honz
04-29-2009, 11:54 AM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4104795
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Steam rises from the snowy concrete, and five dozen weary men board a bus. It figures that Josh McDaniels' first minicamp would start in a near blizzard, the worst of the season. From maelstrom to snowstorm. A couple of days ago, it was 70 degrees in the foothills. But that's the thing about Denver in the spring -- you never know what you're going to get.
McDaniels walks out of the Broncos' indoor practice facility, which, on this day, doubles as an afternoon hangout for a local girls' lacrosse team. A tinsel-mouthed teenager acts as if she has just seen one of the Jonas Brothers, nudges her friend and gushes, "That's the coach! That's the coach!"
The people of Denver don't know what to make of McDaniels yet. Maybe they'll never know. His first 3½ months on the job have, at the very least, left an entire league buzzing. The rift between the new coach and Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler was the biggest news of the NFL offseason, and McDaniels' hard-line stance has led critics to label him stubborn and unwavering. When the Broncos traded their franchise face to Chicago earlier this month, it seemed as if two careers would forever be tied to what some have boiled down to misunderstandings between a couple of young men.
And make no mistake, the new coach looks young. If he didn't have the 5-o'clock shadow covering half of his baby face, didn't have the stern look of a man racing against time, McDaniels, in his blue warm-ups, could pass for a ball boy. He just turned 33. He is in the process of scrapping an offense that finished near the top of the NFL, overhauling a defense that hovered at the bottom and trying to win over a fan base that has sold out home games since John Elway was in Pop Warner.
It could all implode and leave some high-placed execs in Denver looking very bad.
Broncos breakdown
NFL analyst Mark Schlereth discusses Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, the team's situation at running back and whether the Broncos accomplished what they needed to in the draft. Watch
McDaniels stops by to talk with Tirico & Van Pelt about the Broncos' draft picks and what's in store this season. Listen
By all outside appearances, McDaniels isn't sweating it. Colleagues say he's a young Bill Belichick, a methodical offensive whiz ensconced in the Patriots way, which is the coach's way or the highway. Friends say he's the spitting image of his father, Thom McDaniels, a nurturing man who is a legend in Ohio high school coaching circles.
In the Rockies, where the clouds are swirling, Josh McDaniels will need to be both.
"Look, all I want to do is win," McDaniels says. "And I want to try and do the things I believe in. So if sticking to your guns when you believe in something is being [stubborn], then I guess that's what I would fall into. I think all good coaches are stubborn in certain areas, and it comes from being confident that what you're saying is the right thing to do. I don't think I'd be in this position or have this job if I didn't have that confidence."
The little general
The thing is, McDaniels has rarely walked into a situation in which he appeared at first blush, hands-down, to be the right man for the job. In high school at Canton McKinley, he was called on to be the starting quarterback, all 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds of him. (Looking back, McKinley folks say those proportions were exaggerated.) In huddles, the offensive linemen, the receivers, well, just about everybody loomed over him.
[+] EnlargeJosh McDaniels
AP Photo/Ed AndrieskiMcDaniels has faced lots of questions about the Broncos' draft selections.
"It was funny. He was almost like a Rudy type of guy," says Broncos defensive end Kenny Peterson, a teammate at McKinley, which is just a few tosses from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"But he commanded respect. When Josh got in the huddle, guys listened because he was definitely the coach on the field."
The biggest game of McDaniels' career was profiled in Sports Illustrated in 1994 because it was the 100th meeting in a storied rivalry between McKinley and Massillon. The game went to overtime. The stadium was packed. McDaniels, who also served as the team's place-kicker, lined up for an extra-point attempt. The kick sailed wide right.
According to coach Thom McDaniels, a reporter asked Josh what it felt like to be the guy who cost his team the game.
"He answered that he suspected God must've chosen him to be the guy that cost his team the game because he was strong enough to handle it," Thom says. "I was blown away that a high school senior could handle it that way."
Two weeks later, the teams met in the playoffs. McKinley was trailing 20-19 in the fourth quarter when McDaniels hit Mark Thewes with a game-winning 46-yard touchdown pass.
McDaniels recently hired Thewes, still one of his best friends, to be the Broncos' assistant to the head coach.
Coach McD's McKinley boys look after each other, Peterson says, even after old teammates go on to much bigger things. At first, it seemed as if Josh would be happy being a successful high school coach just like his dad. He slept with a football from the time he was 5 and tagged along with Thom until he was old enough to wear the Bulldogs' red and black. He picked up his dad's mannerisms -- both men stress their points by pinching their thumb and finger together -- and developed his easy-going nature.
A Thom McDaniels practice was disciplined but loose, high-energy yet controlled and meticulous. The elder McDaniels took great joy in doing stretching exercises. So does Josh.
McDaniels played football at John Carroll University, then parlayed his dad's connections -- and a friendship with Nick Saban -- to land an interview for a graduate assistant job at Michigan State. On the ride to East Lansing, Mich., the elder McDaniels told his son he was now on his own.
"This is where your dad's influence ends," Thom recalls telling Josh. "I can't do anything more for you. What you become will be determined by what you do."
