Broncos CEO Offers Solemn Apology to Long-Suffering Fans

Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that the Denver Broncos' relatively new ownership group should want to take control of the franchise they have acquired.

Protecting Walton/Penner group's world record $4.65 billion investment is logical, but when you add the extra $245 million the Broncos sunk into quarterback Russell Wilson, things get much more complicated.

This season has proved to be an abject failure on a multitude of fronts. But after Christmas Day’s 51-14 humiliation, the new owners stepped in and took action.

Team CEO Greg Penner has now emerged as the most authoritative figure in the ownership group. On Tuesday, he admitted the need to change the losing culture and identify the right head coach to deliver positive results, but first, there was a heartfelt apology to Broncos Country.

“The main message I said from the beginning is, ‘I’m sorry to the fans.’ The frustration of a number of losing seasons is high, but this season, it’s even higher because of the expectations that we had going in,” Penner said on Tuesday. “We felt like we had a lot of pieces in place to have a very successful season. I know the players in this building are—we have good players, and we didn’t put the pieces together. Our fans have been patient. We have the best fans in the world, but we need to put a better product on the field.”

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Clearly, the number of high-profile individuals who jumped on board with the Walmart/Penner ownership group will have input on the search for the next head coach of the Broncos. No matter what side of the political fence you might sit on, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice remains a bona fide heavyweight figure, and she is bound to turn heads.

“In terms of the head coaching search, our owners—Rob will be involved, Carrie, Condoleezza," Penner said. "‘Condi’ has great experience doing football searches. She was just part of the Stanford football head coach search. We’ll have a group of the owners that understand what our expectations are, and we’ll be looking for that in a new head coach.”

Rolling out the big hitters will be badly needed if they are to attract a high-caliber individual to coach in Denver successfully. The Broncos’ head-coaching job was once coveted, but years of obscurity have removed its luster.

The likelihood of the Broncos taking another swing on an inexperienced coach to turn things around seems increasingly unlikely. That makes the financial clout and overall high profile of the Broncos ownership team a significant ace in the hole moving forward.

Despite being the odds-on favorite for the job with the bookmakers, Sean Payton might still be beyond the Broncos' reach. In the final analysis, Payton can take his pick of all the available NFL positions.

On the other hand, just how interested Jim Harbaugh might be in leaving Michigan to return to the professional ranks remains a question the Broncos might be massively inclined to ask.

Interestingly, Harbaugh was a co-owner of the Indy car racing team Phoenix Racing, where he was known even to change tires and previously drove the pace car at the Indy 500 back in 2013. Heaven knows, Harbaugh might even want to chew the fat over motor racing with Broncos' minority owner and seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

Small windows of opportunity will be crucial if the Broncos are to get the ear of the right candidate — no matter how fanciful they might at first appear.

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