As soon as we read Thomas George’s article containing comments from Broncos owner Pat Bowlen indicating that coach Josh McDaniels will be back in 2011, we had a pretty good idea that the commitment eventually would be proven to be meaningless.
We had no idea it would happen so soon.
The Broncos issued a statement on Monday night contradicting Bowlen’s comments.
“This has been a very trying and disappointing season for all of us,” Bowlen said in a written statement, according to TheDenverChannel.com. “We haven’t had the success we had hoped to achieve. Josh McDaniels is the head coach of the Broncos, and you always strive for stability at that position. However, with five games left in the 2010 season, we will continue to monitor the progress of the team and evaluate what’s in the best interest of this franchise.”
The statement didn’t address George’s FanHouse.com article, or Bowlen’s comments appearing in it.
At best, Bowlen’s remarks to George were a trial balloon, and the team quickly realized that it was made of lead. At worst, the conflicting comments will cause those who believe that Bowlen is having health issues that affect his memory and/or communication skills to feel even more strongly about those suspicions. (Bowlen strongly denied in his remarks to George that he’s suffering from any health issues that would impact the owner’s ability to run the team.)
Either way, the message is clear -- McDaniels’ vote of confidence had a shelf-life of a couple of hours.