Joe Ellis/Eric Studesville presser Open Thread

Douglas Lee Dec 7, 2010 12:30 PM

Joe Ellis and Eric Studesville will meet with the press today at 1PM ET/11AM MT. Watch and listen live at the official site; discuss it here.

Doug is IAOFM’s resident newsman and spelling czar. Follow him on Twitter @IAOFM

Open Threads

I agree ChiBronx&#8230If I have a choice between Bowlen, Ellis or Elway&#8230...its no contest for me.

On a different topic: The guy IMHO who needs to go is Rich Tuten. He remains from the injury plagued Shanny era. It seems we get more than our share of hammy&#8217s and groins every year.

Posted by Dennis Mitchell on 2010-12-07 21:03:09

I&#8217m with you Chibronx.

Posted by pubkeeper on 2010-12-07 20:54:43

Serious question: Should we petition to have Elway lead the search for a GM? I say this not because I think he&#8217s a good candidate, but because this miserable Ellis man won&#8217t commit, and because the Duke has said it&#8217s what he wants. If we could contrive to make him the face of a GM search, the team would have trouble walking away from it.

Posted by Chibronx on 2010-12-07 20:48:08

Bowlen and Ellis have no plan. What else is new?

Read this:

http://www.denverpost.com/bron...

transcript of the interview after shanahan was fired.

what&#8217s the point of firing shanahan just to hire a shanahan disciple???

Posted by codygras on 2010-12-07 20:41:45

I agree with bradley about Dennison. He has played been involved in all 3 phases of the game: LB in Denver in the 80&#8217s; ST coach Broncos; OL coach; co OC with Jeremy Bates; OC in Houston. He would be a steadying influence on this team as he knows all 3 phases of the game. Plus he is almost a lifelong Bronco.

I would love to see this team finish with 4 wins. It will be very interesting to see how we play as our coaches and players are right now auditioning for their jobs next year.

Posted by BlackKnight on 2010-12-07 20:38:24

I like Gruden and i said this yesterday, he would hate the Raiders and that MAKES ME HAPPY

Posted by Dennis Mitchell on 2010-12-07 20:30:15

bradley: That&#8217s fair. I guess I should say that that&#8217s ONE reason I&#8217d be intrigued by Gruden. I think he&#8217s a great motivator and an innovative offensive mind. My question is: Can he fix the defense? If not, I&#8217d prefer we get someone else.

Posted by Xtreme212000 on 2010-12-07 20:16:47

&#8220Monster ten yard sacks&#8221 Most have been with no time at all to throw the ball away.

And please let&#8217s don&#8217t bring in Gruden because he&#8217d be good for Tebow, a huge project at best.

Posted by bradley on 2010-12-07 20:12:40

3 of the starters on the O-Line

Posted by sleepyteak on 2010-12-07 20:12:25

Just a quick note: I am SO glad to have found this site. The analysis, posts, comments, etc. are the best I&#8217ve seen. Now I can finally purge the Denver Post and Bill Williamson from my life completely. Hooray!

Posted by Xtreme212000 on 2010-12-07 20:11:01

Agree with Orange. On Offense 3 of the starters were brought in by the old regime. Orton has played in different offenses, I don&#8217t know what he has to do to prove he is a good QB. Knowshawn can run in any system. That leaves wideouts Lloyd and Gaffney. Royal might be better in a different system. TE are in bad shape for WC. On defense they will have a new DC for as many years as DJ has been playing, so it will be business as usual.

Posted by sleepyteak on 2010-12-07 20:10:47

Curious to see how the play calling goes with McCoy calling the shots. I&#8217ve certainly seen some rumbling about Josh&#8217s calls here and at MHR. Maybe McCoy thinks he can do better, and he&#8217ll get his chance over the next few games.

On a side note, when did Orton stop throwing the ball away? He used to be excellent at dumping when the plays broke down. Now he&#8217s taking monster 10 yard sacks.

Posted by OutOfYourElement on 2010-12-07 20:08:19

chantech: You hit the nail on the head. QB is my biggest concern. What happens with Tebow now? That&#8217s the one reason I&#8217m intrigued by Gruden. I think he might be able to get something out of Tebow. But can he fix the defense? If he were brought in and wanted to use a Tampa-2, what would that mean for all of our current Front 7 players?

Posted by Xtreme212000 on 2010-12-07 20:06:52

Orange and Blue: &#8220this has Kubiak written all over it&#8221. Maybe, but I doubt he&#8217ll be available. But I&#8217m thinking Bowlen is tired of the NE experiment and wants to get back to Broncos. So, Rick Dennison? I wanted him hired two years ago. Long time coach after being a good player, and he now has a year in Houston for a different perspective.

