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View Full Version : Bowlen has to take some blame for McJaygate



Denver Native (Carol)
04-02-2009, 01:58 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_12055829

One more time, Pat Bowlen. You sure you don't want to hire a general manager before you hire a coach?

Bowlen was asked that question at a news conference several weeks ago. His answer? No, it's all good in the personnel department. Jim Goodman was going to handle those decisions and Josh McDaniels was going to coach the team.

All righty then.

Bowlen is one of the few NFL owners left who empowers his head coach to make all the decisions regarding football operations. You wonder, if Bowlen had adopted the GM-first method, whether the Broncos would be in the mess in which they find themselves today.

It's called checks and balances. If the Broncos had had a GM in place before hiring McDaniels, it's doubtful that J-Mac would have been allowed to float Jay Cutler's name on the trade market.

Instead, Bowlen hired McDaniels and essentially gave him a blank check. We can't be sure, of course, but it's looking more and more like McDaniels wanted to make a run at Matt Cassel all along.

Word out of Dove Valley is that Bowlen didn't know about the Cutler trade talks, that he found out just before the rest of the world did. It was a McDaniels-Brian Xanders call from the get-go.

We're left to wonder if Bowlen, who had called Cutler "the man around here" just a few weeks earlier, was upset upon hearing that his Pro Bowl quarterback was being shopped. But there's no doubt about this part of the story: Bowlen was downright angry about how Cutler handled it.

This notion that Bowlen has been in Cutler's corner in recent weeks? Not a chance. McDaniels wanted to work things out. It was Bowlen who was growing more frustrated by the day.

It's no coincidence that Bowlen was doing the talking in Tuesday's press release, the one that said the Broncos would be dumping Cutler. But if he's looking for someone to blame, he might want to start with himself.

Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com

getlynched47
04-02-2009, 02:00 PM
Bowlen interveined at the wrong time. He just got done telling people that he was confident that McDaniels would handle the situation. I guess he lost that confidence here in the last 10 days.

FanInAZ
04-02-2009, 02:05 PM
The boss is alway responcible for who he or she apoints to fulfill various roles.

DenBronx
04-02-2009, 02:08 PM
he will regret it for the next 10 years. if i were bowlen id seriously reconsider...

nthngd2say
04-02-2009, 02:17 PM
Not sure I understand the correlation between Xanders being hired after McDaniels and the Cassel trade talks. Bowlen stated he is the checks and balances - he's the man at the top. So had Bowlen hired a GM first, is Armstrong offering that the GM would have kept McDaniels in check? Bowlen said when Xanders was hired on Feb 12 that neither HC or GM would report to the other and that they'd both report to him.
It's been repeatedly stated that the Cassel trade never made it to Bowlen's desk because it wasn't good enough. The article states it also. So is Armstrong speculating that McDaniels & Xanders nearly pulled off a trade without Bowlen's signature? Not sure how that would be possible.
I guess McD/Xanders acting "unchecked" led to this situation, sure but to speculate that hiring a GM first would change that? Bowlen/Xanders/McDaniels all have made several mistakes here but Cutler is the one who refuses to talk to Bowlen or Xanders. Fine, don't talk to McDaniels since he's an instigator and won't say what you want to hear but common sense should tell Cutler to answer when its Bowlen. People make mistakes and if every time I made a mistake and the person I wronged refused to talk to me, I likely wouldn't have many friends/co-workers/etc.
It also seems that Armstrong had nothing new to offer today and regurgitated old information.

Traveler
04-02-2009, 02:23 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_12055829


Word out of Dove Valley is that Bowlen didn't know about the Cutler trade talks, that he found out just before the rest of the world did. It was a McDaniels-Brian Xanders call from the get-go.

We're left to wonder if Bowlen, who had called Cutler "the man around here" just a few weeks earlier, was upset upon hearing that his Pro Bowl quarterback was being shopped. But there's no doubt about this part of the story: Bowlen was downright angry about how Cutler handled it.

