Friday, January 14, 2011

Good for Fox (but for Broncos?)

I'm glad to see John Fox get another NFL head-coaching job so quickly.

Fox is a good man who had a bad ending with the Panthers. I don't think he's a great coach, but he's a good coach and I think he could possibly be great if he lets himself go a little bit in this job. I don't know if his personality will allow that, however, which means the Broncos could be destined for a lot of 8-8s.

Like Ron Rivera, Fox's most important hire will be his offensive coordinator -- and then letting the guy have a little more free rein. Tim Tebow is a unique talent, but Fox could certainly stifle him if he puts him in the same outdated offense Carolina used last year. Let's just say I don't think Jeff Davidson is going to get either job.

I believe John Elway made this call in Denver -- from what I hear, owner Pat Bowlen is letting Elway pretty much run the football side of things there now. I love that Elway has a Twitter account and has been using it to post newsy announcements (all about the coaching search, that the Broncos weren't going to trade Tebow and so on).

It's a step into the 21st century for Elway, who never has been afraid of taking chances. Can you imagine Marty Hurney with a Twitter account?! Or Fox, for that matter? It'll be interesting to see how that Elway-Fox relationship evolves.

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that Sorenson thinks Fox "will be better in Denver". People only get better when they learn from their mistakes. Fox has never made a mistake - just ask him - and he doesn't intend to change a single thing about his approach to the game.

The only thing that might save him is if Denver has players on the roster that can win games despite him.

Anonymous said...

Sorensen is a hypocrite. He said Fox would never be hired in Denver after helping run him off. Now he has to eat his words as usual as he retracts and tries to cover his ass. Not only was Fox hired but he was snowed in 2 days at Douglas and hired on the spot by Elway over 3 others.
Whatever you do never believe a word Sorensen says. He will do a 180 and act like nothing happened.
Fox must already be his new friend. Backstabber.

Anonymous said...

I hope the Denver press got right to the important questions and asked Fox WHAT HIS HERITAGE WAS. I mean, that's a question that should be asked of Head Coaches, right Observer staff?

Anonymous said...

Doesn't matter what city Fox is in, until he realizes it's not 1965 anymore, and that the forward pass is an integral part of the modern offense, and that punting is a BAD thing, he'll never be a consistent success. The fans out there, used to good offense, will get restless quickly.

Anonymous said...

Whoever accepts the job as OC will be committing career suicide. Remember when we all thought Dan Henning was the absolute WORST??
Come to find out, once he left and found a home in Miami he was a wild man on offense - ran plays no one ever heard of before - why do you think he didn't do that here??? Fox will stifle the best of them to play that boring, get a lead and try to keep it philosophy that just doesn't work in the NFL anymore.
Good luck to the Broncos!

Anonymous said...

If I was John Fox - I would be shaking my head and wondering how I got so blessed --- Didn't get fired in Carolina, made over 6 million in a 2-14 campaign this year, and now immediately leapfrog other guys into a BETTER job!

Who wouldn't rather be with the Denver Broncos organization than this one?

Anonymous said...

Scott – I couldn't agree with you more especially concerning your first two paragraphs. In fact, I think you may have stolen them from me on a post I left earlier re: another article. I think your comments are spot on. For what it's worth, my PSL's are all but gone but I may hold onto them just to see if Mint Street will ever be home to an exciting, NFL style offense. Richardson has a very short leash with fans to right this ship and take his hands out of his pockets to sign checks, etc. If he doesn't, it will be a ugly spiral downward.

Gmoney said...

All you guys on here is dogging Fox like crazy, but when he had us in the playoffs and the SB, He was rthe best thing since slice bread. Get over it. The man is a good coach. Maybe not the best but good. Give him the right personnel and he will when games. Right now you probably think Ron Rivera is a great coach, but the minute he starts to lose games, he will be terrible as well. Let's stop the bitterness and just wish these guys well.

Anonymous said...

It's amazing but every football person outside of Charlotte relaizes that Jerry Richardson is the problem not John Fox.

And it is something to see how Richardson has gone from being regarded a top small market owner to widely regarded as one of the worst owners in the NFL.

Anonymous said...

Scott cut the Fox some slack. He was a good coach here in Carolina and failed because the owner closed his checkbook. You predict that Fox and the Broncos will see a lot of 8-8's? Wow way to go out on a limb there. I really don't think you have any expertise to predict NFL team records. You certainly didn't predict the Panthers record this year. I don't really know why the Observer lets you continue to write for them. Your insight continues to show your lack of knowledge. I hope they realize this soon.

Anonymous said...

