Broncos Fire McDaniels, Promote Eric Studesville

Earlier today, Denver Broncos President and CEO Pat Bowlen announced he has relieved Josh McDaniels of his head coaching duties.

Through 28 rocky games, McDaniels led the Broncos to a 11-17 record, tarnished the teams image in SpyGate II, and made many personnel transactions that angered fans and perhaps contributed to Denver's recent demise.

That said however, he had his positives. In his second year, with the Broncos and McDaniels, Kyle Orton has been putting up career numbers, Receiver Brandon Lloyd has had a stellar year, and McDaniels draftees Knowshon Moreno, Tim Tebow, Zane Beadles, J.D. Walton, Perrish Cox, Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas show great promise and could contribute greatly to the Broncos for years to come.

After fans continued to vocalize their displeasure in McDaniels, however, Mr. Bowlen finally made the move. "My decision to relieve Josh McDaniels as head coach was not taken lightly," Bowlen said in a statement. "I will always be appreciative of his passion, enthusiasm and hard work, and I thank him for his efforts. In the end, I was not satisfied with the results and the derection this team was headed. The decision to make a change was extremly difficult but one that had to be made for this organization and our fans."

To fill-in for the Broncos as Head Coach for the last four games of the 2010 season, the Broncos have named running backs coach Eric Studerville as the interim coach.

Running back Lance Ball, pleased by perhaps McDaniels firing, or Studerville's promotion (or maybe both), had this to say (via twitter): "Aye this [is] the closest thing to [President Barack] Obama being elected president !!!! #nfl Let's Gooo !!!" He went on to add, "Don't get me wrong guys.. I think Josh is great !! But I guess u don't really understand how I feel. #thatsall"

Rookie Quarterback Tim Tebow took a different approach, tweeting: "Thank you for everything you did for me Coach McDaniels, including drafting me into this great organization. I wish you nothing but the best." He then added, "We fully support Coach Studesville ... He will do a great job in his new position and will make Broncos fans proud of this team! GB2"

Wanting to finish the season on a high note, Studesville hasn't taking the promotion lightly. "I am very appreciative of the trust that Mr. Bowlen and the entire Denver Broncos organization have shown in me," Studesville said in a statement.

"Although the circumstances that this opportunity resulted from are unfortunate, I am excited to lead this football team. We have a great group of players and coaches who are committed to finishing the season on a promising note and making our fans proud of this team."

(Photo Courtesy of Eric Lars Bakke / DenverBroncos.com)

Knowing McDaniels is not the only one deserving blame, Bowlen has taken it upon himself to apologise to the fans for the Broncos poor performance of late, and to assure fans that the Broncos will get back to their winning ways. "Everyone, myself included, is accountable for our disappointing season and is now responsible for restoring the culture of winning that has been established by this franchise," Bowlen said. "Our entire organization is completely focused on returning to the level of prosperity that our fans expect and deserve from the Denver Broncos."

The teams official site noted that Coach Studesville will be available to the media on Tuesday at 11 a.m. MST, and it will be streamed live on DenverBroncos.com.