Rediscovering team identity vital in upcoming Broncos rebuild
Dec 7, 2017, 12:00 AM | Updated: 2:48 pm
With the Denver Broncos all but eliminated from postseason contention, the sights have been turned toward rebuilding in 2018 and beyond.
And the first step in moving on from a subpar 2017, Mark Schlereth said on Wednesday, is to settle on a team identity.
“Whether you stick with this coaching staff, whether you make a few changes, whatever the case may be, one thing that has to happen is we have to come to some type of an agreement on what is our philosophical approach and what is our identity,” the “Schlereth & Evans” co-host said.
“I’d like to know what our identity is so that we can build our football team and put ourselves in that kind of direction and that kind of mindset.”
That team philosophy, “Stokley & Zach” co-host Brandon Stokley, said has been absent since the Broncos took home a Super Bowl 50 victory less than two years ago.
“I’d love for some help with what is their identity. I just don’t know. The season has gone downhill so quickly and so fast that I don’t know,” Stokley said. “There is no identity with this team. I think that’s part of the problem. Part of the issue is you’re trying to find what your identity is, and they haven’t been able to do that.”
Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, who joined “Stokley & Zach” on Wednesday, said general manager John Elway and the Broncos brass need to sit down at the end of the year and figure out if the team can rebound quickly and make a playoff push with a seasoned quarterback — like Case Keenum — or do they need to blow it up and start over with the draft.
“You’ve got to sit down — John Elway, the ownership, and the head coach — (and ask) where are we?” Dungy said.
But the difficulty in establishing Denver’s identity, said “Pritchard & Cecil” co-host Mike Pritchard, is compounded by the uncertainty within the organization in terms of personnel.
“The Broncos are just sputtering,” Pritchard said. “So, how do they establish an identity? That question right there is the million-dollar question because how do you establish an identity when you don’t even know where you’re going?”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.
