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Published on 12/29/2008 at Mon Dec 29 10:56.
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Mike Shanahan: On the Hot Seat

Posted Mon Dec 29th by

Mike Shanahan looks on during the Broncos loss to the Panthers. (Getty Images)

Mike Shanahan looks on during the Broncos loss to the Panthers. (Getty Images)

UPDATE: Mike Shanahan has been fired.

I fully expect Mike Shanahan to be the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos in 2009.

Will Pat Bowlen fire him? It’s very unlikely. Bowlen has given him “Coach for Life” status.

Will Shanahan resign after missing the playoffs in three straight seasons? Probably not, but at this point, it seems the only way he would go.

But I’m officially putting Shanahan on the hot seat. And I’m making my case crystal clear: if the Broncos don’t make the playoffs in 2009, I’ll join the throng of anti-Shanahan fans and ask for his job after the season.

He promised the Broncos would make the playoffs this season, and that didn’t happen. He has plenty of excuses with his team decimated by injuries, but at the end of the day, the Broncos blew three straight opportunities to win a game and win the AFC West.

I think Shanahan is a good coach, but at some point you have to wonder if he’s lost the ear of his locker room. Is his message getting through to these players? And that’s why, for me, a lifelong Shanahan-backer, I’m ready to give him one more chance then move on if all we get is more of the same. One more chance.

And until then, he’s still our coach, and has my support.

Should the Broncos fire Head Coach Mike Shanahan?

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  • DaGunster

    It’s Bushes fault. Everything is Bushes fault. And ooh- you should make sure your posters here aren’t Charger Backers :-)

  • Roy

    I don’t think he needs to be fired, but I do think that he needs some of his power taken away so he can focus solely on his job. We need a real O and D coordinator’s, and a good GM. Shanny is best when he can focus on being a head coach, and its about time Bowlen grew enough balls to tell him that.

  • http://broncomadness.com Garrett Barnes

    I forgot about that promise… I still on the other hand back him as much as humanly possible. He is a good coach and all we need is to improve our defense. That means firing Bob Slowik. I agree with Roy though that our GM’s need to take charge at this point though.

  • Paty

    I agree that Shannahan doesn’t need to be fired. We need a real defensive coordinator and someone like Al Wilson with alot of heart and fire. Someone like Ray Lewis!!! He’s free next year let’s go get him!!

  • Boisebroncoguy

    I’m not ready to vote to fire Shanahan yet, but, if next year ends similarly and Bill Cowher is still available, then…………………..

  • kerry

    none of you get it. Shanny will NEVER give up his front office duties. he will have to be forcibly removed. and we all know, (well at least us Bronco fans who DONT live in fairy tale land) that Bowlen doesnt have the balls to remove Shanny. you people are blind!! it isnt Slowiks fault!! its the moron who makes the personel decisions. my god! how can none of you see that?!?!? we need a new coach, GM, O and D coordinator. the whole front office needs an overhaul. how many years of mediocrity do we have to endure before shanahan gets the boot?!?!?! and someone says sign Ray Lewis??? are you insane? the guy is 34 and that still wont solve the defensive woes!! all of you need to sto with this “oh if we sign this guy and draft ths guy we will be so much better” that is the biggest crock of horses**t i have ever heard. if we dont have a coach who can ACTUALLY coach then what is the point of bringing in big free agents. DUH!!! Shanahan is the problem. now i know you all will follow Shanahan right over the cliff if it means not hitting rockbottom. none of you care that this team hasnt taken the next step since Elway, because all of you are more concerned with not hitting rockbottom. you all have accepted mediocrity as the norm for this football team. all i hear is, “well who would you replace him with” and right now there are many prime candidates out there. but all of you think of some other candidate doesnt have 2 SB rings, then he isnt worthy of being the head coach of this team. what the hell planet are you people living on??!?!?!? Shanahan stays and its mediocrity again next year. bet on it!! because that is the Shanahan special. doing just enough to not hit bottom, but never doing anything to take it to the next level. nobody left to blame and nobody left for Shanahan to scapegoat. its all on him!!!

