Shanahan Fired as Denver Head Coach

December 30, 2008. The day that might live infamy for the Denver Broncos. As a Bronco fan, I never thought I would be watching ESPN and see "Broncos Fire Mike Shanahan." I always thought Shanny would retire from Denver with another Super Bowl Trophy under his arm and walk away a champion. That happened to John Elway but it didn't happen to Mike Shanahan. First, I will always be a Shanahan fan. The guy is the greatest coach in Denver history. He is one of the best coaches in the NFL right now, and I will always hope that he does well. I will miss him because he was really one of the faces of the Broncos Organization. It will be so weird to watch a game without him on the sideline. I think this is a mistake by Pat Bowlen. I think you needed to give Shanny more time to build this young team back up. There is no one out there that is proven that will come in and do the coaching job that Shanny has done. Second, I also understand why Bowlen did this. 10 years, 1 division title, and 1 playoff win will get a lot of coaches fired. The media and the fans have grown tired of the mediocre and under achieiving Broncos. Sometimes a coach and a message gets stale. The bottom line is that there are a lot of people in Denver who are happy with this move. Third, where does Denver go from here? I think Bowlen will and should hire a real General Manager. I would go after Scott Pioli. Then, I would hire a young assistant. The names would be down to three-Steve Spagnuolo, Jim Schwartz, and Josh McDaniels. It is time to restructure the Front Office and the organization. Lastly, on a personal note, I can't believe how hard this move has hit me. I was a Shanahan guy and I always defended him. He was the last link to the Broncos Super Bowl teams. Elway retired and he was followed by Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe, Ed McCaffrey, and Rod Smith. Brian Griese, Jake Plummer, Clinton Portis, Bill Romanowski, Steve Atwater, and Gary Zimmerman all came and went. The one constant was Shanahan. If you are building a Mt. Rushmore for the Broncos, Elway is first and Shanahan is second. I will always appreciate Shanny and what he did. I will always look fondly at that three year run from 1996 to 1998. Thanks for the memories, Mike. I will miss you, but it is a new era in Denver. The Broncos start over and look towards the future.