This notion that Bowlen has been in Cutler's corner in recent weeks? Not a chance. McDaniels wanted to work things out. It was Bowlen who was growing more frustrated by the day.

It's no coincidence that Bowlen was doing the talking in Tuesday's press release, the one that said the Broncos would be dumping Cutler. But if he's looking for someone to blame, he might want to start with himself.

Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com

I've heard from people in the know that Bowlen was very angry at McDaniels in the beginning. But he couldn't undercut his HC publicly and told him to squash this as quickly as possible. Once the player stopped all contact with the team, Bowlen finally stepped in.

I have no issues with how Bowlen handled this situation.

turftoad
04-02-2009, 02:23 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_12055829

One more time, Pat Bowlen. You sure you don't want to hire a general manager before you hire a coach?

Bowlen was asked that question at a news conference several weeks ago. His answer? No, it's all good in the personnel department. Jim Goodman was going to handle those decisions and Josh McDaniels was going to coach the team.

All righty then.

Bowlen is one of the few NFL owners left who empowers his head coach to make all the decisions regarding football operations. You wonder, if Bowlen had adopted the GM-first method, whether the Broncos would be in the mess in which they find themselves today.

It's called checks and balances. If the Broncos had had a GM in place before hiring McDaniels, it's doubtful that J-Mac would have been allowed to float Jay Cutler's name on the trade market.

Instead, Bowlen hired McDaniels and essentially gave him a blank check. We can't be sure, of course, but it's looking more and more like McDaniels wanted to make a run at Matt Cassel all along.

Word out of Dove Valley is that Bowlen didn't know about the Cutler trade talks, that he found out just before the rest of the world did. It was a McDaniels-Brian Xanders call from the get-go.

We're left to wonder if Bowlen, who had called Cutler "the man around here" just a few weeks earlier, was upset upon hearing that his Pro Bowl quarterback was being shopped. But there's no doubt about this part of the story: Bowlen was downright angry about how Cutler handled it.

This notion that Bowlen has been in Cutler's corner in recent weeks? Not a chance. McDaniels wanted to work things out. It was Bowlen who was growing more frustrated by the day.

It's no coincidence that Bowlen was doing the talking in Tuesday's press release, the one that said the Broncos would be dumping Cutler. But if he's looking for someone to blame, he might want to start with himself.

Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com

Just more egg on McD's face.

broncofaninfla
04-02-2009, 02:24 PM
Bowlen says he is the man in charge so it starts with him. Hard to believe ANY owner of ANY business would allow this much turmoil and not intervene. I know you pay managers to manage but when the paying customers start taking offense to a new manager, it's time to step in, set direction and observe. Bowlen did too little too late to resolve this. McD will probably pay with his jobs and the Denver fans with their pride. I would LOVE to be wrong but right now that is my thinking......

underrated29
04-02-2009, 02:27 PM
still passing out more blame.

I dont care about blame, just fix it. Now please!

Denver Native (Carol)
04-02-2009, 02:42 PM
Just more egg on McD's face.

If the article is true that Bowlen did not know about the trade talks in regards to Jay until just before the rest of the world found out - should Bowlen NOT have been at least notified in regards to either McD or Xanders being approached in regards to a possible trade for Jay at the very beginning????? I can't imagine either McD or X fielding calls about Cutler - the QB - "the franchise", and NOT feeling the need to alert Bowlen from the very beginning. To me, that should have been obvious to both of them, or at least one of them???? Of course, when it was leaked out, Bowlen, at least publically, had no choice but to stand behind the head coach that he had hired.