Getting a chance
As a young man in flux, in between Michigan State and the next chance, Josh McDaniels sold plastics in Cleveland. He was good at his job, earning a decent wage. Then New England called and offered a low-paying scouting gig, and McDaniels jumped.
[+] EnlargeJosh McDaniels
AP Photo/Stephan SavoiaNew England coach Bill Belichick unofficially elevated McDaniels to offensive coordinator in 2005, when McDaniels was just 29.
He went from personnel assistant to defensive coaching assistant to quarterbacks coach in 2004. In his first year with Tom Brady, the future MVP produced the third-highest passer rating in team history (92.6). And in 2005, Belichick quietly elevated McDaniels to offensive coordinator after the departure of Charlie Weis. There was speculation that Belichick didn't make the promotion public that year because he wanted to shield his young playcaller, who was just 29.
McDaniels' unofficial debut as offensive coordinator came in a nationally televised Thursday night game against the Oakland Raiders, and the Patriots scored 30 points. He says he never really felt the nerves that night and called the experience "exhilarating."
The quarterbacks in the meeting room knew two things about McDaniels -- that he was a huge "CSI" fan, had to tape it every week, and that he always came prepared. His offense is complex -- McDaniels is known to add schemes each week of the season -- and his quarterbacks are expected to become one with their playbooks. McDaniels is tight with all of his quarterbacks and plays to their strengths.
"I was actually older than him, but I respected him a great deal," says Jim Miller, a backup quarterback for the Patriots in 2004. "I think he's an extremely bright coach who wanted to get better at his craft. He was basically a sponge in what he was learning from Bill Belichick.
"He's not a guy that's going to butt heads just to butt heads. Everything is well thought out. He's flexible and listens to feedback from his players."
McDaniels won three Super Bowl rings, but his defining moment might have come this past season when Brady was writhing in pain on the grass in Foxborough, out for the season with a serious knee injury.
McDaniels huddled the offense together on the sideline and looked into each player's eyes.
We're going to be OK.
"As a player, that was very comforting," says former New England receiver Jabar Gaffney, who joined Denver in the offseason. "He just had that look in his eyes, and we felt a lot better about ourselves.
"He said, 'Matt [Cassel] is going to go in there, and he's going to be fine. And we were."
Before that surreal afternoon in early September, Cassel had done little to evoke confidence from the masses at Gillette Stadium. His preseason was disastrous. Rumors swirled that he might get cut. McDaniels brought the young quarterback along, through rough patches in San Diego and high points in Miami, and the Patriots finished 11-5.
Six months later, the AFC landscape changed again. And Cassel was at the center of it.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Steam rises from the snowy concrete, and five dozen weary men board a bus. It figures that Josh McDaniels' first minicamp would start in a near blizzard, the worst of the season. From maelstrom to snowstorm. A couple of days ago, it was 70 degrees in the foothills. But that's the thing about Denver in the spring -- you never know what you're going to get.
McDaniels walks out of the Broncos' indoor practice facility, which, on this day, doubles as an afternoon hangout for a local girls' lacrosse team. A tinsel-mouthed teenager acts as if she has just seen one of the Jonas Brothers, nudges her friend and gushes, "That's the coach! That's the coach!"
The people of Denver don't know what to make of McDaniels yet. Maybe they'll never know. His first 3½ months on the job have, at the very least, left an entire league buzzing. The rift between the new coach and Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler was the biggest news of the NFL offseason, and McDaniels' hard-line stance has led critics to label him stubborn and unwavering. When the Broncos traded their franchise face to Chicago earlier this month, it seemed as if two careers would forever be tied to what some have boiled down to misunderstandings between a couple of young men.
And make no mistake, the new coach looks young. If he didn't have the 5-o'clock shadow covering half of his baby face, didn't have the stern look of a man racing against time, McDaniels, in his blue warm-ups, could pass for a ball boy. He just turned 33. He is in the process of scrapping an offense that finished near the top of the NFL, overhauling a defense that hovered at the bottom and trying to win over a fan base that has sold out home games since John Elway was in Pop Warner.
It could all implode and leave some high-placed execs in Denver looking very bad.
Broncos breakdown
NFL analyst Mark Schlereth discusses Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, the team's situation at running back and whether the Broncos accomplished what they needed to in the draft. Watch
McDaniels stops by to talk with Tirico & Van Pelt about the Broncos' draft picks and what's in store this season. Listen
By all outside appearances, McDaniels isn't sweating it. Colleagues say he's a young Bill Belichick, a methodical offensive whiz ensconced in the Patriots way, which is the coach's way or the highway. Friends say he's the spitting image of his father, Thom McDaniels, a nurturing man who is a legend in Ohio high school coaching circles.
In the Rockies, where the clouds are swirling, Josh McDaniels will need to be both.
"Look, all I want to do is win," McDaniels says. "And I want to try and do the things I believe in. So if sticking to your guns when you believe in something is being [stubborn], then I guess that's what I would fall into. I think all good coaches are stubborn in certain areas, and it comes from being confident that what you're saying is the right thing to do. I don't think I'd be in this position or have this job if I didn't have that confidence."
