John Elway didn't play scared, and he doesn't run the Denver Broncos scared either.
We'll see if the Broncos general manager made the right move to part with coach John Fox, who was 46-18 in four regular seasons with Denver, and seemed to want out as bad as the Broncos wanted to get some new blood at head coach. But here was Elway's basic reason for the move, and it's hard to be too critical of it: He wants to win a world championship. He and Fox didn't agree on how to get the Broncos to the next level. So Elway is trying something new.
It's a bold move, but in typical Elway fashion, he sounded fully confident about it a little less than 24 hours after parting ways with Fox.
"I feel great about our football team," Elway said. "What do I look for [in the next coach]? I look for a guy who is smart, competitive, who is aching to win a world championship, like I am."
There were two major questions for Elway at Tuesday's news conference. Many involved the head coach. Just as many had to do with the quarterback.
Peyton Manning, who will turn 39 in March, has said he isn't sure if he'll be back next season or retire. Elway knows what he's going through, having been a Hall of Fame quarterback struggling with the decision to keep playing or not. So when he sat down with Manning after the Broncos' devastating 24-13 loss, one topic was not mentioned.
"I said, 'The last thing we’re going to talk about at this point in time, having been through what you’re going through now Peyton, is we’re not going to talk about your future,'" Elway said. "Because he needs to get away."
Elway said that in four or five weeks he'll revisit the topic with Manning. Manning's $19 million base salary becomes guaranteed on March 9, so a decision will be made before then. But Elway left no doubt that he wants Manning back, and he thinks Manning can still play at a high level in 2015 despite struggling near the end of this past season. Elway said Manning's quad injury, which was speculated about on Monday, was "strained" (he never said it was torn) but that Manning said he felt good before Sunday's game. Either way, he thinks Manning can physically still be a high-level quarterback, if he wants to return.
"The bottom line is we want him back," Elway said. "It will come down to what Peyton wants to do."
Elway said Manning will be consulted as the Broncos move through their coaching search, which should reaffirm the Broncos have no plans to part ways with him too and start a new era with former second-round pick Brock Osweiler at quarterback. Elway seems to have no interest in rebuilding.
Elway didn't shoot down speculation that he might be interested in hiring former teammate Gary Kubiak, the Baltimore Ravens' offensive coordinator, or even former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan – although that idea seems farfetched ("There are some options out there that I know a lot about," Elway said in regards to a question about those two). He also confirmed that Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio will be candidates. He didn't get into any other candidates. He did say the Broncos assistants hadn't all been fired, though they were allowed to talk to other teams.
Elway's biggest issue with Fox was that they disagreed on how to get the team to a Super Bowl title. He wouldn't get into specifics about their conversation, saying only he thought the team was peaking early in the season rather than later. Elway said he was not happy that the team didn't seem to go out "kicking and screaming" in last season's Super Bowl against Seattle or on Sunday against Indianapolis.
"Hopefully we turn that around," Elway said.
If the old coach and maybe even some of the players on the roster weren't doing enough kicking and screaming going into the offseason for the general manager's liking, Elway seems willing to do it for them.
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