Josh McDaniels is one of the most scrutinized coaches in the NFL, and he hasn’t even coached a preseason game yet.

Really though, who could blame fans?

They have endured the loss of their team’s greatest coach, only to have him be replaced by a baby-faced, and some think, arrogant and over-controlling, relative no-name that exiled the team’s best player early in his tenure.

But they haven’t been the only ones, the national, and local media alike have done everything from insult McDaniels’ intelligence to question his ability to lead.

In addition, disputes with Brandon Marshall (which may have cooled for now) and huge turnover in all aspects of the team, have scared fans, and alerted the media that all the Broncos greatness of the last decade and a half is over.

But, as many still wonder, “Who really is Josh McDaniels? Will he be an heir to the “Mastermind” Mike Shanahan, the disciple of “The Grimace” Bill Belichick? Or will he be just another from the Patriots dynasty—Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Charlie Weiss—either a complete flop or at least a disappointment overall.

Can we really judge McDaniels already? I personally haven’t seen any interviews with him on TV that have been longer than a few minutes, and his coverage in the local papers is more speculative than in an interview fashion.

Woody Paige of the The Denver Post, likely the greatest writer in the Rocky Mountain region, though got an intimate experience in Paige’s third interview with the coach.

McDaniels said a few things that struck me, some that I believe are telling of this intriguing figure. Paige begins the interview with this quote from McDaniels, “There are things we will do (offensively) that other teams have never done.”

McDaniels continued, “We definitely will find different ways to make defenses work to get ready for us. Jack Del Rio (Jaguars coach) said it best two years ago. He said, preparing for us (New England) was like preparing for six different defenses. We want to dictate to defenses.”

McDaniels is confident, maybe overly so. But wasn’t Shanahan as well, when he signed on with Denver?

New formations, plays, and an overall different way of looking at things are good for football, especially on offense. After all, there had to be an Air Coryell to create the West Coast offense, and a Mike Shanahan to perfect it.

And possibly, for McDaniels to progress the offense, and maybe the NFL, into an even more sophisticated realm. McDaniels describes his playbook as, “It’s a library.” Paige said it resembled an “Encyclopedia Brittanica,” but McDaniels clarifies that the Broncos, “Won’t use all of it, but we will go into each week and choose the best plays for that game.”

Really, this should be really exciting for Broncos fans, as even if Kyle Orton isn’t the quarterback of the future, he could be the stop gap for a few years. McDaniels addressed Orton, not holding anything back when speaking of the positives he holds in store.

“It’s a tough adjustment coming into our system. Kyle moved here full time and has learned the offense. We threw everything at him. He’s watching film, studying all the time. I feel very good about him. Kyle’s a smart player. He brings leadership, toughness. We’re not going to ask him to do things that are not best suited for him.”

McDaniels, with all those plays, has to find some that suit the players he has, if he ever wants to be labeled with a cool nickname like his predecessors.

When it came to talking about the team overall, McDaniels showed his youthful pride-like confidence once again. “

All I can tell you is I’ve never been a part of a losing season in my life—not when I started playing in the seventh grade, not in high school, not in college, not (as an assistant) at Michigan State, not in all my years (eight) in New England. I don’t want to put a cap on what we’re going to do.”

Broncos fans should be assured that McDaniels is a winner, has experienced winning his entire life, including winning Super Bowls. A winner and leader, even if that leader rips the reigns a bit too hard for some, is much better than a loser and obedient servant-like the situation in Oakland.

Paige finishes by describing McDaniels as, “Josh is engaging, self-assured, likable, oft-times funny at his own expense, serious about his profession and goals, an NFL historian, highly intelligent, a dedicated husband and father and a clever, gifted football coach.”

This interview is a great glimpse into the real Josh McDaniels, a person with so much control over the beloved Broncos, that we seemingly don’t know yet; a person that has been likely prematurely scrutinized by those that may not see his vision, yet.

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