  • JRODZ

    I’m not sure we need to go as far as Kerry is suggesting. What is being thrown around as mediocrity is simply the cyclical nature of the NFL. I think a real step in the right direction would be for Shanahan & Bowlen to act quickly and sign a Mangini or Crennel as an “established” Defensive coordinator. Overhaul the whole defensive system and at least give it an identity. There’s a ton of holes in it, but we have a good core and really need someone to lead it. Drop dead weight like Bly, Boss Baily and all our safeties and aggressively pursue some 3rd & 4th year play makers who can actually tackle. It’s pretty bad now, but it can still be turned around. If it can happen in Miami with less talent, it can happen in Denver.

  • ryan

    What pick do we get? Hard to figure out with all the 8-8 teams.

  • Sabo

    Look. guys, I’m a loyal reader (although a sparse commenter outside of draft time) and an *avid* Broncos fan, but this year wasn’t the year. I don’t think any of us thought it would be 18 weeks ago, no matter how much optimism we had.

    I came to peace with not making the playoffs after the Bills loss. No RB and no D = no success, no matter how good Cutler and Marshall are. Sure it would have been great to win the game. But it’s also not bad to lose either considering we almost certainly would not have made it past the Colts next week. Let’s face it, the Broncos aren’t as good as the other teams in the playoffs this year. (And neither are the Chargers.) We need more pieces, and we have lost so much this year. In fact, I think the Broncos should be proud of what they accomplished considering all the personnel losses.

    Now, in April, we will be picking at 6-9 spots better than we otherwise would have (which means a better shot at one of the top tier LBs — Maualuga, that means you) and a weaker schedule next year.

    In addition to LB woes, we obviously have RB issues too. Here’s my prediction on that front: Hillis and Torain will be the major players, together with a new draft pick. Selvin will be next year’s Mike Bell. We certainly need to make some moves on the D-Line and in the secondary. Lots to do… We need to have offseason success on the defensive side, just as we have had on the offensive side in the last few years (namely, through the draft).

    Shanahan actually did a hell of a job considering all the personnel moves he was forced to make because of injury. He deserves to be coaching the Broncos for years to come. But he needs to make smart decisions this draft and in the free agent market.

  • http://yahoo Patrick Calton

    Elway, Sharp, Davis, Mecalfey are gone. Those days are gone, and Shanahan should have been gone a long time ago. Every year its the same crap. Same weak ass defence, same wrinkled little pissy face Shanahan on tv. Other teams have dumped their coaches just after a Season or two. For me this was just another embarrassing season. Denver wake up its time for Shanahan to leave. Quit living in the past.

  • http://BroncoTalk.net East

    I know Kerry’s views are highly unpopular at this website but there is a lot validity in what he’s saying.

    Shanahan cannot draft defensively. Everyone can sit here and make excuses about how he drafted Al Wilson and DJ Williams but linebackers are the easiest choices to make, seriously its hard to mess it up. Shanahan has drafted Jarvis Moss, Karl Paymah, Dominique Foxworth, Jeremey LeSeur, Jeff Shoate, Terry Pierce, Nick Eason, Bryant McNea, Clint Mitchell, Dorsett Davis, Sam Brandon, Chris Young, Willie Middlebrooks, and FINALLY Reggie Hayward.

    Do you notice that it took all of those players from the 2007 draft to the 2001 draft to actaully get to a decent player?

    I’m not saying fire Shanahan, but Slowik needs to go. Shanahan still is rubbing off on Bates and that will be great for the future. Defensively speaking we need someone who understands how to draft because the team cannot talk anymore of this.

  • http://BroncoTalk.net East

    http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?teamId=1400&type=team

    Check that out and see how many players are still on the team or are even still in the NFL

  • GrahamSlam89

    Dagunster, your an idiot, leave politics out of here. I come in here to get away from all that crap!

  • Colt

    Shanahan needs to go. He lost to Oakland and Kansas City and New England embarrased them on Monday night. Pathetic. Even in good years the Colts always embarrased them in the playoffs. Unfortunately Bowlen won’t fire him. I’ll take Schottenheimer or Cowher. Wade Phillips or Greg Robinson will be the “D” coord. next year. The offense needs Alex Gibbs back.

  • Justen

    How many years of losing seasons does Coach Mike get? Not making the Playoffs in the worst division of the NFL is a disgrace to old school Bronco fans. I will always reamain a Denver fan for life however what I saw last night was a bunch of guy’s who gave up ! The head coach is the man in charge to get these guy’s back in the game and the job was not done point blank. He should find another team that will accept 3 sub-par season in a row. The talent is there but the coaching staff is not including Mike. Please tell Cutler when he through’s a pick to get pissed off not walk to the side lines like it’s know big deal. Elway would never be caught making such bad mistakes and not careing. Jay needs to paly harder and with more fire in my opion he is a baby and only plays well when it’s handed to him. Last but not least how about retaining the running backs we bring in instead of trading them away the first chance we get it would also be nice if someone were smart enough to bring in a defensive lineman who can tackle giving up 52 points to an average team made me re-think paying hundreds of dollars for a ticket to see these guy’s who are over paid and have know reason to walk around town with a chip on there shoulder in there fancy car. They point blank sucked and should be paid by the job they do on the field when it counts maybe then they would be motivated to make a tackle. OK one more point if you consider yourself a star wide out and you trip over your own feet in the end zone you should find yourself on the bench next year until you prove you can play when it counts . Brandon Marshall like many other players are over paid and do not preform when it’s crunch time.

  • Cutty

    I hope that you all eat your crow! 13-3 with Jake Plummer and now two losing seasons with Mr. All world rocket arm pumpkin pie hair cutted freak. When the Broncos needed answers at D-line Shanny failed to deliver. Instead a drafted a QB and gave him weapons and protection that plummer never had. Imagine this for one second…. We draft a extremly talented linebacker instead of Cutler. We add Kearny (DE) in free agency. We give Plummer the o-line that is now in place. We add Marshal, Royal, and Stokley. Finally we add a real RB instead of a bull pen full of utility men. That spells victory my friends. For now I guess we better settle for a QB with a big arm, a losing record, and no deep ball touch.

    Is Cutler more physically talented than Plummer? Yes! Is this the direction we needed to go in order to win? No!

  • GrahamSlam89

    I agree 100% Cutty!

  • BroncoFan18

    You have a good point Cutty, but if you can’t see that Cutler’s going to be one of the best quaterbacks in this league, then you’re blind.

    I admit, I was an ardent supporter of Plummer. Plummer, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady had the highest winning percentage at the time Plummer was playing and we all know wins is the only stat that really matters.

    But Cutler IS the future of this franchise and without him we aren’t going anywhere I can assure you of that. The problem with this team isn’t Cutler, it’s the defense. It’s four or five years of terrible drafts (at least defensively) and failed free agents.

    The only way this team is going to improve is defense. And it starts with the D-line. That’s where we need to focus during the offseason.

  • primo1

    How much longer must we endure Shanahan? Long time Bronco fan that has had all he can stomach! Time for a change. No emotion on this team @ no leaders. Cower, better get him while the getting is good. Shotteinheimer, id take either one of these guys over Mike Shanahan, he is nothing but a middle of the road coach at best. Maybe our owner got his superbowl and doesnt care about the fans.Someone who guarantees something and does not deliver should be TERMINATED!!!!!

  • primo1

    Oh and by the way trade cutler.You have to have heart to play this game!!

  • JRODZ

    Come on now Cutty. Seriously? With this defense, Plummer would have been reeling like he did in Arizona. You can’t can’t seriously think our problems are at QB. If Plummer was as good as you remember, why is he playing handball instead of football? It’s all about the Swiss Cheese D.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    And give Cutler Plummer’s 2005-2006 defense and watch the 13-3 seasons flow. When you’re down by 20, you take more chances, period.

  • KMA

    There is no question that the easy answer for this is to fire Shanny. I wanted that to happen last year. But this year I don’t feel the same way even as we had a complete meltdown in the last 4 weeks of the season, there are still reasons to be hopeful and think that with some shrewd personnel moves on the defensive side, that we can get back in the right direction. Remember it wasn’t that long ago that we all wanted to see an improved offense. Well now it is here, Cutler, Marshall, Royal, Hillis, Torain, Scheffler, Clady. All young players, all good moves, now we need to repeat that success on the other side of the ball. I’m not against getting rid of Slowik, but it sounds as if that isnt going to happen. We need (you’re gonna hate me for saying this) to get rid of Bailey, Bly, Crowder, Moss, and some of the other defensive injury prone busts, and get younger, hungrier rookies. Woodyard is brilliant. get me 4-5 more of him and i’m saying we improve by 4 games, that gets us to 12-4 and the AFC West crown.
    next year we have Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, NY Giants, Patriots at home and Baltimore, Cincy, Philadelphia, Washington, and Indy on the road. It’s not going to get any easier.

  • KMA

    by the way looking at that home schedule, next year is a good year to have a season ticket!! :)

  • http://twitter.com/webdav Dave Simon

    The D was putrid. We need leadership on this team, and if it isn’t from the HC, it’s gotta come from somewhere. I miss Al Wilson more and more each year we have a D this weak. We need fire.

    But look at it this way, if we fire Shanny, who do we hire that will do a BETTER job? The only name I can think of that I might rather have starts with a K and ends with an UBIAK. And he has a job.

  • kerry

    hey KMA:

    you notice all those players you mentioned are all OFFENSIVE!!! Shanahan doesnt know how to draft defense.

    JRODZ:

    in case you didnt notice, Mangini and Crenell run the 3-4, Denver doesnt have the personel to run the 3-4. they already tried it this year and failed miserably!! Slowik isnt the problem!!! its Shanahan!! my god! a new d-coordinator wont fix anything because Shanahan will meddle in on the defensive side of the ball just like he does every year!!! do none of you pay attention!?!?!?!?!?1

  • http://BroncoTalk.net East

    Kerry I new D-Coordinator will make a huge difference if he has the power to. That would me Shanahan relenquishing some of his in order to benefit the defense. I agree with you in saying Shanahan is the problem, but only with the defense. Offensively he is a genius but he needs to stay on that side of the field.

  • http://laprit@lycos.com AtomicLeo

    Shanhan has to go. Why wait a year? It’s one more year that Champ and D.J. age.

    Let’s face it…..This team is no where near Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore, Indy, Buffalo, Jacksonville OR San Diego when it comes to D. We are AWFUL. There is no size or speed on the D-Line, the line backing core is a MASH unit, no safety, BLY is a freakin’ joke. It will take multiple drafts like the one we had in 2006 to fix the talent problem. Shanhan must either give up the GM hat or walk.

  • ryan

    Why is everyone ignoring the big “E” on the eye chart? Have you ever heard of a team with 7 RB’s on IR? It is insane! Bronco fans have taken for granted a good running game for to long and now none of us are factoring it into this late season collapse.

    Defense is on the field longer, and opposing defenses get to play cover 2 and never put 8 in the box because we have a guy who was selling cell phones at the mall in the backfield.

    Say what you will, but if Hillis stays healthy we finish 10-6, and control the game clock instead of having to pass the ball every play.

    I think the future looks bright with a healthy Hillis and Torian coming back next year.

  • JRODZ

    Don’t bust an O-Ring Kerry. So we follow your genius plan and wipe the whole front office and all the coaches? Well, there’s a plan. On planet “reality” it’s going to take a little more business & football sense than that. While you’re at it, have Bowlen dig deep and put together D-Line of free agents like Richard Seymore, Leonard Little, and Casey Hampton from Pittsburgh so we can run a 3-4.

  • kerry

    East:

    Shanahan will ALWAYS meddle in every facet of the team. he always has. why do you think no D-coordinator with any credentials will come to this team?? because they know Shanahan will stick his nose in the defense. Shanahan has an Ego that is the size of his castle and will forever meddle in everything thinking he can fix everything.

  • Bucky

    hey Ryan we pick 12 as far as i can figure, when the teams are all tied up by record the highest pick goes to the tied team with the easiest schedule. That would be the Broncos, that would put as at 12.

  • andy

    Fire Shanahan , What has he done since John Elway left . It is quite easy to see who was the real coach of the Broncos back then . Hire Bill Cower now and let hom hire a defensive cord. . Shanahan looked lost against the chargers , we need a change . Bill Cower would be the man to lite that fire we need . He would also be the guy to tell Cutler to shut up and play football , not run your mouth !! Cower would put us back on top . There is not a coach of his talent in the AFC West and he would walk us into the playoffs with his approach to the game each week . Shanahan promised a playoff apearance , he lied . We can do better , his ship has sailed .

  • MIAbronco

    everybody’s gotta stop with the, “once we get torain back” crap. what has the guy done but get injured and have success against the browns…..the browns.

  • marv

    guys the jets fired manigine

  • ryan

    Hey MIA bronco,

    I don’t know if your comment was directed at me but in no way did I imply getting Torian back would be like getting AP, but to equate it to “crap” is just silly.

    He is a promising player and coupled with Hillis it leaves the Broncos looking solid at RB.

  • http://broncotalk Frank

    I dont think Shanahan should be fired but someone should talk to him about getting some one in that can pick players. All I have seen for years are old players, Cleveland players and undersized, over achievers coming from the college ranks. Granted some have turned out well such as Royal but not enough. Royal has helped the offense but whats going on with the defense. I bet the average weight of the defense is 205 lbs; your typical high school team. Where’s the beef?

  • dishearted fan

    Will you all give me a frickin break! I have followed the broncos my entire life from conception to present and I really cannot understand why devote shanny fans still support him. He needs to go. He is just a mediocre offensive co-ordinator in wolf’s clothing. alway has been and always will be. The boys have a prolific offense, but the real problem is the defense. This year they have been ranked 28th in the league and the only reason they are not dead last is they played in an absolutely horrid division giving them an out not to be last. they cannot tackle at any position and the defensive line cannot muster enough pressure to squeeze the mustard out of a mustard bottle, the linebackers are consitently out of position and slow, the defensive backs are always 10 yards away from the nearest reciever from the start. Overall they are so bad they would let the University of Wyoming offense score 30 points a game againt them and the Cowboys were absolutely the worst I have seen in years. We need a head coach and a complete overhaul and if the new regime wishes to keep shanny as an o.c. then he would be back in his element where he belongs. Give me cower or somebody with a real set of b-lls.

  • Broncoholic

    I agree Ryan, especially on the Hillis argument. If Hillis stays healthy, I think we will be in good shape at RB next year. He’s a beast, somewhat in the Brandon Jacobs mold, only with better hands. While Torain still has a lot to prove IMO, Hillis is the real deal. If he plays 16 games next year, with our line & scheme, he could be among the league leaders in rushing.

  • broncoNM

    Plummer ruled and im stoked about his sweet handball gig. Maybe Bradlee Van Pelt? Whats he up to? Jay Cutler is the real deal. Cutler and the offense will be fine. We will have a decent to good run game next year and this young talented offense will only get better. Our QB situation is seriously the last thing im worried about. Shanahan as everyone knows needs to let go of the defensive side of the ball and work on red zone offense and ball security. Get a DC to take care of the Defense and stick to offense. Shanahan has got to realize this. Its not tme to let him go but i would say this is the closest he as ever been to the hot seat.

  • Jehremy

    I don’t think that you can lay this on Shanahan. Especially with seven IR running backs. The deffense needs a lot of work I will agree with that. But if you can’t run the ball then you become one dementional and teams will just pick you apart. If you are a one dimentional team you are not going to win.

  • jchase8410

    He needs to be held accountable for his PROMISE to Broncos fans…We will make the playoffs this year…I call bullsh!t…when you consistantly give up 30Points a game, you will never make the playoffs…ever. I went to that game Sunday night and saw a team that just didn’t care. They played the same Generic ass defense they have been playing all year. It is a ridiculous scheme that creates no pressure on the opposing teams. Even QBs who “suck” are good enough to have made it to the NFL, and can throw a ball to a wide open reciever after giving him 7 seconds to get open.
    I am giving Shanahan one more season to produce a solid defense, and I know Kerry, its not likely to happen, before I jump on the fire Shanny wagon.

  • the decider13

    To whoever asked….we have the 12th overall pick, again. We did ok with it last year, heres hoping to this year.

  • Roy

    To everyone suggesting we fire Shanny, that’s fine, but you do not fire someone when there is no one to come in and take his place. Cower said he is nbot coaching in 09, so get over that. There are currently 3 other teams without coaches, with possibly more on the way. Couple that with all the other coordinators that are getting canned, and thet chances we have of grabbing anyone worthwile is minimal.

  • Kathy

    Mike Shanahan needs an “attitude” adjustment. He is so “blah” on the football field. Like he doesn’t care if he is there or not. I believe this is carrying over to the players. They never seem motivated to be there.

  • Ashlee

    Shanny is our coach and he is a GREAT coach. We need to improve our defense and stay injury free. Next year is our year for greatness!

  • fischdog

    Mike Shanahan was a great coach in 1998, not in 2008! The game has totally passed him by and his ego cannot handle this fact. His ego is way out of control and has dragged this team down for several years now.

    The worst mistake Shanhan ever made was firing Greg Robinson. Ever since that GM move it has been downhill ever since then. Sad fact but it is true. An offensive genius no doubt and the best Denver Bronco coach ever!! But we need a coach who knows how to win in 2008!

  • http://yahoo BILL

    Mike is a good coach ,but are D needa help. Champ can’t play injured as a coach I would have picked on him all game.

  • Kurt

    I agree that if Hillis stays healthy we go 10-6. The defense is really bad and changes must be made but there were points where the O could have helped but kept going 3-and-out and could not get first downs because of our running game was bad. With a better running game and the ability to pound it out and keep our D off the field, things would have been different. That is why we looked so good in that stretch Hillis played. That and the rookies on D played with heart and attitude. The best thing we can do is get some D linemen who can put some pressure on the QB and make the opposing team make some mistakes. D-backs can’t cover forever and it sure looked like the opposing QBs would pull out a lawn chair and wait for their receivers to get open. We are what, last in the turnover department (and have been for two years)? Our D was not disruptive at all and that starts with the D-line. We also need some emotional leaders. I know this is a business but you can’t play w/o an attitude. We need someone to inspire and I don’t think we have that in any of our coaches or veterans (maybe a rookie or two but I have not seen enough of them). I know some of the guys show emotion but I don’t believe you get any respect when you get burnned 8 out of 10 plays and then do a little dance after you make one good play. That is not inspiring. Save that until you start being consistent. After the D-line we need a safety or two and then a mike. I don’t think Webster is the answer but he is better than any of the guys we played at safety. Our O is good (may possibly be great) and we should devote the entire draft to the D. If Shanny is smart he brings in a consultant to help him with his picks. Someone who has a reputation and ability to be able to assess the potential of defensive players. I know there are some players available in FA but they never seem to be the answer. How many times have we been burned with FA? I say draft and accept that it will take at least a season for the D to get where we want. We are the worst D in the league so the only way we can go is up. I think if we find a few impact players the D will move to the middle of the pack and that might be enough to get to the playoffs.

  • andy

    There are plenty of coaches out there . Jimmy Johnson could be lured back to coach if he was offered a head coach gig where he had control . The old coach of the NY Giants Fassel , he is a winner . Also he guarenteed a playoff spot for the Giants a while back and came through ! And last but not least , Manguenius is available . He is a great coach that had a guy not as honest with himself as Mr. Elway and stayed toooooo long . With Cutler he could use the knowledge Bellaasswhole taught him . There is life after Shanahan . Shanahan reminds me of Mr. Torre from the New York Yankees in his last years . He thought he could just walk through the season and get a playoff spot . Your name does not get you a playoff win , the team does !!! GET COWER !!!

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