Posted by bradley on 2010-12-07 20:06:15

Orange, while I agree that a hallmark of the system was versatility, I think that we have certain system players.

Specifically, at QB and DLine. Our DLinemen aren&#8217t necessarily pass rushers, but big 2 gap linemen. An average to good QB can look really good in this system because it does a great job of scheming guys open. Likewise, it does a good job of getting receivers in good situations. I think Tebow had a good chance to be a very good QB in our system where he could read defenses and figure out where to go with the ball, and if not improvise. I think if he has to be a drop back NFL passer and rely on his arm and talent of his receivers, you&#8217re going to see something like we saw last night with Sanchez.

Likewise, I like Orton in our current system but I&#8217d be skeptical of Kyle Orton being a great QB in a different system just like I&#8217m skeptical of Matt Cassel being a great QB in KC. He sure did look pretty good in that NE system though, didn&#8217t he?

Posted by chantech on 2010-12-07 20:00:31

If they would have taken back control of player decisions, whom would they have given it to? I don&#8217t think there was anyone in place qualified to do so. That is pretty poor planning. I guess you do not expect things to go poorly, but you certainly have to have some plan in place. They (front office) burned all their boats so to speak.

Posted by RalphW on 2010-12-07 19:59:45

I suppose Ellis can&#8217t come right out and say, &#8220We know who we are targeting but can&#8217t comment for fear of tampering&#8221.

This has Kubiak written all over it. Double Ugh.

Posted by Orange and Blue on 2010-12-07 19:56:02

Ellis: &#8220We haven&#8217t determined anything.&#8221

I guess all the determined is that they wanted to fire a guy and replace him with the running backs coach.

I&#8217m with Bartlett. Argg.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2010-12-07 19:51:10

Orange: I certainly hope you&#8217re right. I still like the makeup of the roster. We just need a little more talent and a LOT less injuries.

All in all, we&#8217ll just have to wait and see. I think establishing a strong front office should be the top priority.

Posted by Xtreme212000 on 2010-12-07 19:48:39

Josh must have done something to piss Bowlen off. You don&#8217t just fire a guy without a plan. Bummer there is zero new information about what really went down.

Posted by OutOfYourElement on 2010-12-07 19:47:29

I don&#8217t think Ellis is giving a good accounting today. No answers. No plan. Admits to a lack of a plan the last time around leading up to a lack of structure. Half-cocked.

&#8220Haven&#8217t thought about moving forward too much.&#8221

Great answer, dude.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2010-12-07 19:44:37

All this stuff about specific system-specific player confuses me. Yes, we implemented a system that is different, but wasn&#8217t the basis of it all about versatility. I disagree that we are pigeon-holed into McD&#8217s system. If anything, he gave us players that can adjust better than most.

I may be proven wrong, but I still think we have a chance for better results (next yr) with the right leadership on board (and if we have a full training camp).

Posted by Orange and Blue on 2010-12-07 19:43:38

Ellis: &#8220it&#8217s gonna take come time; we have a long way to go&#8221

Posted by RalphW on 2010-12-07 19:41:43

Xtreme, I agree completely. With that system in place, I think we were a player or 2 and some good luck with injuries from being very good.

Without that system, it feels like the cupboard is bare. We all know how well players who were drafted for one system fit in a new system &#40anyone remember the draft where we drafted almost all on the defensive side of the ball for Jim Bates&#8217 system?&#41.

Posted by chantech on 2010-12-07 19:40:45

Ellis did indicate that the Broncos may look at how to change the organization&#8217s structure&#8230 as in, how much power/oversight the coach has. He did indicate it wasn&#8217t the original intent to have a structure with the coach having so much of that, but it ended up being that way.

Posted by Bob Morris on 2010-12-07 19:40:21

Ralph: I agree, but I have a lot of concerns about this team moving forward. It was built to fit into a very specific system, and without that system, I think the cupboard is bare. And you&#8217ve got to think that some of our players will now think that their time in Denver is about to run out. Maybe it&#8217ll motivate them to play for their jobs. Who knows?

Posted by Xtreme212000 on 2010-12-07 19:36:53

Yeah, you may be right. I look forward to seeing how we play Sunday. Hopefully the team doesn&#8217t take a Lame Duck approach.

Posted by RalphW on 2010-12-07 19:33:33

Ralph: Can we just call him &#8220Lame Duck&#8221? I mean no offense to the guy, but I don&#8217t see him keeping the job into next season.

Posted by Xtreme212000 on 2010-12-07 19:30:10

sleepy: elway will not be getting a minority stake anytime soon.

http://www.westword.com/2002-0...

