Gary Kubiak led the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl in his first season as the team’s head coach, validating John Elway’s decision to hire him.
Prior to this season, John Fox was Denver’s head coach. With Peyton Manning at quarterback, the Broncos went 13-3 twice and 12-4 once under Fox. They reached the Super Bowl once and lost to Seattle, and they lost twice in the divisional round of the playoffs. That sort of production was not enough for Elway, which prompted him to make the move.
The Broncos GM spoke about the decision and believes the Super Bowl trip justifies his reasoning for firing Fox. He also took a shot at the former Broncos coach, who now heads up the Chicago Bears.
“I just didn’t like two out of the last three years we lost in the first round with home field advantage,” Elway said in an interview that aired on CBS prior to the Super Bowl. “And so to me that hurts. If you can’t get guys excited about playing in the playoffs that time of year, something’s wrong.”
The “something’s wrong” part of the comment is a shot a direct shot at Fox, with the implication being the coach did not do his job.
Earlier in the week, Elway also said that having a chance to play in the Super Bowl is why they made a change.
“This is why we made the decision,” Elway said this week. “This was the idea — to get better and get past the first round.
Elway likely has respect for Fox as a coach, but that’s only to an extent. And after hearing these comments from the cut-throat Hall of Famer, what Elway said in this video now makes a lot more sense.
