RAMSEY: Time will tell if Broncos made a good hire in McDaniels

Within 15 minutes of the first reports of the Denver Broncos hiring Josh McDaniels as football coach, an e-mail arrived from one of The Gazette's faithful readers.

"I have socks older than the new Broncos coach," wrote Doug from Colorado Springs.

Doug, I'm hope you're kidding, but I get your point.

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is taking a risk, a big one, on McDaniels. The Broncos new commander is a mere 32 and has enjoyed a blessed football life on the New England Patriots coaching staff.

Is McDaniels an offensive genius?

Or was he just lucky to stand on the same sideline with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick?

We'll know soon enough.

McDaniels has worked in the shadows, hidden in a crowd of football celebrities. Brady is among the best 10 quarterbacks ever to play the game, and Belichick is one of history's top half-dozen coaches.

On Sunday night, those easy, anonymous days ended when McDaniels transformed from just another NFL offensive coordinator to Colorado's most heavily scrutinized and criticized resident.

The Broncos are the state's secular religion. Even when the Rockies raced to the World Series in 2007, they still were a distant second in popularity to the Broncos.

Yet the love affair was on the skids, and Bowlen needed to deliver a jolt to his franchise.

The Broncos have missed the playoffs six times in the past 10 seasons, claimed only one playoff win since John Elway retired in 1999 and finished with 24 wins and 24 losses in the past three seasons.

McDaniels inherits a lopsided team full of promise and full of holes.

Quarterback Jay Cutler terrifies defenses when he's clicking, and the Broncos' receiving corps - Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, Daniel Graham and Tony Scheffler - is among the NFL's best.

But the defense is one of the NFL's worst. The Broncos surrendered 448 points this season, most in the NFL.

McDaniels owns the brainpower to succeed, but he'll need to deliver more than strategy. He'll need to tower as an inspirational figure.

Mike Shanahan had lost his grip on the locker room. In his final three seasons, he failed to inspire.

McDaniels studied under a great football mind. Belichick is, no doubt, a genius, but his disciples have been blundering.

Romeo Crennel was fired by the Browns, and Eric Mangini was dumped by the Jets (and hired by the Browns) and we all know the struggles of Charlie Weis at Notre Dame.

Belichick's frowning, dictatorial approach works in New England. Lately, it's failed everywhere else.

McDaniels faces an intimidating challenge. He must command highly paid athletes with egos the size of Alaska, and most of those athletes are roughly his age.

He is, for instance, a month older than defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban and two months older than Stokley.

Will the Broncos obey their baby-faced coach?

Stay tuned.