New Broncos have instant respect for McDaniels

ENGLEWOOD – Akin Ayodele has been around coach Josh McDaniels for a little more than a month, and the well-traveled Denver Broncos linebacker can see some similarities to his former coaches.  

Ayodele mentioned that McDaniels, and especially the way he makes every player fight for their role on the team, reminds him of his old coaches Tom Coughlin, Jack Del Rio, Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano.

“Josh is somewhat old school,” said Ayodele, who signed in late April.

Those four are also well known for being hard-core disciplinarians. McDaniels doesn’t always come off that way publicly. He can hardly get on players for expressing themselves on the field when he enjoys doing so himself. Even though he is a young coach he is making his mark in the locker room.

“He’s a younger guy, but trust me: He’s well respected,” Ayodele said. “From the guys that were here last year and the guys they brought in this year, there’s an understanding of what he wants and what he expects out of every single player. How he presents himself when we meet every morning, he has a message that gets across to everybody.”

That McDaniels reminds Ayodele a bit of Parcells shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Parcells mentored Bill Belichick, and McDaniels patterns plenty of what he does after his seasons on the Patriots’ staff.

“They’re all from the same tree,” said Broncos cornerback Nate Jones, who played for the Parcells-hired Sparano in Miami last year.

Ayodele and Jones came to the Broncos after playing with Miami last season. Last year, safety Renaldo Hill and cornerback Andre Goodman came to Denver from Miami. Jones said he got a scouting report on McDaniels from his former teammates before signing with the Broncos.

“He’s young, he’s feisty, but the biggest thing is that he’s really smart,” Jones said. “To have a head coach that can tell a defense what the offense is thinking, I’ve never had that before. It’s a tribute to him. He’s a young coach, but he knows his stuff.”

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