Schlereth on Broncos bringing back Mike Shanahan: ‘Why not now?’

The latest chapter in the Denver Broncos head coaching saga dropped Monday, when a report from The Gazette’s Woody Paige said general manager John Elway had a deal in principle to bring back former head coach Mike Shanahan, though it was eventually nixed by president and CEO Joe Ellis.

But with head coach Vance Joseph squarely on the hot seat with two games remaining in the season, “Schlereth and Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth asked on Monday, “Why not now?” regarding bringing back Shanahan.

“If you had the deal in place last year, then what’s different this year, especially if you’ve given your coach two years and you’ve decided he’s not the right guy going forward to operate this team?” Schlereth said.

Schlereth said that if indeed the Broncos move on from Joseph, it may be hard to persuade another coach who has “a legitimate pedigree and is an adult” to come to Denver.

“I think there are going to be other teams that will be more attractive than what you have here because you’re still in a roster rebuild and you have a journeyman quarterback,” Schlereth said.

And if that’s the case, bringing in Shanahan buys some “credibility” and gives a feel as if “there’s an adult in charge,” said Schlereth’s co-host, Mike Evans, on Monday.

“To me, it’s a case of both sides need each other. Mike probably still wants to coach. The Broncos need a grown up. It’s the perfect time,” Evans said. “They both need each other.”

Evans said he believes that there will be “so much pressure” to bring back Shanahan that he doesn’t know “how Joe Ellis nixes it this time around.”

“If the answer is no, then how would you explain it?” Schlereth said.

Also, the “authority” that Shanahan would be afforded in Denver, Schlereth said, is something the franchise “desperately needs.”

“He’d be given the authority to run this football team. He would be empowered because he would demand it, and the players would understand that he is the ultimate authority and that he has got the ability, the autonomy, to make the decisions that need to be made,” Schlereth said.

And while not having coached since 2013, Shanahan is “on the cutting edge of what people are doing right now” schematically, Schlereth said.

“There is no question he is current with the film and with the concepts that are going on right now,” Schlereth said.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.

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