Jan. 5, 2001, Pat Bowlen announces two-time Denver Broncos Super Bowl champion and NFL hall-of-famer John Elway as the new Executive Vice President and General Manager of the organization. Shortly after, Elway and the Broncos hire John Fox to be their head coach over a list of candidates that included current Denver offensive coordinator, Rick Dennison.
Of course, at the time, Gary Kubiak was the head coach of the Houston Texans and he had just hired Wade Phillips to be his defensive coordinator, on the same day Elway had been hired by the Broncos.
Fast forward four years—Fox has been successful, but with one of the most high-powered offenses the league had ever seen and a strong defense to boot, there was a large feeling that he had underachieved. A second first-game exit from the playoffs was enough fodder for Elway to make a move and he did, dismissing Fox the next day or “mutualy parting ways” with Fox, however you want to perceive it.
Meanwhile, Kubiak had since been dismissed from the Texans and was successfully serving as the offensive coordinator of the Ravens. The feeling in Denver was that Kubiak, who played alongside and even coached Elway, was the guy and the feeling was right. On Jan, 18. 2015, Kubiak signed a four-year deal making him the head coach of the Denver Broncos Football Club.
“No, I can’t say that I ever thought that would happen,” Kubiak said Friday of getting the chance to be the head coach of the team he played his entire career for and won two Super Bowls as an assistant for. “I wanted to coach when I got out of football. Actually, Dan [Reeves] offered me an opportunity to coach, offered me an opportunity to go to New York [Giants] at the time with him, but I wanted to go start over somewhere and kind of work my way up. I think it worked out well. I’m very fortunate.”
It did work out and when he began to formulate his staff, Kubiak went full band-back-together mode, a move that is often criticized and categorized as “living in the past.” Kubiak stuck to his guns though, hiring the guys he knows, the guys he trusts, the guys that know this organization, the guys he felt comfortable with.
“Yeah, it’s kind of cool for all of us,” Kubiak told. “A lot of us have passed through here somehow, some way. [Ofensive coordinator] Rico [Rick Dennison] and I spent a lot of time here as players and coaches. [Special teams coordinator] Joe [DeCamillis] grew up here under his father-in-law, Dan [Reeves] and became a heck of a coach. There are a lot of us guys—[Tight Ends Coach] Brian Pariani passed through here for a long time. It is special to come back. We shared this opportunity before as colleagues and stuff. To share it again here, going into this football game has been special.”
“Rico and I have come up together under [former Broncos Head Coach] Mike [Shanahan],” Kubiak added of his OC. “Rico was an offensive assistant and became the offensive line coach. He was the special teams coordinator. You name it, Rick has coached it, and he is an engineer. He is a very bright young man. Rick and I have been together a long time. Our preparation together, getting players ready to play, calling the game—he’s become a very good play caller, in my opinion, and [Quarterbacks Coach Greg] Knapp has been with us, too. That’s been a very good group to work with.”
Not to mention Wade Phillips who was with the Broncos as a defensive coordinator and head coach from 1989 to 1994, during both Kubiak and Elway’s tenure as players.
“You look at his track record, and how many times has Wade gone to an organization, team and real fast done things,” the head coach asked rhetorically. “It tells you what type of teacher he is, and that’s the whole group, the coaches, as well. I’ve known Wade for a long time, known his family, knew his dad, grew up under his dad as a kid. For me to share this opportunity with him is really special. I’m very proud of him, the job he’s done, the career he’s had. I know he’s really soaking up this week or these two weeks, really enjoying it.”
You hear the way Kubiak talks about his staff and you can be assured they feel the same way about him, there’s a good chance that comfort, that familiarity is what has made it possible for this band to strike their tune in year one, making Kubiak just the seventh coach in NFL history to headline the biggest event in American sports in his first year as the head coach of a team.
Now, they head into the studio one last time in 2016, with a chance to produce a hit that could live as long as “We are the Champions.”
