I am really surprised by this although the Broncos have been pretty horrible on the defensive side of the ball since they were compared to the best defenses ever, when they were good about 3 years ago? I have defended Mike Shanahan to the end. The biggest problem is that there are already plenty of coaching vacancies in the NFL. Finding a replacement won't be easy unless and is possible knowing Pat Bowlen. If he already has Bill Cowher lined up, that wouldn't surprise me at all. Mike Shanahan's downfall, I think is when he cleaned house and got an all new defensive line about 2 years ago, it never worked. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3800768
he's a 2X superbowl champ who had 8 wins with 17 runningbacks, too. But the problem, like the guys above said was the defense.
Mike Shanahan was not only the head coach but the GM, offensive coordinator. He wore too many hats at the same time. He is a great coach but like we all know, when you are doing too many things it can catch up with you in a heartbeat if you aren't careful. Like I also said, some bad decisions were made over the last 3 years on the defensive side of the ball. The most brilliant move ever made IMHO, was the trade of Clinton Portis for Champ Bailey. That was almost as good as the Hershel Walker trade to the Vikings a few years back!
YES. My dad and I were talking about Shanahan being fired after the loss to SD. I thought he could get one more year, but I guess not. I was also surprised that Mangini got fired so quickly. I thought he would have one more year too.
I heard a couple of interesting tidbits on the drive home yesterday afternoon. The Broncos playoff record since they won their last Super Bowl is 1-7 and their overall record the past three years was 24-24. I think the 3 game skid they finished the season with, topped off by the blowout at San Diego was the final straw for Shanahan.
