Colts hire former Broncos head coach who could never win the big game
Mar 28, 2022, 9:30 AM
Former Denver Broncos head coach John Fox has landed a new gig.
After getting fired by the Broncos and later getting fired by the Chicago Bears, Fox switched to a television gig and many thought his football coaching career was over. Apparently not.
We have hired John Fox as senior defensive assistant. pic.twitter.com/5KOwCwFznF
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) March 28, 2022
Fox spent four seasons in Denver leading the Broncos, winning the AFC West all four years, but coming up woefully short in the playoffs. His first season was with Tim Tebow, so a divisional round loss to the Patriots wasn’t on him, but the next three helped cost Peyton Manning multiple Super Bowl rings in Denver.
The loss to the Ravens in the 2012 Divisional Playoffs was painful. After the infamous Rahim Moore blunder helped Baltimore tie the game, Fox took a knee with two timeouts and more than 30 seconds of game clock to work with. The Broncos would eventually lose in double overtime.
The following year, the Broncos got throttled in Super Bowl XLVIII by the Seattle Seahawks, 43-8. Fox didn’t think the crowd could possibly be loud, so the Broncos didn’t have a silent snap count in place. The first snap of the game from Manny Ramirez went over Manning’s head and the contest spiraled out of control from there.
The next season, Fox’s last game in Denver, a report surfaced hours before a playoff loss to the Colts that Fox could take the Bears job if he was fired by the Broncos. His team played like they knew their coach had a foot out the door in an uninspiring 24-13 defeat.
After Fox was canned, the Broncos brought in Gary Kubiak, and he immediately guided Denver to a Super Bowl 50 victory. That season was a lot tougher than anything Fox had to deal with given Manning’s regression and injury, making Kubiak’s coaching all that more impressive compared to Fox’s.
Fox and the Colts visit Denver this season, and it will be curious to see what kind of reception he gets from Broncos fans.
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