Shown the Door

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Sunday night in Denver was an unpleasant night to be a football fan. The Broncos, with a loaded roster and a chance to advance simply looked dazed and confused and unprepared on the field and because of their poor play, injury or not, they saw the game against the Colts slip away from them and of course they lost the game.  

Naturally, every fan I know was angry in some capacity, myself included. I took to venting and got into a spirited discussion with Scotty and another friend as to who should go and who should stay coaching wise where it was pointed out to me my "fire them all" moment could be a dangerous wish. After all, a complete housecleaning would mean some level of rebuilding and heaven knows we have all had our share of that in this town.  At the time I was mad, and as it turns out so was Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway, and his anger carried into Monday as he decided it was time for a change.  

Yes, after meeting for an hour with Head Coach John Fox, the two men decided to mutually part ways, sending Coach Fox out into the market and leaving Denver looking for a new direction at the position. It was a stunning move to say the least, but quite frankly, one that makes sense and one that I think was clearly a long time coming, especially after this season.  After all, John Elway is a competitor, who hates to lose and his hire of Fox was doomed from the start.  

You see, Fox has always been a conservative coach, something that was evident in his time here in Denver. In fact his play it safe nature was on display in full view during pretty much every playoff game the Broncos participated in in his tenure. We were never too aggressive, always bending but never breaking and well...we lost three of the last four Divisional games because of it.  Not to mention Coach Fox always seemed to struggle with making adjustments during the game, always wanting to simply stay the course and once in a while that cost us a win.  

It's a decision that makes more sense with every passing moment.  After all Elway gave Fox every tool to succeed and well, we ended up being embarrassed in the Super Bowl and we simply didn't get it done this year. It always falls on the coach and despite the fact there will be some rebuilding now I'm honestly good with the move. The front office has the chance to hire a fiery competitor who will give this team an identity and focus and I would rather do that and build some consistency rather than keep flirting with glory.  The lesson learned here for the next head coach and quite frankly the team, is that you better win in this town or John Elway will show you the door.  

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