Posted by codygras on 2010-12-07 19:25:08

It sounds like Studesville (needs a nickname?)was tapped to be head coach (a) because he is capable (b) he relates well and enjoys interaction with the players and (c) to keep the continuity in the offensive (McCoy) and defensive (Wink) scheme.

Posted by RalphW on 2010-12-07 19:22:27

Studesville: Orton is starting.

(Basically said it by ending with &#8220Period.&#8221)

At least this week.

Which is good because he&#8217s my main Fantasy Football QB! It&#8217s all about me.

No, he seems like a cool dude, easy to root for. Has good energy and passion, but a calm demeanor. I&#8217m sure players like him. He likely won&#8217t be the coach next year but if he fares well wouldn&#8217t be surprised to see him get a shot.

Posted by underdog on 2010-12-07 19:17:50

Follow up to my last comment: I support Orton remaining the starting QB. My previous remark reflects what I expect is going to be the continued impatience from many Bronco fans.

Posted by Bob Morris on 2010-12-07 19:17:38

One thing that seems significant is that the RB coach was made Interim HC over both McCoy and Wink. I&#8217ll be interested in this press conference.

Posted by bradley on 2010-12-07 19:16:40

Studesville says Kyle Orton will be the starting QB.

I say that means now Denver Broncos fan will demand Studesville&#8217s firing, immediately!

Posted by Bob Morris on 2010-12-07 19:15:53

13 minutes in the obligitory Tebow question&#8230

Posted by RalphW on 2010-12-07 19:15:01

Thanks, Butte.

Signs point to Bowlen letting things get out of hand again. If Bowlen is not helping the situation, he needs to get further into background and let others do the job - however not just one&#8230 Ellis.

Ellis helped choose McD, but they didnt give McD enough of a job description to set the boundaries IMO. He got himself into Belichek mode too early for his own good.

Posted by Orange and Blue on 2010-12-07 19:11:12

Little Joe Ellis humor?

I thought that Coach Studesville had second thoughts&#8230.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2010-12-07 19:07:00

Butte:

Good stuff.

I&#8217m reserving judgement for a little while, but I&#8217m considering writing about Bowlen directly, too, and soon.

Posted by TJ Johnson on 2010-12-07 18:59:56

FWIW,

I just heard Klis on 87.7 and he had some interesting things to say. Not sure if they were true, but he probably knows more about what went down than anyone. Here are some things off the top of my head:

*Felt that the lack of fan support and the London video deal were 1a and 1b on the reason Josh was let go.

*Lack of fan support due to record (duh) and Peyton Hillis. (I remember the clamoring for Hillis last year, and as lame as Klis&#8217 comments sound, it does hold some water. It&#8217s moronic, but it holds water. I still go back to the communication aspect&#8212tell people why Hillis didn&#8217t work out here. Be honest, don&#8217t worry about hurting anyone&#8217s feelings.)

*The London taping deal played into account for two reasons according to Klis. 1) The org was deeply embarrassed (which seems logical to me) and 2) after the incident &#8220there was a cascading of events&#8221 and things were &#8220unraveling from day-to-day&#8221. (those two quotes were direct from Klis who said that &#8220was what I&#8217ve been told&#8221).

*Klis said the Fanhouse deal was a complete error on Bowlen&#8217s part and someone (Ellis, I presume) had to walk it back immediately because he knew things were unraveling. (To me the Fanhouse deal is even more proof of what a mess this org. is. Is Bowlen really losing it?)

*Klis closed the interview by saying that the organization felt that the train had completely gotten off the tracks (me: became a complete f&#8217n mess in the halls) and they had to make the change to get it back on the tracks.

After listening to the interview and reading between the lines a little, I don&#8217t feel any better. It appears the 49ers taping thing, although not a huge deal in and of itself, opened Pandora&#8217s box and all the BS that goes along with being 3-9 and having the fans in a bees-nest mentality comes to the surface. Fingers get pointed, it gets ugly, and the next thing you know, the coach is out. After all, as crazy as he may be, Bowlen wasn&#8217t going to fire himself.

Like I said earlier, I&#8217m not expecting much more than PR BS in this little dog and pony show.

Posted by ButteBronco on 2010-12-07 18:49:34

My prediction: Elway is given a minority interest in the team and made president. Bowlen remains CEO. To tell what direction Denver is taking or whose calling the shots look to see how the two open roster positions are filled.

Posted by sleepyteak on 2010-12-07 18:44:21

Via Twitter:

RT @RapSheet: Belichick on McDaniels&#8217 firing: &#8220I was disappointed to see that for Josh.&#8221

RT @RapSheet: Belichick seemed pissed about McDaniels being fired. Lamented &#8220the way it is in the NFL&#8221 with unrealistic expectations.

Posted by underdog on 2010-12-07 18:35:56

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