The people have spoken: They still trust in John Elway.
Less than a week after the Broncos , they hired Elway’s former backup and coordinator, Gary Kubiak, to take the reins. It was a move that appeared to be in the works from the moment Fox said goodbye. And it was one that quickly won over many longtime Broncos fans.
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“I don’t think it’s a bad move,” said Lee Wasserman, a Broncos fan since 1983 who now lives in Atlanta. “Obviously as far as anything goes with coaching is you got to kind of wait to see how it pans out and see who he hires on his staff. It’s going depend upon how things come together.”
Kubiak’s history with the Broncos reaches back to 1983, when they drafted him in the eighth round (197th overall) to be Elway’s backup. He hung up his cleats after nine seasons and grabbed a clipboard to begin a coaching career that has extended over two decides and with four NFL teams, including the Broncos, whom he helped to back-to-back Super Bowl titles in 1997 and ’98.
On Monday, Denver welcomed Kubiak “home.” Elway greeted him on the tarmac of Centennial Airport. Former players, including and , applauded the hire. And fans across the country re-pledged their allegiance to the Orange and Blue.
Charles Anderson was one of them. A native of Grand Rapids, Mich., he has been a Broncos fan since 1984, when he watched a rookie Elway attempt to escape the wrath of Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain. The hiring of Kubiak, he said, was the right move.
“I’m excited because I think he’s going to have the team prepared,” said Anderson, who admitted he takes grief from his family of Lions loyalists for cheering on the Broncos. “They’re going to have a little bit of an edge. They’re going to be a little more tough-nose, and I think that’s what Elway was looking for.”
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The Broncos, coming off four consecutive AFC West titles and regular-season records of 13-3, 13-3, and 12-4 the past three years with Fox, have handed Kubiak a solid foundation, but a bevy of questions.
The biggest, of course, centers around Peyton Manning, the 17-year veteran who has yet to decide if he’ll make it 18. If he does return, many are already concerned his style won’t mesh with Kubiak’s zone-blocking offense and stretch-run plays.
“Guys like (Manning) and almost any pro athlete obviously have huge egos and I don’t think the way the season ended, I don’t think he wants to be remembered as that being his last game,” Wasserman said of Manning.
“It’ll be interesting to see how (Kubiak) works with Manning. I think that’s going to be a year, maybe two at the most. He’s not going to be around too much longer. So I do think that the way his offense is centered, as far as the stretch plays and those different kinds of things, if they decide to stick with Brock (Osweiler) it could be a good move. I think the league is moving toward that anyway, more of the mobile quarterbacks.
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickijhabvala
