The impatient bum is leading the Broncos’ wide-open coach search

0
33

ENGLEWOOD, Colorado. – His family bought the Denver Broncos last summer, but it wasn’t until Tuesday that CEO Greg Penner really took over the franchise.

Penner clarified that not only will he lead the search for a new head coach, but that Nathaniel Hackett’s successor will report directly to him and not to general manager George Paton.

“Yes, the new head coach will report back to me, that’s the more typical structure in the NFL,” Penner said. “Obviously the relationship between the general manager and the head coach is critical and George will be closely involved in this process of finding a new head coach and we will ensure there is a good fit there.”

Penner, his wife, Carrie Walton-Penner, and their father, Rob Walton, bought the team for $4.65 billion, a world record for a professional sports franchise. The limited partners are former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The team has proven to be a fixer-upper than the new owners expected.

The Broncos have stumbled through a 4-11 season and quarterback Russell Wilson has stumbled through the worst season of his career after signing a $245 million extension before the opener.

“When we bought this great franchise in August, this wasn’t the season we expected,” Penner said, adding, “I want to personally apologize to our fans and across the country of the Broncos. We know we have to get better and we will do it.”

The Broncos have extended their playoff drought to seven years, largely because of a stuttering offense that’s averaging fewer than 16 points per game.

Hackett became only the fifth coach in NFL history not to make it through his freshman season. He will be replaced by interim manager Jerry Rosburg after Ejiro Evero, a candidate for the full-time job, turned down the temporary offer, suggesting he would be more of a help for the past two weeks, just sticking to his role as defensive coordinator.

The new head coach must find a way to fix Wilson and build an offensive identity to match the team’s stingy defense.

Penner said he wanted to wait until after the season to decide Hackett’s fate, but that all changed when the Broncos were blown out 51-14 by the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day.

The Broncos’ embarrassment was compounded by guard Dalton Risner, the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year, who pushed backup QB Brett Rypien to the sidelines and linebacker Randy Gregory threw a punch at Rams O-lineman Oday Aboushi during postgame handshakes, resulting in a one-match suspension.

That debacle alone didn’t result in Hackett being fired after three years and more than $12 million in contract, but it did hasten the talks that led to his sacking.

Penner said he “didn’t go into that week thinking this was a time where we were going to make a change, felt like it was time to make a decision.”

Paton said he still thinks Hackett is “a great football coach” but that “it just didn’t work out here.”

“And that’s on me,” added Paton. “I take full responsibility for where we are as a football team. I brought in the head coach; I got most of the players. Those are my choices and nobody to blame but me.”

So why, Penner was asked, does he have such confidence in both his GM and QB given their terrible performances in 2022?

“So the decision to have Russ here was a long-term decision,” Penner said. “This season did not live up to his standards or expectations. We’ve seen a few glimpses of (Vintage Wilson) over the past few weeks. He knows he can play better. We know he can play better. And we know he will do the right work in the off-season to be ready for next year.”

Penner said he and his GM had daily conversations, “and he acknowledged up front that there are a couple of decisions that haven’t worked out the way he expected. But I understand his thought process. He understands the work that needs to be done for the off-season. And I will be relying heavily on him as we pull through and make these changes.

The Broncos aren’t narrowing their search to experienced NFL coaches, though their last three hires have been first-time head coaches who were fired before their contracts expired.

“It certainly helps, but it’s not necessary,” Paton said of his previous experience as an NFL head coach. “We will remain open-minded in this search.”

Paton said he’s not exactly looking for a quarterback whisperer, either.

“That’s not why we’re getting a new coach to flip Russ,” Paton said. “It’s about the whole organization, it’s about the whole football team. It’s not a player. It’s not about whether Russ is fixable or not. We believe he is, we do.”

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, transcribed or redistributed without permission.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here