Earlier this week, Broncos General Manager John Elway said that the reason the team was comfortable parting ways with coach John Fox after the 2014 season was because they wanted “to get better and get past the first round” of the playoffs after Fox’s teams lost their postseason openers in two of his four years with the Broncos.
During Thursday’s media session, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning said that he’s heard from all of his former coaches from high school, college and the pros this week and said he enjoyed learning from all of them. He was asked a bit later if the Broncos would have made it to the Super Bowl had Fox returned to their sideline this season.
“Yes. I don’t get into comparisons. I don’t,” Manning said. “It is easy to do, but like I mentioned earlier, I was grateful to play for Coach Fox. Coming off a year, there wasn’t a lot of fun in 2011. Not playing, being injured. I had more neck surgeries than snaps that year. John Fox was a big reason why I came to Denver. We had a great three years together. We had a special team on that Super Bowl team that got beat by a better team. I just don’t do the comparisons. I was grateful to play for him. I have enjoyed playing for Coach Kubiak. He has led us into this position. I am grateful and felt fortunate to have played and learned from both of them.”
Wondering what the Broncos would look like had Fox returned for a fifth season could be an enjoyable exercise, but one big difference would likely have been the absence of Wade Phillips on the coaching staff. Given how much that unit has meant to the Broncos this season, it’s hard to imagine too many people would want to go back and do things differently.