The little general
The thing is, McDaniels has rarely walked into a situation in which he appeared at first blush, hands-down, to be the right man for the job. In high school at Canton McKinley, he was called on to be the starting quarterback, all 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds of him. (Looking back, McKinley folks say those proportions were exaggerated.) In huddles, the offensive linemen, the receivers, well, just about everybody loomed over him.
[+] EnlargeJosh McDaniels
AP Photo/Ed AndrieskiMcDaniels has faced lots of questions about the Broncos' draft selections.
"It was funny. He was almost like a Rudy type of guy," says Broncos defensive end Kenny Peterson, a teammate at McKinley, which is just a few tosses from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"But he commanded respect. When Josh got in the huddle, guys listened because he was definitely the coach on the field."
The biggest game of McDaniels' career was profiled in Sports Illustrated in 1994 because it was the 100th meeting in a storied rivalry between McKinley and Massillon. The game went to overtime. The stadium was packed. McDaniels, who also served as the team's place-kicker, lined up for an extra-point attempt. The kick sailed wide right.
According to coach Thom McDaniels, a reporter asked Josh what it felt like to be the guy who cost his team the game.
"He answered that he suspected God must've chosen him to be the guy that cost his team the game because he was strong enough to handle it," Thom says. "I was blown away that a high school senior could handle it that way."
Two weeks later, the teams met in the playoffs. McKinley was trailing 20-19 in the fourth quarter when McDaniels hit Mark Thewes with a game-winning 46-yard touchdown pass.
McDaniels recently hired Thewes, still one of his best friends, to be the Broncos' assistant to the head coach.
Coach McD's McKinley boys look after each other, Peterson says, even after old teammates go on to much bigger things. At first, it seemed as if Josh would be happy being a successful high school coach just like his dad. He slept with a football from the time he was 5 and tagged along with Thom until he was old enough to wear the Bulldogs' red and black. He picked up his dad's mannerisms -- both men stress their points by pinching their thumb and finger together -- and developed his easy-going nature.
A Thom McDaniels practice was disciplined but loose, high-energy yet controlled and meticulous. The elder McDaniels took great joy in doing stretching exercises. So does Josh.
McDaniels played football at John Carroll University, then parlayed his dad's connections -- and a friendship with Nick Saban -- to land an interview for a graduate assistant job at Michigan State. On the ride to East Lansing, Mich., the elder McDaniels told his son he was now on his own.
"This is where your dad's influence ends," Thom recalls telling Josh. "I can't do anything more for you. What you become will be determined by what you do."
Getting a chance
As a young man in flux, in between Michigan State and the next chance, Josh McDaniels sold plastics in Cleveland. He was good at his job, earning a decent wage. Then New England called and offered a low-paying scouting gig, and McDaniels jumped.
[+] EnlargeJosh McDaniels
AP Photo/Stephan SavoiaNew England coach Bill Belichick unofficially elevated McDaniels to offensive coordinator in 2005, when McDaniels was just 29.
He went from personnel assistant to defensive coaching assistant to quarterbacks coach in 2004. In his first year with Tom Brady, the future MVP produced the third-highest passer rating in team history (92.6). And in 2005, Belichick quietly elevated McDaniels to offensive coordinator after the departure of Charlie Weis. There was speculation that Belichick didn't make the promotion public that year because he wanted to shield his young playcaller, who was just 29.
McDaniels' unofficial debut as offensive coordinator came in a nationally televised Thursday night game against the Oakland Raiders, and the Patriots scored 30 points. He says he never really felt the nerves that night and called the experience "exhilarating."
The quarterbacks in the meeting room knew two things about McDaniels -- that he was a huge "CSI" fan, had to tape it every week, and that he always came prepared. His offense is complex -- McDaniels is known to add schemes each week of the season -- and his quarterbacks are expected to become one with their playbooks. McDaniels is tight with all of his quarterbacks and plays to their strengths.
"I was actually older than him, but I respected him a great deal," says Jim Miller, a backup quarterback for the Patriots in 2004. "I think he's an extremely bright coach who wanted to get better at his craft. He was basically a sponge in what he was learning from Bill Belichick.
"He's not a guy that's going to butt heads just to butt heads. Everything is well thought out. He's flexible and listens to feedback from his players."
McDaniels won three Super Bowl rings, but his defining moment might have come this past season when Brady was writhing in pain on the grass in Foxborough, out for the season with a serious knee injury.
McDaniels huddled the offense together on the sideline and looked into each player's eyes.
We're going to be OK.
"As a player, that was very comforting," says former New England receiver Jabar Gaffney, who joined Denver in the offseason. "He just had that look in his eyes, and we felt a lot better about ourselves.
"He said, 'Matt [Cassel] is going to go in there, and he's going to be fine. And we were."
Before that surreal afternoon in early September, Cassel had done little to evoke confidence from the masses at Gillette Stadium. His preseason was disastrous. Rumors swirled that he might get cut. McDaniels brought the young quarterback along, through rough patches in San Diego and high points in Miami, and the Patriots finished 11-5.
Six months later, the AFC landscape changed again. And Cassel was at the center of it.