitment to a defense that has not been at a championship level for quite some time.
Fox will show that interest, that commitment. It’s why he is the Broncos’ pick as the franchise’s 14th head coach.
Almost a decade ago, he stood in front of a Panthers team that had finished 1-15 and told those players they weren’t tough enough. So the Broncos should dig in — they’re probably about to hear the same thing.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
