Strange as it may seem, we're all sort of out of practice at this.  In the media, we haven't reported on a Bronco

coaching search that wasn't a foregone conclusion since...Dan Reeves succeeded Red Miller in 1981.

Pat Bowlen promoted Wade Phillips and brought Mike Shanahan back three years after Bowlen allowed

"the wrong guy" to be fired.  He's not used to doing what he's got to do now, either.

Do they need a "motivator," first and foremost?  Or do they more obviously offer the job to a CEO type

who would hire top tier coordinators on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball?

I go for the young assistant, the coordinator who has been interviewed and considered previously

for head coaching jobs, a type who would change the culture.  It has been almost 30 years since

Denver last promoted a culture whereby the defense came first and the offense was second.

Shannon Sharpe told Scott and Al today that there isn't a better offensive mind than the guy they just

fired...anywhere in the game.  Why hire a cheap imitation, a poor man's version, to replace Mike Shanahan?

You've gambled by firing an accomplished coach.  Keep going.  Change the way the organization thinks

and acts.  Change the heretofore obsessive focus on the offense to an emphasis on defense.  Find the

best defensive mind out there, hire John Elway in a generalized executive capacity and get about the

business of contending for titles again.

sandy