Talk about the old yin and yang.
In the same place where, roughly two weeks earlier, Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen had tried to hold back tears as he announced he fired Mike Shanahan and where Shanahan had tried to hold back tears when he announced he understood why Bowlen had fired him, there was Josh McDaniels.
Standing at the same podium, all smiles, filled with excitement and plans, ready to pull on a hoodie and get to work.
McDaniels was a winner in the coaching lottery this week because he got one of the spots.
And no matter that virtually every guy who’s ever taken an NFL head coaching job leaves it because he has been fired, virtually every guy who has worked in the league wants to be one.
When Miami Dolphins assistant head coach Todd Bowles arrived to interview for the Broncos job, he said simply, “There are only 32 jobs like this in America.”
It just seems like all 32 are open this year.
But the Browns, the Jets, the Lions, the Rams and the Broncos were all looking for new head coaches at one point. And the Chiefs, now that they have hired a new general manager in Scott Pioli, could be looking for one, too, in the near future if they don’t give Herm Edwards a little more time.
The Broncos got theirs in McDaniels, the Browns got theirs in Eric Mangini.
But they all are looking for the same thing — football prosperity and a trophy or two along the way wouldn’t hurt.
All the new guys come in and promise to bring intelligence and toughness to the equation — McDaniels’ exact words were, “I want this team to be tough, smart, prepared to play well under pressure” — and all promise to fix what’s been broken before they arrived.
They have to, it is how it all works.
No team owner wants to hear you “might” be able to get it done or that you’re “pretty sure” the players will get the message or that “you know with a little luck” you might win eight or so next year.
They want to hear the fire, see the brimstone, feel the power and whatnot.
Still, the searches this year all around the league have looked a little different, had a different vibe to them, from years past.
During this past season, when Atlanta’s Mike Smith, Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and Miami’s Tony Sparano, who all had been under- the-radar, outside-the-glamour- loop picks when they had been hired, were all rolling to playoff spots, it was natural to wonder if the three would affect the coaching searches that followed them.
Just being football guys hired to coach football. And it appears they did.
McDaniels is one of those guys, even at just 32 years old. He’s a coach’s son who already has hired a coach’s son in Mike Nolan to coach the team’s defense and who is considering hiring another one in Mike Priefer to coach special teams.
Then there has been plenty of youth in the people getting the interviews, a bit of a departure for league owners. Bowlen interviewed two 32-year-olds in McDaniels and Buccaneers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
The oldest candidate the Broncos interviewed was one of their own — 50-year-old Rick Dennison. Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is 49 as is Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
Bowles is 45 and Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is 43.
So, when Bowlen made the stunning decision to turn the corner on having Shanahan as his coach, he obviously made the decision to turn back the clock on the job as well.
It’s something he believes, after sitting through interviews with the group he looked over, other owners also will soon see.
“A lot of these younger guys coming out are really well-schooled and have the ability to run a team … ” Bowlen said. “And a lot of these younger guys are ready to be head coaches in my mind.”
Bowlen also said the current crop of hopefuls has learned to bridge the gap between being considered an “offensive guy” or “defensive guy.”
McDaniels made it a point in his presentation to the team that despite being an offensive coordinator with the Patriots, he believed he was ready to coach the entire team.
It was a message Garrett also came prepared to give.
“I think the biggest thing that teams are looking for in a head coach is a head coach,” Garrett said. “Someone who is the head coach of the entire team. And certainly coordinators come to that situation with a certain perspective — an offensive guy, a defensive guy — but I think the best head coaches are the ones who embrace the entire job.”
A job so coveted despite the fact it almost never ends with a smile. It is the stove they all want to touch even after watching everyone before them get burned.
“It’s the opportunity,” Bowles said. “You work for that opportunity. You prepare for it every day, to be a head coach. You know the business and when you choose to be in this business you understand it. But it is the opportunity everybody wants and the one you have to be ready for all the time.”
FAST LEARNERS
First-year Ravens coach John Harbaugh and second-year Steelers coach Mike Tomlin comprise one of the least experienced duos to face off in a conference championship game in league history.
Season Coaches (regular-season games) Total
1970 John Madden, Raiders (28); Don McCafferty, Colts (14) 42
2008 John Harbaugh, Ravens (16); Mike Tomlin, Steelers (32) 48
2006 Sean Payton, Saints (16); Lovie Smith, Bears (48) 64
2000 Brian Billick, Ravens (32); Jon Gruden, Raiders (48) 80
2001 Andy Reid, Eagles (48); Mike Martz, Rams (32) 80
(Jeff Legwold writes for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver)
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