For a majority of Broncos Country, the first day of 2018 didn’t bring the one change they wanted.
Before the Kansas City Chiefs-Denver Broncos junior varsity game on Sunday, multiple outlets reported that the Broncos were likely going to move on from head coach Vance Joseph after just one season.
After the Broncos fell 27-24 to the Chiefs on New Year’s Eve, Broncos Country expected to awake to the news that Joseph had been relieved of his duties.
That didn’t happen. On Monday, president of football operations and general manager John Elway announced that Joseph would return for a second season. He elaborated on this decision on Tuesday.
“That’s the way that I wanted to go,” Elway said in the season-ending press conference. “I think with Vance being here a year and getting a chance to go through things as a first-year head coach — I’m sure that, as I told him many times, he was drinking through a fire hose, when you go through learning what it takes to be a head coach in this league because there is so much to it.”
Without mincing words, Vance Joseph was not a very good football coach in 2017. He took a debatably better roster than former head coach Gary Kubiak had just one year prior and won four fewer games.
In all fairness, Joseph wasn’t given the cleanest slate to work with, either. A large part of the reason he decided to part ways with six assistant coaches on Monday, including longtime running backs coach Eric Studesville and wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, is because he’s ready for a chance to completely assemble his own staff. As Joseph explained on Tuesday, he’s ready to shake up the building.
“In my opinion, it was time to change the culture so we could get back to pushing our players to be the best that they can be and getting our best players to play at their best all the time,” Joseph said on Tuesday. “It was more about the overall confidence of the offense and getting back to being a dominant unit versus [it being] personal about the coaches. I’m looking forward to bringing in guys who can change the culture and get our offense back to playing good football. It’s as simple as that.”
Elway had a hand in hiring most of the six assistant coaches let go on New Year’s Day. He was the one who hired Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator — a move that proved disastrous and required a midseason changing of the guard. By retaining Joseph and allowing the coach more say in the staffing decisions, Elway is shifting the responsibility. Perhaps leadership by delegation will yield better results in 2018.
Much of the talk around town throughout the disappointing 5-11 season centered around Elway too. After all, he assembled this mess. His decision to expand Kubiak’s role in the personnel department (the former head coach returned as a senior personnel advisor in 2017 and will be even more involved this season) suggests that Elway understands he needs more help.
It’s safe to say that a majority of Broncos Country wanted Joseph gone long before the season came to a close, but Elway had other ideas. In a way, Elway is taking some responsibility for his hire by retaining Joseph. If he can give Joseph a quarterback to work with in 2018 and the staff the head coach wants, and the team still can’t find a way to win, those vocal fans who wanted Joseph fired will certainly get their wish.