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Broncos make McDaniels NFL's youngest coach
2009-01-12
DENVER, Colorado (AFP) - Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, was named coach of the Denver Broncos on Monday, becoming the youngest coach in the National Football League at 32. McDaniels, who becomes the third-youngest coach in NFL history, agreed to a four-year contract to replace Mike Shanahan, who was fired on December 30 after 14 seasons with the Broncos, including two Super Bowl titles. McDaniels, the 12th man to guide the Broncos in club history, takes over a team that struggled mainly with defensive issues. Denver surrendered 448 points, the most in the American Conference, and blew a three-game lead with three games remaining to squander the AFC West division crown and miss the playoffs, an unpredecented choke in NFL history. McDaniels assembled New England's record-shattering attack a season ago, with the Patriots scoring a record 589 points in a perfect 16-0 regular season, the first unbeaten run since the NFL expanded the schedule to 16 games a club. This season, McDaniels overcame a season-ending injury to star quarterback Tom Brady in the Patriots' opener to produce an 11-5 season behind untested backup Matt Cassel. New England averaged 25.6 points a game, eighth in the 32-team league, and the Patriots won their final four games of the season but still missed out on a playoff berth. McDaniels, whose eight seasons with the Patriots included a stint as quarterbacks coach before being named offensive coordinator in 2006, became the fourth former assistant of Patriots coach Bill Belichick to land an NFL coaching job since 2004.
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