To everyone that is posting that the only reason Fox and the Panthers were so bad this year because Richardson closed his check book, I would say this: Fox had 9 seasons in Carolina and never posted back to back winning seasons. JR didn't close the check book until this year so what is the excuse for the very average results over the past 9 years? The Panthers have not won a playoff game since the 2005 season, I guess that is the Big Cats fault too. Just face the facts, Fox was a very average coach and his teams under achieved with the exception of three seasons in 9 years.

AB said...

How about all the CO writers and bloggers get together and start talking about the Panthers, the assistant coaches searches, insight on the draft, etc, and quit writing articles about JOHN FOX!
I don't care about him coaching Denver, or him trying to hire his ex-assistants, or whether he will be better in Denver than here, or if he will run the 3-4 or the 4-3.
We've been trying to dump him for years, and now that he's gone that's all you want to write about?

Enough about Fox already...move on.

Phil said...

Fox will thrive in Denver and I'm glad to see Elway in charge. I agree with those who believe Fox should have been retained in Charlotte and believe it's Hurney who is the problem. How many of you think Hurney could get a job as GM with any other NFL Team?

Anonymous said...

how bout dem cowboys
lmao

Anonymous said...

Fox coaches 8 ys with the CP. Do the math. 2002-2010. He is one of the most sought after in the NFL because he is level headed & coached 33 yrs after grad from San Diego State in'77 playing CB.

He wasnt appreciated at Carolina but then again noone is due to whiners and media who pound on coaches relentlessly.

Usually the ones who get blamed are QB, head coach, and owner. Noone else is ever at fault. go fig

Anonymous said...

I liked John Fox. I hate to see him leave the way he did. I wish him well in Denver and will lawys have fond memories as our coach. Thanks, John for the good times!!

Moronic Fanbase said...

I wonder if any of the moronic fans that said Fox will never be a head coach again will come out and admit they don't really know anything about coaches now. Within 2 weeks, he is hired as head coach from 1 interview. Obviously people in the business see something the moronic fans can't see. Now they will act like this job just fell into Fox's lap. Like he doesnt deserve it, but if thats the case why are none of these fans having that kind of luck? It is so sickening reading all this jibberish from morons that know nothing about teams or players & they act like they have inside scoops on everything thats posted.

catfandave said...

Denver hired Fox for something he's done before - turn around a troubled program. They will likely be contenders in the next couple of years. If they learned anything from the Panthers they will let him go before his second wave crashes.

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 9:18 -- When Delhomme was injured at the end of the season a few years ago (and perhaps Weinke or someone like that was brought in again and was totally incapable), Fox let Henning ran a version of what we now refer to as "the Wildcat" with DeAngelo to beat Atlanta. Of course, it shouldn't have come to that point for Fox to let Henning use his creativity, but it happened (though I think very few people were still watching Panther football at that point in the season).

bobbyb4 said...

NFL blogs had Fox going to Denver back in October. No secret. Elway will make Denver successful, and Fox will go along for the ride. Yeah, Fox is a good family man and his players like him and all of that but he's not a winner. Many have said he was a good coach. Good, I watch on TV. When I drive 150 miles to a game, good isn't good enough. For my money, I want great. If they "leave it on the field" I'm cool with it. Just once next season I'd like to see a play action Go route. In the year 2015, JR will figure out that if you need to concentrate on offense, you hire an offensive-minded head coach. And then maybe, he won't.

Craig Morton said...

As far as I am concerned Fox is a very good coach. If Jake had not thrown 5-6 picks against the Cards in the Playoffs, then the Panthers would have had another good run at a 2nd Superbowl. Key injuries to key players killed the Panthers the past two years and NO QB. That was front office issues, not Fox.
Broncos can use a boost on DEFENSE and Fox will provide that, he just needs to hire an offensive coordinator and stay away from Davidson!!

10-4! said...

Moronic fanbase is pretty much population of one you(moronic fanbase). I'll respond to you first you ignorant retch. Since I did not get to on a previous. Learn how to read a comment first.
I was saying everyone was crying at the begining of the season about Jerry stripping the team. This became the excuse for this season and that is a Joke.
. I said their were 3 guys gone(Jake,hoover and moose)on the O side of the ball and the "D" was irrelevant because they played well.

You cannot Get rid of Jake(addition by sub.), have a top 5 receiver and runningBACKS, with majority of the o-line intact and go from 12-4 to 2-14 and think that hoover,moose and jake is the reason for that. The "d" is not relevant.

As far as injuries it has been the same SAD SACK story every year we don't make it to the playoffs how many guys are on IR at the end of year. Because this is what the analysts around the nation see. It is an excuse.
Did you hear D-williams when he said he did not want to go on IR??????

Injuries are a part this game every one deals with them. It is about what you do as a coach.

We don't have scoops but we have watched enough football(other than the panthers) to know when things look wrong.

You know all the ones on here loving fox are the ones who loved jake. Well jake is still sucking after gone and Fox I am sure will be average as always. It boils down to an emotional attachment rather than winning. Just Like when Fox pissed away our 2009 season holding on to jake.

That alone for all of you who wanted him(fox) to stay, should call yourself stupid(moronic fanbase).

Anonymous said...

I just hope for my Broncos sake that Foxy has a better run with them than he did here. I know the Panther fans have been a bit rough,but the absolute die hard Bronco fans who show up to games no matter the record, will be absolutely ruthless if the Broncos dont improve and heaven forbid, start having back to back losing seasons. They will fry him for sure. Again, I hope not......

10-4! said...

I will say this Broncos fan...

I think he may have learned from mistakes here, it is just if he slides back into that same conservative rut. Alot of us are very bitter for different reasons that we as fans, obviously cannot agree on.

Good Luck to you, except against the panthers!

Anonymous said...

I think "moronic fanbase" is actually "MRbernze" he sure uses moron alot like yankees from NJ!...and 10-4 your right on everything!..Fox will get fired after 2yrs in Denver right it down Fox lovers!...Injuries happen on every team you have to coach up the team when it happens which Fox is incapable

10-4! said...

And there you have it folks from another fanbase... So are they fairweather fans in Colorado or do they just have the right to express themselves. EVERY City that has a team can be frustrated and express themselves and they do without being a fairweather fan.

But here because all we have are transplants that say you don't know how to be a fan here. But the fans are the transplants. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Attention Moronic fanbase is AKA "MRBernze" he can't take his boy Fox getting FIRED!

Anonymous said...

Get out of your mom's basement MR Bernze can't take the heat huh Mr Kitty...hahaha

Anonymous said...

Da** i thought that was Bernze only that fool could make dumba** comments like that.

Anonymous said...

Got rid of 2 loser's with 1 firing + MRbernze & Fox...good move!

Anonymous said...

Fox will do better in Denver. Better class of team, city/state and fans!

Anonymous said...

Like all big cities in America Denver can be violent with a lot of crime drugs murders rapes poverty etc. Most whites live in the burbs. There is a large illegal alien population.
It is scenic with the Rocky Mts but no paradise. The burbs are safer. The weather is brutal.

Hoping Fox can turn the Broncos 4-12 record around but lot of work to do.

OBXsurfer4 said...

@ moronic fanbase...I am at least one of those fans you are talking about...I left a comment yesterday to that effect...since it bothered you so much, obviously, I will explain my reasoning behind my comment...1) I read reports from several sources that they were more interested in several other candidates other than Fox...2) Several of the candidates for the job who had interviews scheduled pulled out prior to Fox's interview leading me to believe that they knew the Broncos had a favorite already and it couldn't be Fox since he had not yet interviewed...3) I read the comments Fox made after arriving in Denver and they did not sound promising to me. In fact, they sounded arrogant, stubborn, and a bit delusional. They didn't go over well with a lot of the Denver fans and I did not believe they would go over well with Denver's ownership and management either. 4) Since Fox did not have an interview scheduled for any other team, and wasn't even mentioned as a possibility, he had to get the Denver job or he would NOT be a head coach in '11 and I did not believe, because of the aforementioned reasons, he was going to land the gig.

In the end, yes, I was wrong. Obviously Denver thought more of Fox, for whatever reason, than I thought they would. I was just stating my opinion based on what I had heard from other sources. I am just a fan like you with no more insider information and I never pretend to be, but please don't suggest I don't have the balls to admit when I am wrong or that I am in the least intimidated by people like you. Unlike you, at least I have the balls to state my opinions. It's easy to never be proven wrong if you never have an opinion on anything, but what fun would that be. So I will keep on stating my opinion as I see fit, right or wrong, because it is a forum and a forums sole purpose is for us to express our OPINIONS, after all.

And for the record I still think it was a bad hire for them unless nobody better was interested and I am ready to move on from Fox. Actually I am more concerned about OUR staff (haven't heard anything new about potential coordinators lately.)

Anonymous said...

^^^^how you like that MRBernze!^^^^

Anonymous said...

^^^^how you like that MRBernze!^^^^

Anonymous said...

Yeah, What other jobs were left... They wanted a previous coach, they could afford because, HOW many are they(BRONCOS) paying NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Now that is true and funny!!!!!!!!!!! Tells the story of The FOXY Hire now don't it!!! Geniuses..

Anonymous said...

Yeah what other previous coaches were available for nothing?????????????????

Anonymous said...

So Fox will be better in Denver according to Carnac the Magnificant Sorensen?

Yo Fox. You in BIGGGGG trouble boy and now will surely screw up with the Bronocs but just hope TS dont try to follow you & apply as a sports writer in Denver. Youd be double phucked.

Punish Sorensen and make him do the PGA only the rest of his life.

Jeffrey P said...

I shall now enrich your life by sharing with you my thoughts on John Fox. Many an afternoon has been enjoyed by my family, bonding over the discussion of John Fox. Cited by some as the single most important influence on post modern defensive 4-3 compartmentalism, John Fox is not given the credit he deserves for inspiring many of the league's famous coordinators. He still has the power to shock those most reliant on prevent defenses, who just don't like that sort of thing. Complex though it is I shall now attempt to provide an exhaustive report on John Fox and its numerous strengths.

While some analysts have claimed that there is no such thing as a run first defensive minded team, this is rubbish. When blues legend 'Bare Foot D' remarked 'awooooh eeee only my dawg understands me' he created a monster which society has been attempting to tame ever since. While the western world use a knife and fork, the Chinese use chopsticks. Of course John Fox is quite good, it's a difference in culture and upbringing.

When one is faced with people at panthers games a central theme emerges - John Fox is either adored or despised, it leaves no one undecided. It breaks the mold, shattering man's misunderstanding of man.

We cannot talk of John Fox and politics without remembering the words of style icon Tommy Hillfiger 'fashion change changes fashion, but where does it go?' Primarily, I like to believe he was preimenently thinking about John Fox and his incredulous impact on the NFL. It is a well known 'secret' that what prompted many coordinators to first strive for HC jobs was John Fox.

To conclude John Fox is, to use the language of the streets 'Super Cool' and in my opinion 'Super Bowl Bound'. He collaborates successfully, provides financial security and figures show he's a winning formula.

Anonymous said...

You said a "mouth full" of nothing about a coach that's 73-71 yada yada yada...He's mediocre and EVERY team he coach's will mirror his ever proven average abilty to be a Head coach in the NFL. Like Dom Caper's players coach's erode quickly to there players and fans.

Anonymous said...

At what point do you misinformed dimwits who call jjr
Cheap deal with facts. 6.5k for a coach who never produced back to back winning seasons. An owner whose team was at max salary cap wise for virtually every year up until this season. An owner who offered the highest contract ever to defensive player who did not want to play for one of the nfl's worst coaching staffs, all selected by fox. An owner who pays for all stadium costs and pays the
City of clot over $2.5 mil in property taxes each year. One of only 3 teams the NFL not get city state funding in the
League. If you are going to place info on these blogs getmsome facts. Richardson was the owner who lead then last negotiations to give the players everything they asked for. He had a coach who was satisfied with mediocrity and would not play young players.
Let's see what happens in post cba era when there will be more free agents on the Mkt than at any other time. Let's see if he signs the important free agents on our team
We are fortunate to have one of 32 teams. The carolina panthers are one of 3 teams who do not live off tax payers.

Anonymous said...

Yeah and I'll add this with that salary comment.

FOXY,, Had how much talent since 2002.... from 2002 till 2009 AS MUCH TALENT AS ANY TEAM IN THE LEAGUE. Over and over again... How many teams had a Giant superstar on "O" and "D" side???? SOLID all the way around and how many winning seasons did we have????? INJURIES My scrotum!! Brain washed idiots(it is what it is, they practiced to, they were what they were ETC..!!!!)

Anonymous said...

Marty Hurney and Don Gregory will take this organization down if they both still think Geoff Schwartz can play.

Anonymous said...

I hope Rivera slams Jenny Clausen to the turf at mini camps

Unknown said...

I am a Denver Bronco fan who is sneaking over to your newspaper to see how you guys felt about Fox. I can't figure out why Denver would hire a guy with a 73-71 record and feel that is a good deal. If I read your post right, then the Broncs might be okay if they have Fox keep his fingers out of the offensive pie- right? Maybe, I'm hoping, Elway & Co. will oversee that and let Mr. Tebow learn how to pass. I'm worried about it. Good luck to you all with your new hire, and hope things work out better for you.

Anonymous said...

Don ,unless Denver trade's K.Orton Tebow won't see the field...Fox hates QB's especially young one's that need coached up ,which he can't or ever will...Elway jumped the gun on Fox. Elway shuld have went with Schottenheimer or Musgrave for a young QB...good luck with "it is what it is"

b.ket said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Dear Scott,

Could you please write an article that talks about how good i am? I hav a couple newspaper clippings my mommy saved from pee wee league that say i am good. I want some girls around here to start talking to me.

Thanks Scott,

Jenny Clausen

Shane P said...

Marty Hurney's daughter's last name is Richardson...any questions?

Dale S. said...

Panther's will be in the SUPER BOWL next season! Mark my words. Marty hurney and their entire front office should have all of their contracts extended in my opinion.

Dale S.
Falcons Fanatic

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr Chudzinski -- Please let me play this year. I promise to not wet my pants when I am bull-rushed again.

signed,
Jimmy Clausen