WARHORSE
06-02-2010, 03:55 AM
If Woody Paige says it.................they will come.
Josh McDaniels, like all math majors, knows the square root of pi, but, unlike his predecessor, does not know the square footage of the home he has bought.
"No idea," the Broncos coach said when I asked in a recent conversation.
It is not a palatial, 35,000-square- foot mansion in Cherry Hills Village, but rather a nice, medium- size house in a south suburban Denver subdivision.
"The most important thing is Laura (his wife) and I got a big yard for the kids (Jack Thomas, 6, and Maddie, 4) to play in."
McDaniels isn't renting.
Despite what many of his detractors desire, the 34-year-old coach, approaching the second season of his four-year contract agreement that will pay him $2.7 million in 2010, intends to be in Denver and with the Broncos for a long, long time.
"Used to, people would ask me where I was from, and I'd say Ohio (where he was born and lived his first 22 years). Now, I say I'm from Denver. This is home, where we want to raise our kids. In the last year and a half I've found out why everybody else loves Colorado. We don't ever want to leave."
The purveyors of such websites as FireJoshMcDanielsnow.com and JoshMcDaniels(stinks).com and others won't be happy until he is gone.
Only two of the Broncos' previous coaches reached the playoffs in their first seasons (Red Miller and Wade Phillips). But McDaniels' failure to do so stung the deepest to the most for myriad reasons: He (1) replaced Mike Shanahan, the 14-season, two-time Super Bowl-winning coach, (2) was only 32 and without head coaching experience, (3) came from the successful but despised Patriots, (4) soon listened to a trade possibility involving Jay Cutler, then tangled with the Pro Bowl quarterback and finally dealt him, (5) seemed to have a Bill Belichick attitude and arrogance, (6) suspended Brandon Marshall in training camp, and lastly, (7) wore a hoodie.
The furor subsided when the Broncos opened last season with six consecutive victories.
However, he coached the Broncos to eight losses in their last 10 games, and there was no playoff spot. He was heard to say a discouraging word on the sideline during a nationally televised game, didn't play Peyton Hillis at running back, deactivated Marshall and Tony Scheffler before the final, humiliating loss at home to Kansas City, got rid of Hillis, Marshall and Scheffler in the offseason, drafted Tim Tebow and two injured wide receivers and wore a hoodie.
"I would never say I had a good season last year. I didn't," McDaniels offered in a succinct self-appraisal. There has been a learning curve for the son of a coach with a college degree in math.
But Coloradans still haven't learned much about Josh. Here are some things you should know:
He is not a robotic invention of Belichick. McDaniels possesses a very pleasant personality in private as well as a sense of humor. He has begun to expose both traits in public in recent months. He genuinely is shy. (Three years ago, Josh hired a professional to help him in speaking situations.)
At his final predraft news conference, Josh was open, funny and, rare for a coach, honest in his evaluations of several college prospects — including Tebow, to whom he lavished praise. The coach gave everybody a clue when he said he would draft Tebow if he could find a way to do it. He did it.
He was criticized for trash- talking a Chargers player before the Broncos' game
Post sports columnist Woody Paige fields your questions. Look for Woody's Mailbag on Thursdays.
in San Diego, and for his obscenity during the Thanksgiving game in Denver against the Giants. Both situations proved that Josh is intensely competitive — and emotional. He's organized. (Check his practices and office desktop.) He's solid, sharp, smart, savvy.
He has committed this offseason to getting out into the community and meeting folks and kids. He has addressed charity, civic and school groups — focusing particularly on asthma research. Josh and his son have chronic asthma.
McDaniels is committed to his family time. The four have visited Elitch's, the mountains and the 16th Street Mall and soon will go on a Florida vacation. They hang out in "the big yard." Josh and Laura also spent a weekend in the enemy camp — staying at the venerable Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego.
McDaniels is committed to a family locker room. He and John Elway have become friends and will be golf partners this summer. Elway told McDaniels that the Super Bowl champions didn't have as much talent as other Broncos teams, but they were closer on the field and off and had great leadership, and there were no me-first players. McDaniels' own beliefs were strengthened by what he heard.
McDaniels is committed to winning — and fearless in making brash, controversial decisions.
McDaniels is committed to Denver.
The Broncos will be a Super Bowl team again. McDan- iels will be a successful, popular coach. He will not be leaving anytime soon.
