Broncos Legend Lays Out How he'd Fix Russell Wilson if Named Interim HC

The NFL is a copycat league and with the Indianapolis Colts' bombshell hiring of interim head coach Jeff Saturday, bewildered fanbases around the league now wonder whether legendary former players could lead their franchise, despite a lack of coaching experience.

After all, in his first game as an NFL head coach, Saturday’s Colts beat the Las Vegas Raiders on the road, 25-20. Appointing Saturday as Indy’s head coach for the rest of the 2022 season has drawn criticism from former players, coaches, and broadcasters, like Bill Cowher and Joe Thomas.

Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett is on the proverbial hot seat after an abysmal 3-6 start to the season as the Raiders travel to Denver in what can only be perceived as a game where the losing team’s coach gets fired. Social media is currently running rampant with candidates that could potentially serve as Denver's interim if Hackett does get his walking papers in-season.

On Tuesday, former Broncos offensive lineman and current Fox Sports commentator Mark Schlereth was asked by co-host Mike Evans what he would do if he were offered the interim head-coaching gig in Denver mid-season a la Saturday.

Schlereth's remarks were noteworthy. Here's what I gleaned.

Establish an Offensive Identity

“Well, the first thing I would do is establish who my play caller is and what I want the offense to look like,” Schlereth said on his 104.3 The FAN show Schlereth and Evans. “We’re going to base ourselves out of the run game. We’re going to base ourselves out of the zone game, so I want to be able to run that through personnel groupings, through formations, through motions. I want the defense to have to communicate on every play. What I want to be able to do is run the same thing over and over and over again so we can become experts at it. Once we become experts at it, then what I want to do is be able to create adjunct run plays off of that, and I want to be able to create run-action pass plays off of that, so everything looks the same. So, we can maximize our ability to create big plays in the passing game based off of making defenses defend something. It’s like the old saying, 'if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.'”

The three-time Super Bowl Champion, who won a ring with the prized ‘Hogs’ of Washington, immediately addressed the elephant in the room: the Broncos' nonexistent running game. The Broncos are the only team in the league that hasn’t logged a 20-yard rush all season, recording a total of 932 rushing yards in nine games and averaging approximately 104 yards per game with only scored five rushing touchdowns.

“Ultimately, we’re going to win the physical battle," Schlereth said. "You know what those runs are going to become at some point? Very much like they were for Jeff Saturday, a breakout 60-yard run. That happens.”

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Redirect Russell Wilson’s Game

While many of the Broncos’ bad, boring, and dysfunctional optics are the result of poor coaching, Wilson has severely underperformed thus far. Instead of completing the easy and quick passes to receivers underneath, Wilson has played hero-ball, taking big shots downfield without much success time and time again.

“My message to him would be, 'Russ you’ll not survive that way, and you need to earn the right to play like Drew Brees.' And then I would just let the film speak,” Schlereth said. “Let’s put it on, let’s watch it together, and you would get a very honest assessment of where you stand as a player. I would tell him we are going to base out of the run game, that we’re going to limit him from the dropback game and shotgun game. We’re going to take advantage of his athleticism and what we do well, what we know we’re going to establish. Then we’ll get him opportunities outside of the pocket for easy throws. We’ll get him some opportunities inside the pocket for easy throws, and we’ll take a lot of the burden off of him at the line of scrimmage.”

Wilson’s physical traits are comparable to Brees, specifically his height, but his most recent play suggests a new brand of irresponsible and overwhelming recklessness, something we’ve rarely seen in Wilson’s career. This season, the nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl-winning QB has passed for 1,980 yards and seven touchdowns, with five interceptions and a 57.4 completion percentage.

Wilson has also been sacked 29 times and is holding onto the football for an extensive period of time, translating to desperate football. It’s no secret that many QBs prefer the pass over the run for their own self-interest.

So, what about the ‘Let Russ Cook’ narrative that is synonymous with Wilson’s No. 3 brand?

“Every time you cook, we get burned food back, that’s what we get,” Schlereth said about a theoretical pushback from Wilson if Schlereth were head coach.

While Wilson’s performance continues to nosedive with one of the league’s worst offenses, I don’t subscribe to the theory that he’s washed up or that the game has passed him by. He’s simply doing too much in an offense that is overcomplicated, ineffective, and seems forced on him by the coaching staff.

Accountability for Penalties & Missed Assignments

It's a virtual lock in each Broncos game that there will be a plethora of offensive penalties. Last week against the Tennessee Titans, there were four false start penalties bringing the grand total of the year to 19, which ranks No. 1 on in the NFL in that category.

While mistakes are bound to happen, the Broncos have quickly made a habit of harboring the referee’s dirty laundry without any consequences from Hackett and company.

“There will be consequences," Schlereth stated that if he were head coach. “If you make stupid plays, you don’t get to play. Those are the real-life consequences. If you can’t show up on a special teams play, guess what? You don’t get to play. I don’t care if you’re a core player, I really don’t. I have other guys that have a hunger and the desire to play, and they’ll get to play.”

Denver's special teams haven’t been immune to penalties either, with players like rookie returner Montrell Washington having fumbling issues and mental errors. Hackett describes these penalties and mental errors as “self-inflicted wounds,” and many are left wondering how much more pain the team can afford to bear.

Adapt & Adjust as Needed

Like it or not, Schlereth is the most qualified former Broncos player to be considered a head-coaching candidate for this losing franchise. The man has previously consulted for multiple NFL teams, and you’d be pressed to find a greater student and analyst of the game.

Although his football mind is revered and tremendously respected among his peers and the rest of the league, I doubt Broncos GM George Paton would give ‘Stink’ a phone call to be head coach should the need arise, but it’s not because he’s not qualified.

Schlereth's unapologetic analysis, criticism, and foresight will be on display this Sunday as he’ll be calling Broncos-Raiders for Fox Sports. Schlereth is also a former colleague of Saturday during their time at ESPN together and remains stout in his praise and belief for his friend as interim head coach of the Colts.

“I don’t have to have ever game-planned one time,” Schlereth said. “But I’ve been in enough of those games, and I’ve been in enough of those situations to know what works. Your biggest issues as an offense is you're playing with a third-team offensive tackle, essentially a rookie right guard who is raw at best because he’s a Division III player, a third-team offensive center, a left guard who has his own issues, and a second team left tackle. Your first order of business is not appeasing Russ Wilson. Your first order of business is mitigating the potential disaster that is that group up front.”

Follow Luke on Twitter @LukePattersonLP.

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