Schlereth: Broncos move to hire Ware, admit shortcomings, ‘excellent’

Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph sat in the team meeting room at the club’s Dove Valley headquarters in early January, with his job safe for the moment, and laid bare the flaws of his first year as an NFL head coach.

Six and a half months later, not only he but the organization as a whole have been lauded for doing whatever it takes to rectify a 5-11 season in 2017 — including signing solid free agents, drafting prospects with high leadership qualities, and most recently, setting aside ego by hiring DeMarcus Ware.

“We always expect players to grow up. We expect Isaiah McKenzie to be better this year and not drop the ball,” said Mark Schlereth on Thursday. “We expect players to mature.

“Coaches have to go through that same kind of cycle, that maturation process.”

The “Schlereth and Evans” co-host said bringing in Ware means the Broncos “essentially admitted” they need someone to help manage its pass rushers — a move that he dubbed “excellent.”

“That, to me, is another signal that this Broncos team understands where it failed … and they’re pointing to those failures and saying, ‘We’re going to rectify those things,’” Schlereth said.

Schlereth said a lot of NFL coaching staffs would have “too big an ego” to have a guy like Ware, a future Hall of Famer with a wealth of knowledge, come in and not worry he’d “circumvent the authority of the other coaches.”

“They’re like, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to make this team right, to make this team better,” Schlereth said.

Head coach Vance Joseph, speaking to the media on Wednesday after Ware had been announced as an exclusive consultant, said it’s a “great thing” for Ware to be a part of the staff.

“Watching him teach pass rush is special. It’s a special moment,” Joseph said. “He has so much knowledge about pass rush — not just with those guys but also with (Derek) Wolfe and (Domata) Peko and the inside guys.

“It’s a good piece to have as part of our staff.”