Josh will own more championship rings — and maybe a restaurant with his name on it.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15207278
Josh McDaniels, like all math majors, knows the square root of pi, but, unlike his predecessor, does not know the square footage of the home he has bought.
"No idea," the Broncos coach said when I asked in a recent conversation.
It is not a palatial, 35,000-square- foot mansion in Cherry Hills Village, but rather a nice, medium- size house in a south suburban Denver subdivision.
"The most important thing is Laura (his wife) and I got a big yard for the kids (Jack Thomas, 6, and Maddie, 4) to play in."
McDaniels isn't renting.
Despite what many of his detractors desire, the 34-year-old coach, approaching the second season of his four-year contract agreement that will pay him $2.7 million in 2010, intends to be in Denver and with the Broncos for a long, long time.
"Used to, people would ask me where I was from, and I'd say Ohio (where he was born and lived his first 22 years). Now, I say I'm from Denver. This is home, where we want to raise our kids. In the last year and a half I've found out why everybody else loves Colorado. We don't ever want to leave."
The purveyors of such websites as FireJoshMcDanielsnow.com and JoshMcDaniels(stinks).com and others won't be happy until he is gone.
Only two of the Broncos' previous coaches reached the playoffs in their first seasons (Red Miller and Wade Phillips). But McDaniels' failure to do so stung the deepest to the most for myriad reasons: He (1) replaced Mike Shanahan, the 14-season, two-time Super Bowl-winning coach, (2) was only 32 and without head coaching experience, (3) came from the successful but despised Patriots, (4) soon listened to a trade possibility involving Jay Cutler, then tangled with the Pro Bowl quarterback and finally dealt him, (5) seemed to have a Bill Belichick attitude and arrogance, (6) suspended Brandon Marshall in training camp, and lastly, (7) wore a hoodie.
The furor subsided when the Broncos opened last season with six consecutive victories.
However, he coached the Broncos to eight losses in their last 10 games, and there was no playoff spot. He was heard to say a discouraging word on the sideline during a nationally televised game, didn't play Peyton Hillis at running back, deactivated Marshall and Tony Scheffler before the final, humiliating loss at home to Kansas City, got rid of Hillis, Marshall and Scheffler in the offseason, drafted Tim Tebow and two injured wide receivers and wore a hoodie.
"I would never say I had a good season last year. I didn't," McDaniels offered in a succinct self-appraisal. There has been a learning curve for the son of a coach with a college degree in math.
But Coloradans still haven't learned much about Josh. Here are some things you should know:
He is not a robotic invention of Belichick. McDaniels possesses a very pleasant personality in private as well as a sense of humor. He has begun to expose both traits in public in recent months. He genuinely is shy. (Three years ago, Josh hired a professional to help him in speaking situations.)
At his final predraft news conference, Josh was open, funny and, rare for a coach, honest in his evaluations of several college prospects — including Tebow, to whom he lavished praise. The coach gave everybody a clue when he said he would draft Tebow if he could find a way to do it. He did it.
He was criticized for trash- talking a Chargers player before the Broncos' game
Post sports columnist Woody Paige fields your questions. Look for Woody's Mailbag on Thursdays.
in San Diego, and for his obscenity during the Thanksgiving game in Denver against the Giants. Both situations proved that Josh is intensely competitive — and emotional. He's organized. (Check his practices and office desktop.) He's solid, sharp, smart, savvy.
He has committed this offseason to getting out into the community and meeting folks and kids. He has addressed charity, civic and school groups — focusing particularly on asthma research. Josh and his son have chronic asthma.
McDaniels is committed to his family time. The four have visited Elitch's, the mountains and the 16th Street Mall and soon will go on a Florida vacation. They hang out in "the big yard." Josh and Laura also spent a weekend in the enemy camp — staying at the venerable Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego.
McDaniels is committed to a family locker room. He and John Elway have become friends and will be golf partners this summer. Elway told McDaniels that the Super Bowl champions didn't have as much talent as other Broncos teams, but they were closer on the field and off and had great leadership, and there were no me-first players. McDaniels' own beliefs were strengthened by what he heard.
McDaniels is committed to winning — and fearless in making brash, controversial decisions.
McDaniels is committed to Denver.
The Broncos will be a Super Bowl team again. McDan- iels will be a successful, popular coach. He will not be leaving anytime soon.
Josh will own more championship rings — and maybe a restaurant with his name on it.
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15207278