Broncos, Shanahan should practice patience with defensive coordinators

A year ago, New York Giants management had just cause to fire Tom Coughlin.

Players were weary of Coughlin’s snarling, severe ways. The Giants were 8-8, and dozens of replacement candidates were itching for a call.

But the Giants embraced an ancient yet forgotten concept.

They were patient. They gave Coughlin another chance.

And on Sunday, we all witnessed the blessing of this old-fashioned virtue. A kinder, gentler version of Coughlin danced in Arizona as coach/emperor of the Super Bowl champs.

Mike Shanahan should pay attention to Coughlin’s revival. He’s spent much of this decade banishing defensive coordinators, and his chaotic ways have shredded the Denver Broncos.

Shanahan knows all about impatience. On Oct. 3, 1989, Raiders dictator Al Davis fired Shanahan, ending his 20-game reign as head coach. Davis even took time to offer career counseling. He suggested Shanahan return to college coaching, saying he lacked the right stuff to coach in the NFL.

Ever since that day, the Raiders and Davis have represented the evil empire to Shanahan. He adores throttling his old boss.

Here’s the troubling feature about the current state of Shanahan’s football mind: He’s starting to resemble his arch-enemy.

Since 2002, Davis has employed four football coaches. He can’t find anyone who pleases him.

As Big Al searches, in vain, for Mr. Perfect, his Raiders sink deeper into anarchy.

Shanahan has employed four defensive coordinators since 2002. He’s failed to find anyone good enough for him.

Shanahan has sent Ray Rhodes, Larry Coyer and Jim Bates packing. Coyer, now thriving as assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the most baffling dismissal.

In Coyer’s four seasons (2003-06), the Broncos’ defense ranked in the NFL’s top 10 for fewest points allowed. In 2007, with Coyer in Florida, the Broncos ranked 28th while his Buccaneers finished third.

Now, Bob Slowik is the state’s most endangered employee. He must revive the Broncos’ defense, and he better work fast. He knows how fast the axe can fall.

Shanahan is Broncos’ coach-for-life. Owner Pat Bowlen adores him, caters to his every whim, declines to criticize him. When the Broncos crumble, as they did this season, it’s never coach Mike’s fault.

Joe Collier served as a Broncos assistant coach from 1968 to 1988. As defensive coordinator in 1977, he designed the “Orange Crush” unit that propelled Denver to the Super Bowl.

He admires Shanahan, respects the two Super Bowl titles the man formerly known as the Mastermind brought to Colorado.

Yet he wonders about Shanahan’s eagerness to dismiss assistants.

“I’m surprised,” Collier said as he sat in his living room in Littleton. “These firings make it a little tougher for the loyalty factor. In my day, loyalty was paramount.”

Teams win, Collier said, with a blend of talent and belief. Players and coaches must trust each other. Stability serves as the cement required for victories, and instability, which has defined the Broncos defensive leadership, leads to disaster.

The Patriots and Colts are dominating the AFC, and their mastery has inspired weird behavior among their rivals.

Last season, the Chargers fired Marty Schottenheimer after he finished 14-2 and then, alas, lost to the Patriots in the playoffs.

This season, Shanahan dismissed Bates, who arrived in Colorado with a reputation for crafting daring, stingy defenses.

This too-rapid firing was no surprise. Shanahan undermined Bates when he dumped his defensive strategy after the fifth game of the season. Bates lacked the authority and the time to reveal his gifts.

The Broncos won’t return to the Super Bowl — won’t travel anywhere close — if they keep hiring and firing defensive coordinators.

Shanahan must hand the defense to Slowik, trust him and give him time to repair a troubled, porous unit.

And if Shanahan requires inspiration for patience, he should look west, to Oakland, where a football genius gone bad continues to lay siege to his own team, the once-mighty Raiders.