I feel if Bowlen had known about it from the very beginning, he may very well have put a stop to it then and there.

omac
04-02-2009, 02:55 PM
Not sure I understand the correlation between Xanders being hired after McDaniels and the Cassel trade talks. Bowlen stated he is the checks and balances - he's the man at the top. So had Bowlen hired a GM first, is Armstrong offering that the GM would have kept McDaniels in check? Bowlen said when Xanders was hired on Feb 12 that neither HC or GM would report to the other and that they'd both report to him.
It's been repeatedly stated that the Cassel trade never made it to Bowlen's desk because it wasn't good enough. The article states it also. So is Armstrong speculating that McDaniels & Xanders nearly pulled off a trade without Bowlen's signature? Not sure how that would be possible.
I guess McD/Xanders acting "unchecked" led to this situation, sure but to speculate that hiring a GM first would change that? Bowlen/Xanders/McDaniels all have made several mistakes here but Cutler is the one who refuses to talk to Bowlen or Xanders. Fine, don't talk to McDaniels since he's an instigator and won't say what you want to hear but common sense should tell Cutler to answer when its Bowlen. People make mistakes and if every time I made a mistake and the person I wronged refused to talk to me, I likely wouldn't have many friends/co-workers/etc.
It also seems that Armstrong had nothing new to offer today and regurgitated old information.

First of all, this is just the writer's take on the situation, but I think his point in hiring the GM before the head coach is this; usually, it's the GM who has the say on the players, and in some places, the GM has the say on the coach. The debacle that unfolded was not from a football coaching error that a coach has expertise in, but was more of a personel matter. The decision to trade or explore trades for a player, and the right way to handle that would've been better handled by one who has experience in those GM-ing matters.

An experienced GM would know whether to risk seriously considering the trade idea or not, and if he took the risk, either get the player traded immediately, or keep the player and the rest of the league in the dark that it ever happened. After the initial problems, it could have still been contained, had the right words been said; again, the coach was in coach mode trying to keep to his philosophy, instead of protecting the Broncos franchise team mode. Although McDaniels was caught trying to trade Cutler, if he was an experienced, ruthless GM, he would've been able to say the right words to keep Cutler, even if he didn't mean it, and Cutler would believe it. :D Heck, Sharpe said Shanahan tried to trade him and lied about it.

McDaniels will yet have a chance to prove that he's an excellent head coach, but his GM-ing skills where it relates to player relations is still pretty raw. But the writer believes (as I think we all do) that it's Pat's style to give great power to the head coach and allow him to do as he sees fit. For all practical purposes, it was McDaniels who was acting like the GM, not Xanders, which probably means what we've suspected about Xanders may be true ... that he's primarily a numbers guy.

Pat's shortcomings in the situation was first not getting involved early enough; then becoming emotional and caving in too soon to what Cutler and Cook wanted, the trade. Some analysts are puzzled that Pat caved in too easily, stating the cases of Chad Johnson and Anquan Boldin as examples of how hard it is for a player to get himself traded.

Either Pat this time reacted too soon, and not allowed his coach a chance to try to fix the situation, or just maybe, this was the situation they wanted all along, and they played it perfectly.

But if they didn't want this debacle to happen, they would've stuck a strong, experienced GM in the front office to be in control of the situation. Then Pat could've been as hands-off as he usually is. Obviously, Xanders is more of a GM in name.

The announcement of 2 first round picks minimum may be their way of making the trade too expensive for other teams, though. Maybe they think a failed trade could force Cutler to stay in line and follow McDaniels.

All speculation, of course. :D

omac
04-02-2009, 03:02 PM
If the article is true that Bowlen did not know about the trade talks in regards to Jay until just before the rest of the world found out - should Bowlen NOT have been at least notified in regards to either McD or Xanders being approached in regards to a possible trade for Jay at the very beginning????? I can't imagine either McD or X fielding calls about Cutler - the QB - "the franchise", and NOT feeling the need to alert Bowlen from the very beginning. To me, that should have been obvious to both of them, or at least one of them???? Of course, when it was leaked out, Bowlen, at least publically, had no choice but to stand behind the head coach that he had hired.

I feel if Bowlen had known about it from the very beginning, he may very well have put a stop to it then and there.

See that's the thing; we don't really know the true intentions. Who knows if McDaniels sold Bowlen on Cassel, or a Cassel-type QB, being a better option for his offense than Cutler? If Bowlen didn't know about what McDaniels was doing, then he'd look a bit stupid; if he did, then he gave McDaniels his blessing.

nthngd2say
04-02-2009, 03:04 PM
First of all, this is just the writer's take on the situation, but I think his point in hiring the GM before the head coach is this; usually, it's the GM who has the say on the players, and in some places, the GM has the say on the coach. The debacle that unfolded was not from a football coaching error that a coach has expertise in, but was more of a personel matter. The decision to trade or explore trades for a player, and the right way to handle that would've been better handled by one who has experience in those GM-ing matters.

An experienced GM would know whether to risk seriously considering the trade idea or not, and if he took the risk, either get the player traded immediately, or keep the player and the rest of the league in the dark that it ever happened. After the initial problems, it could have still been contained, had the right words been said; again, the coach was in coach mode trying to keep to his philosophy, instead of protecting the Broncos franchise team mode. Although McDaniels was caught trying to trade Cutler, if he was an experienced, ruthless GM, he would've been able to say the right words to keep Cutler, even if he didn't mean it, and Cutler would believe it. :D Heck, Sharpe said Shanahan tried to trade him and lied about it.

McDaniels will yet have a chance to prove that he's an excellent head coach, but his GM-ing skills where it relates to player relations is still pretty raw. But the writer believes (as I think we all do) that it's Pat's style to give great power to the head coach and allow him to do as he sees fit. For all practical purposes, it was McDaniels who was acting like the GM, not Xanders, which probably means what we've suspected about Xanders may be true ... that he's primarily a numbers guy.

Pat's shortcomings in the situation was first not getting involved early enough; then becoming emotional and caving in too soon to what Cutler and Cook wanted, the trade. Some analysts are puzzled that Pat caved in too easily, stating the cases of Chad Johnson and Anquan Boldin as examples of how hard it is for a player to get himself traded.

Either Pat this time reacted too soon, and not allowed his coach a chance to try to fix the situation, or just maybe, this was the situation they wanted all along, and they played it perfectly.

But if they didn't want this debacle to happen, they would've stuck a strong, experienced GM in the front office to be in control of the situation. Then Pat could've been as hands-off as he usually is. Obviously, Xanders is more of a GM in name.

The announcement of 2 first round picks minimum may be their way of making the trade too expensive for other teams, though. Maybe they think a failed trade could force Cutler to stay in line and follow McDaniels.

All speculation, of course. :D

I don't disagree with what you say but the premise of the article seemed to me that Bowlen is to blame for hiring a HC before GM and I don't see that as relevant when Bowlen's "balance of power" is having neither HC or GM report to the other but directly to Bowlen himself. So Bowlen's blame lays in that he chose to not have the HC answer to the GM not that he hired one before the other. The article also suggests that McD and Xanders were partners in crime so that really just suggests that Bowlen's blame is that he hired either one. That's a tough assessment when no games have been played but its obviously an opinion peice.

omac
04-02-2009, 03:17 PM
I don't disagree with what you say but the premise of the article seemed to me that Bowlen is to blame for hiring a HC before GM and I don't see that as relevant when Bowlen's "balance of power" is having neither HC or GM report to the other but directly to Bowlen himself. So Bowlen's blame lays in that he chose to not have the HC answer to the GM not that he hired one before the other. The article also suggests that McD and Xanders were partners in crime so that really just suggests that Bowlen's blame is that he hired either one. That's a tough assessment when no games have been played but its obviously an opinion peice.

Basically, and jmo, I think the writer is saying is a lot of this could've been avoided if Bowlen hired a strong GM, to handle his players and his head coach. I think it's proving now to be a weak infrastructure for the coach and the GM to report to Bowlen, as Bowlen's shown he's too hands-off with the major decisions. I think Bowlen's blame, in essence, is that he's put the structure in place so that he's in charge of both the coach and the GM, but he didn't sense when it was right to take charge, and when he did, he didn't do a good job of it.

Superchop 7
04-02-2009, 03:30 PM
A true GM is the owners right hand man.

I believe that Bowlen was in-the-dark on what was happening.

Therefore.

I have to conclude that Xanders was acting as the coaches right hand man.

And this, my esteemed board members, is a bad way to fly.