Jan. 14--After hearing John Elway explain his side of the divorce from John Fox on Tuesday in Denver, it's apparent the Broncos vice president isn't interested in AFC West titles.
Fox led the Broncos to four consecutive division crowns but it's Super Bowl or bust and the coach and Elway had not been on the same page for some time.
Given the state of the Bears' roster, the bar is going to be lower for a coach to cross in the next few seasons than that of the Broncos. First, the Bears must escape the choke hold of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the NFC North. Hiring Fox would give the Bears a man with at least the know-how to reach the Super Bowl.
"I don't think the expectations of anyone else matter," former Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said in a telephone interview. "What drives John right now at this stage of his career is to win a Super Bowl."
With Fox seemingly having as much of a role in his departure from Denver on Monday as Elway, what destination does the 59-year-old coach have in mind. One source says the Bears are pursuing him hard. Hurney, who was the Panthers' general manager for Fox's nine-year run there, said he believes Fox will land in Chicago during his Charlotte, N.C., radio show on Monday.
Fox won the AFC West with Tim Tebow at quarterback in his first season with the Broncos and reached Super Bowl XXXVIII with the Panthers with Jake Delhomme. In three seasons with Peyton Manning, the Broncos were twice upset at home in the divisional round and the Seahawks blew them out in the Super Bowl last year.
"The main thing between John and I was we disagreed how to get to the next level," said Elway after the team posted a 46-18 regular-season record in four years with Fox.
Apparently in league circles there were whispers in the final weeks of the season that the Broncos job could spring open when the playoff run ended, as it did with a thud Sunday in a 24-13 loss to the Colts as Manning struggled throughout. When Fox's Jay Glazer reported before the game that Fox soon could be on the market, coaches and executives who had been hearing the buzz knew circulating rumors were legitimate. The sudden parting Monday only confirmed the rift and that Fox likely had a landing spot or two in mind.
Fox's connections to the Bears are easy to trace. General manager Ryan Pace is tight with Saints coach Sean Payton, one of Fox's closest friends in the coaching community. Consultant Ernie Accorsi, who was the Giants GM when Fox was their defensive coordinator, thinks highly of him. It all adds up but will it be a match in the coming days?
"John is going to go somewhere there is a quarterback," Hurney said. "John would think he can relate to (Jay) Cutler, which he could."
One league executive said ties to the Bears are real but noted a recent trend of young general managers opting for first-time coaches, citing hires made by the Bills' Doug Whaley (Doug Marrone), the Colts' Ryan Grigson (Chuck Pagano), the Chargers' Tom Telesco (Mike McCoy) and the Jaguars' Dave Caldwell (Gus Bradley). As the exec said, new GMs can be concerned a veteran coach will try to assert himself too much and he said Pace, 37, will have to be comfortable.
When Fox took over the Panthers in 2002, 36-year-old Rodney Peete was the quarterback. The team acquired Delhomme and went to the Super Bowl the next season. The Falcons with Matt Ryan and 49ers with Colin Kaepernick have winning quarterbacks. The 49ers are pursuing Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase and Fox doesn't have a tie-in with Falcons power-brokers Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli like he does with Pace via Payton.
"I think it is going to come down to the people he is working with and being comfortable," Hurney said. "He's smart enough to know you can't win games in this league consistently without a quarterback.
"John can build a defense. He came in in '02 and we had some pieces there. We go and draft Julius Peppers and make some moves and built a defense that got to the Super Bowl two years later."
Critics will say if Fox can't win a Super Bowl with Manning, he can't get over the top in Chicago. But he's a proven commodity with 13 years experience. He was 71-57 in the regular season in his first eight years with the Panthers before bottoming out at 2-14 in 2009 with a young roster and rookie Jimmy Clausen (10 games), Matt Moore (5) and Brian St. Pierre (1) at quarterback.
"He's a heck of a coach," Hurney said. "And he has the ability to connect with all different types of people and all different personalities. He has a great ability to bring everyone together."
bmbiggs@tribpub.com
Twitter @BradBiggs
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