Denver Broncos Ready to Move Forward With New Coach Eric Studesville

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Following a hastily called staff meeting Monday evening at which Josh McDaniels told his assistants he had been fired as Denver Broncos coach, running backs coach Eric Studesville retreated to his office to try to digest the organizational sea change.

Not five minutes later, Studesville's phone rang, and he was summoned into a meeting with team owner Pat Bowlen and chief operating officer Joe Ellis.

"I had no idea what was going to happen. There were a lot of thoughts going through my mind at that point," Studesville recalled with a slight smile during a news conference Tuesday, the day after being named the Broncos' interim head coach.

"When he was asked if he was interested in being the interim head coach of the Denver Broncos, I think it was like a baseball bat had him right between the eyes," Ellis said.

Studesville had the presence of mind to take a step back, think about it and even called his wife, Staci, for advice before agreeing to take on a job that he described as a "tremendous undertaking with tremendous responsibility.

"I was extremely nervous but opportunities in life like this don't come along every day," Studesville said. "I felt like I knew I had to grasp this opportunity."

More: Josh McDaniels Fired | Coach Own Worst Enemy
Video: Rocky Run Comes to End

While Ellis said Studesville would be "auditioning" for a permanent appointment, he has been given no assurances that he'll keep the job beyond the Broncos' final four games. No timeline has been established for commencing a search for a permanent replacement and no other candidates have been contacted or are under consideration at this point, Ellis said.

Ellis added that the Broncos planned to re-evaluate their entire organizational structure, including the possibility of investing more power in the general manager position and narrowing the scope of the head coach's responsibilities before embarking on the coaching search in earnest. He declined to give a timeline for the search.

"I want to get the excitement back in the players and get them completely involved and committed to going forward and finishing up this season in the strongest possible way."
- Eric Studesville It amounted to an admission by Ellis, who was speaking on behalf of Bowlen, that the Broncos made a mistake in giving McDaniels total control over football operations as well as final say on personnel matters.

"We probably burdened him with too much of that," Ellis said. "We were unfair to him in that respect and we certainly need to assess that and look at that."

The changes at the Broncos have been fast and furious in the last two days. Ellis acknowledged it was going to take time to repair the team's tattered image, rebuild its winning culture and restore the faith of its fan base, shaken by a videtape scandal and a slew of losses in the midst of McDaniels' incredibly stormy 23-month tenure.

Studesville, at 43 nearly 10 years older than McDaniels, takes over a Broncos team that is 3-9, with losses in seven of its last eight games.

The latest was a 10-6 loss at Kansas City on Sunday that eliminated Denver from playoff contention. Studesville was brought in to coach Denver's running backs at the start of this season after 13 years as an NFL assistant, including the previous six in Buffalo tutoring running backs and overseeing the Bills running game.

Studesville said the entire staff of McDaniels, including his brother, quarterbacks coach Ben McDaniels, remains in place.

Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy will take over play-calling duties formerly held by Josh McDaniels and coaching assistant Brian Callahan will be more involved with the running backs to allow Studesville to focus more on overall management of the team.

Studesville said he plans to make some changes in the way the coaching staff operates and interacts with the players but nothing too drastic.

"We're going to make some small adjustments," said Studesville, who will make his head coaching debut Sunday when the Broncos play at Arizona. "We want to do small things that pay dividends for us.

"I want to get the excitement back in the players and get them completely involved and committed to going forward and finishing up this season in the strongest possible way," Studesville added. "They've all been incredibly supportive. They've been positive. They're ready to go to work and so am I."

With a coach in place, at least until the end of the season, Ellis said he and Bowlen along with other members of the management staff will take a hard look at the Broncos' organizational model and possibly shake up the division of responsibilities, especially as they're invested in the head coaching position and general manager position. The current GM, Brian Xanders, remains on the job but his future with the organization is uncertain.

"We've got some time here," said Ellis, speaking on behalf of Bowlen. "I'm not going to speak to the structure, but we've got to evaluate that. We've got to go forward for our fans and for everybody and it's very likely that the plan will not empower the next head coach with the kind of authority that."

Ellis said Bowlen, after long, careful deliberation, made up his mind Sunday night to dismiss McDaniels.

He said the taping scandal dubbed "Spygate II," in which a former Broncos cameraman improperly taped an opponent's practice, figured in McDaniels dismissal but that it was not the only consideration. The camerman lost his job and the NFL fined McDaniels and the team $50,000 each for failing to tell the league about the episode in a timely manner as required by league integrity policies.

While Ellis didn't get into specifics, the lack of success on the field -- the Broncos were 5-17 in their last 22 games under McDaniels -- along with some personnel decisions that backfired, repeated clashes with some of his players and fan unrest all had to be unsettling to team management.

"In the end, all the factors were too much to keep going. A change had to be made," Ellis said. "Everybody in our organization recognizes that we have a lot of work to do to restore the integrity of our organization and the trust that the fans have in our organization. Me standing up here and delivering those words won't do that. What will do that is action and that is what we intend to take, and that starts today."

More from NFL.com: