12/09/2010
The Denver Post
Eric Studesville already has the first piece of art to hang in his new office at Dove Valley.
The Broncos' interim head coach arrived home from work Monday night to find a hand-drawn card from his 5-year-old daughter Sydni, congratulating the man now known around the Studesville house as "Head Coach Daddy."
"Surprised and humbled and honored," Studesville said Tuesday in his introductory news conference. "I absolutely want to do this."
The Broncos promoted Studesville from running backs coach to interim head coach shortly after owner Pat Bowlen fired Josh McDaniels after a 28-game tenure in Denver.
Studesville admitted he was nervous when he was summoned into Bowlen's large second-floor office late Monday afternoon. And when Bowlen and chief operating officer Joe Ellis told Studesville they wanted him in charge of the team for the next four weeks, Studesville paused.
It wasn't that he wasn't thrilled, because he was. It was almost just hard to believe that a head coaching opportunity had come about so suddenly.
Studesville asked for a few minutes to think about it, and he went outside to call his wife Staci, who was in her car driving on E-470.
"Can you pull over?" he said. Once she had, Studesville delivered his big news.
"He was really excited. I could hear it in his voice," Staci Studesville said. "There have only been a few times that I have heard that combination of excitement, anxiety and nervousness all in one, so I calmly said, 'You know, this is what you've been working for. You're ready. You'll be great.' "
Studesville, 43, has been an assistant coach in the NFL since 1997, when he was hired as a quality control coach for the Chicago Bears. He participated in the NFL's minority coaching fellowship program in Chicago the previous year.
In the 14 seasons since, Studesville also has spent time coaching running backs for the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills.
He was hired by McDaniels to replace longtime Denver running backs coach Bobby Turner last January, when Turner joined former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan's staff at Washington.
Studesville began seriously thinking about becoming a head coach over the past three years.
"Not always, but recently. Before yesterday," he said, laughing. "You always sit and think, if I was sitting in that seat, how would I do something or what would I think about, or this and that, and hopefully the opportunity will come that someday you can sit in that seat and get a chance to say, now, what are you going to do?"
Studesville understands the "interim" part of his job title. He stood off to the side of the team's main meeting room Tuesday afternoon and listened as Ellis said the team does not have a timeline set for when it will hire its permanent head coach, though Studesville should be a considered a legitimate candidate.
"Eric has a four-week audition," Ellis said. "Every interim coach has that."
Studesville said he has no plans for immediate sweeping changes, though he said he would tweak some of the "day-to-day" operations at Dove Valley in hopes of reinvigorating players who have perhaps grown weary during a tumultuous 3-9 season. Studesville said he will continue to pay close attention to the team's running backs, but will assign offensive play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, while defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale will be responsible for the defense.
"I am very passionate about this game, I love this game, this game is fantastic to me. It's been a part of my life for a long time," said Studesville, who played defensive back at Division III University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. "I love being around the players. The interaction with the players — there is nothing better to me, and I want them to feel that from me. I need to get that back from them because that's what keeps me going on a daily basis, and I think this is just an enhanced version of what I have done with the running backs. I just now have the whole team."
Studesville spoke to several players Monday night and will address the full team today. He said he also plans to meet separately with the team's six captains (Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Wesley Woodyard, Kyle Orton, Chris Kuper and Daniel Graham) and plans to lean on them.
"With change, there's always apprehension. Things are going to be new so we're going to have to cross those bridges as fast as we can. Get across them and convince the players and talk to them and get them to say, 'Hey, we are ready to go. Are you in?' " Studesville said. "We have fantastic players on this team, and I'm looking forward to getting to work with them and let's get ready to go to Arizona."
Read more: Studesville ready to lead Broncos - The Denver Post
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