Denver Broncos Head Coach John Fox will probably be left out of the NFL coach of the year conversation. Fox's shot at hardware look, in reality, as narrow as Denver's chances at a division title, even in the AFC West's annual race to the bottom.
Broncos Coach John Fox Makes Rebuilding Fun Again
Love it or hate it, the fact is Denver Broncos head coach John Fox has found a way to win football games through a willingness to change his approach. Other NFL coaches would be wise to follow suit.
That's too bad. Fox's radical adaptation of the offense represents the kind of innovation celebrated by many, but not in the tradition-bound world of the NFL. Tim Tebow, John Fox and the triple option have television pundits and newspaper columnists spouting off the kind of vitriol usually reserved for message boards.
Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young was beside himself on Wednesday’s edition of ESPN’s NFL Live. Young donned a tin foil hat to insinuate that Fox was sticking it to Denver’s front office by shifting to his current game plan.
He basically said (Tebow) can’t be a quarterback. He’s saying to management ‘you’re forcing me to play this guy.’
Oh yeah, now it makes perfect sense. What a brilliant move to adapt his game plan and give a big middle finger to his bosses and win two games on the road against division rivals. Way to go Foxy! That’ll show those bastards.
Young’s conspiracy theory stands apart from some of the other analysis of the situation in Denver. The most common refrain is disbelief and disdain for an offense that refuses to hew to traditional NFL concepts for what an offense should be. Summed up in one of the less reactionary takes by David Whitley at the Sporting News:
Here’s what I know, you know and all those former player experts on ESPN and the NFL Network know:
It will never last.
The truth is that Fox's option read offense probably will not work, not enough for the Broncos to match up against a defense like that of the visiting New York Jets in tonight's game. Option or not, Denver just doesn't have talent on offense. An innovative game plan can only mask so much. Even with the standout performance of Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil, Rex Ryan's team is better equipped to win a low-scoring standoff.
It really doesn’t matter. Fox and the Broncos do not have to beat the Jets or any other team from the league’s upper echelon. Denver never made it a secret that they were rebuilding, cleaning up the damage from the Josh McDaniels experiment, of which Tebow is the most identifiable relic.
McDaniels’ machinations left a threadbare roster. They lack much in the way of talent on offense, and when you factor in the injuries, it really gets threadbare. That said, it would be interesting to see just what the Tebow-centric offense could do with some complementary talent, a burner of a running back and a sure-handed tight end or slot receiver.
On the other end of the spectrum are those who want to see the paradigm shifted. That misses the point too. It is not Fox’s job to shift the paradigm. A head coach gets paid to win football games. Most coaches tie themselves to their systems, clinging even tighter to their playbook even the losses mount. The paradox of ego.
The simple truth is that John Fox has found a way to stay competitive even as his team rebuilds. That’s a notable accomplishment, regardless of your feelings about the quarterback and the option.
See More:
