Another Day, Another Controversy In Denver

Just 10 minutes ago, I was sitting in my chair reading an article about national signing day in college. I switched over to Facebook and saw the following headline from a Denver Bronco page: "The Broncos and Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan have mutually agreed to part ways."

My first course of action is to yell out "WHAT!"

My second course of action is to rant and rave about how this can happen. I want to know exactly what everyone wants to know, WHAT HAPPENED? This is not a good sign for the Broncos. Mike Nolan did a fantastic job this year with a defense that was predicted to be at the bottom of the league. He led the defense to big wins over Dallas, New England, San Diego, etc. This is big, big news.

I began to read the comments from fans about Mike Nolan's release. The majority of the fans responded less then pleased to hear the news. A lot of them immediately jumped to asking for McDaniels head. They said that McDaniels is forcing out everyone that meant anything to Denver. I can see their point of view. Since McDaniels signing, he has forced out Cutler, nearly Marshall, and now Nolan. These were arguably the 3 most important people in Denver at the time of their release.

However, a few people did not have a problem with Mike Nolan's release. They pointed out that the defense collapsed at the end of the year culminating with a humiliating loss to Kansas City in which the defense had little impact at all. I can also see their point of view. The defense did have an end of the season collapse. They did choke. They did let a Kansas City Chief team walk all over them in the season finale. But does one collapse warrant the Broncos to part ways with Mike Nolan?

In the following days, we are going to find out more about why Nolan is no longer a Bronco. For now, I am not happy about it. Regardless of how the defense played in the finale, Nolan took a presumed mediocre defense and made them into a force to be reckoned with. This off season was supposed to be relatively quiet. The only major thing that was predicted to happen was the release or trade of Brandon Marshall/Tony Scheffler. That hasn't happened...yet. This is another controversial decision for a Denver Bronco squad that has been in the middle of more controversy then anyone over the past 2 seasons. Is it possible that Mike wanted out? yes. Is it possible McDaniels wanted him out? yes. Is it possible it was actually mutual? yes. Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, Denver and McDaniels certainly know how to make a headline.