John Elway has helped the Denver Broncos capture one championship and fall one win short of another since he took over the team’s football operations department in 2011, but the Hall of Famer has his flaws like anyone else. Could those flaws prevent Elway from finding people to work for him in the future?
After speaking with executives and assistant coaches from around the NFL, Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman learned that Elway is developing a reputation for being a “coach-killer.”
“Coaches are starting to see the Broncos as a death trap,” one assistant coach told Freeman.
The Broncos missed the playoffs for the first time in six seasons last year, which means they have had a lot of success since Elway joined the front office. Despite that sustained period of success, Vance Joseph is the team’s third head coach since 2011. Gary Kubiak walked away after winning a Super Bowl, so there wasn’t much Elway could have done about that. However, Freeman notes that there were plenty of questions about Elway firing John Fox after the coach led the team to four consecutive AFC West titles and a Super Bowl appearance.
And then there’s the current staff. The Broncos fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy this week, which Joseph says was his decision alone. According to Freeman, most people around the NFL feel that “Elway’s fingerprints are all over the move.” There’s also a belief among coaches that Elway made Joseph look bad when he recently called the team out in public.
With the Broncos having lost six straight, there’s a chance Joseph could be one-and-done. Should he be? That’s the bigger question. Denver’s biggest problem has been poor play at the quarterback position. On Sunday, they will start their third QB of the season in Paxton Lynch, a former Elway first-round pick. Elway also drafted Brock Osweiler in the second round back in 2012 and chose to bring him back this season after he was a disaster with the Houston Texans last year. Trevor Siemian was drafted in the seventh round back in 2015.
Unless Lynch pans out, Elway clearly hasn’t been able to draft his next franchise quarterback. The Super Bowl teams were led by Peyton Manning, who was a free agent signing. While there’s no doubt Elway has had a lot of success, many people feel he has found scapegoats for his own mistakes. A leader should take responsibility for everything that goes on under his watch. Elway has done very little of that.
