Bowlen Says He Urged Shanahan to Make Changes

Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen told the Denver Post that he continues to support his coach, Mike Shanahan, and urged Shanahan to make changes after the team went 7-9 this past season. One of those changes was last week's ouster of Ted Sundquist as the club's general manager.

"There was in my mind a dysfunctional relationship between the head coach and the general manager," Bowlen told the newspaper. "Not that they didn't like each other. It just didn't seem the proper chemistry was there. I'm not blaming either party."

Shanahan has the final say over the organization's football decisions, so Sundquist had worked for Shanahan.

"The changes you see are changes that I told Mike he's got to make," Bowlen said. "I wasn't specific with him. I didn't say, 'Mike, you've got to fire your defensive coordinator.' I'm not going to start making those kinds of calls. But we both agreed we needed to make significant changes across the board, including in the locker room where we had some bad guys. So we've been going through that process and I'm comfortable with where we're at."

Bowlen expressed ongoing support for Shanahan, who has one playoff victory since John Elway retired as the team's quarterback.

"He's here and he's going to stay here," Bowlen told the paper. "Nobody, I can tell you nobody in this building, myself included, is more concerned and more attentive to what the heck's happened here and how we get back on top than Mike Shanahan."

Bowlen made similar comments to the Rocky Mountain News.

By Mark Maske |  March 18, 2008; 3:05 PM ET  | Category:  Broncos
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