Josh McDaniels has been under tremendous scrutiny ever since he earned the job, especially after making unorthodox decisions to trade away star players such as quarterback Jay Cutler and wide receiver Brandon Marshall and replacing them with first-round draft choices Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomas.
Moreover, I'm certain that the Peyton Hillis trade trashed his public opinion as well. Note, Hillis has registered 962 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground along with another 436 yards and pair of touchdowns receiving. Meanwhile Brady Quinn, the player whom he was dealt for, hasn't thrown a pass this season and holds a career passer rating of 66.8.
To make matters even worse, McDaniels was fined $50,000 just a couple weeks ago because his video operations director illegally taped a San Francisco 49ers walkthrough practice before their Week 8 game in London
All in all, I'm sure that the Broncos management felt that enough was enough.
Personally, I had a sense that McDaniels was an intelligent coach and had a vision that he wanted to implement. Unfortunately, it simply took to long to put his plan into action.
Nonetheless, as most did, I expected he would be fired eventually. At the same time, I do think this move was questionable considering it was executed so late in the season. However, it does give a chance for the interim coach to prove himself in the coming weeks. The Broncos have critical matchups against the Cardinals, Raiders, Texans and Chargers
Note, McDaniels has lost 18 of his past 22 games despite getting off to a six-game winning streak to start his career. It just goes to show that it's a 'what have you done for me lately league.'
This is the third head coach that's been fired this season, with Dallas Cowboys Wade Phillips and Minnesota Vikings Brad Childress being the others. Both of those teams have had success with their interims, and it'll be interesting to see if a similar fate follows the Broncos.
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By Mihir Bhagat
