Pat Bowlen's Inexperience With Coaching Searches is Showing

Over his 14 years with the Broncos, Mike Shanahan gradually became the most powerful man in the organization. He forced out general managers, constantly reshuffled his coaching staff and held control over every personnel decision, something that surely contributed to his firing on Tuesday.

As a result, owner Pat Bowlen is now pitching a more diffuse power structure in which neither the coach nor the G.M., whoever they turn out to be, has more power than the other. The new coach will be hired before the new G.M. and both men will report directly to Bowlen. That seems like a situation destined for problems.

There will be disagreements in the course of any working relationship. If they get serious enough, Bowlen will be forced to choose to keep one or the other, which will make whoever stays the de facto power figure anyway. It would make a lot more sense to install the G.M., even if you just promote current V.P. of football operations and player personnel Jim Goodman, and then have him help with the coaching search to promote a unified organizational blueprint.

It's not surprising that Bowlen is approaching this in a different manner than many of his peers. Although he's owned the team since 1984, this is only the third time Bowlen has had to hire a head coach. Dan Reeves was already there when he bought the club, and Wade Phillips was briefly the coach before Shanahan rose to the position.

The list of potential coaches, now that it appears Bob Stoops is out, is thick with defensive coordinators who have never been head coaches. There's no reason why such a coach would or should demand a Shanahan-level of involvement with personnel or even that of a Tom Coughlin or Jon Gruden, two coaches in the kind of power sharing arrangement the Broncos favor. Everyone should have a say, but the buck must stop somewhere.

As Jerry Jones and Al Davis would tell you, the buck need not stop with the G.M. or the coach. Bowlen could increase his role in the day-to-day management, something he seemed inclined to do during the press conference following Shanahan's firing.

"I run the show," Bowlen said emphatically at his news conference Wednesday.

If that's the way Bowlen's opted to go, his first decision was a poor one. According to the Denver Post, Jay Cutler is being consulted about the coaching candidates and was informed of who they were before anyone other than Bowlen and top lieutenant Joe Ellis. Cutler wants quarterback coach Jeremy Bates to be on the next staff, which is fine, but Bowlen has to do what's best for the entire team, not just the quarterback.

The Broncos have interviewed smart men like Steve Spagnuolo and Josh McDaniels, and they'll likely end up with a strong coach. They've just got to make sure that the system around him is strong or the whole thing will be doomed to failure.