Hours after the most shocking loss of his head-coaching career, the kind of setback some teams never recover from, Mike Shanahan began pouring the foundation for the Broncos’ consecutive Super Bowl championships.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” recalled Gary Kubiak, then the team’s offensive coordinator. “We’re all licking our wounds and my phone call from Mike was, ‘Hey, we’re going to be fine. I know everybody is disappointed. We’re going to get right back to work. And we’re going to win a championship.’”
Shanahan reached out to several assistant coaches in the hours following the Broncos’ stunning loss to Jacksonville, a 14-point underdog, in a January 1997 playoff game.