Champ Bailey is one of two players on the Broncos' defense who will have his seventh coordinator in seven years. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

One of the top story lines heading into last week’s NFC Championship Game was the hindered development of San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Alex Smith.  Coming out of college at Utah, he was the first pick of the NFL draft and was shouldered with high exceptions that he would return their franchise to the glory days of Joe Montana and Steve Young.  Seven years and seven offensive coordinators later, Smith had finally led his squad to the brink of the Super Bowl.

Is it any wonder that it took him so long to fulfill the expectations of a first round draft pick?  Every year a new offensive coordinator would come in and change what had been established the year prior.  What could a bit of consistency do for his development?

 “Each man had a new idea of how an NFL offense should look and how Smith fit into their system.  Some liked Smith more than others.  Every spring meant a new playbook.” -Gregg Rosenthal, NBC Sports

 This spring will mean a new defensive playbook for the Denver Broncos.  Actually, like for Smith, it will be the seventh playbook in seven springs.  Two stalwart veterans of the Broncos’ defense, Champ Bailey and D.J. Williams will be in the same position the 49ers’ quarterback was in as the Broncos look to bring in their seventh defensive coordinator in seven years.

Before we look forward to what the Broncos should look for in a defensive coordinator, let’s take a look back at the last six men to lead the Broncos’ defense:

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One year ago today the Broncos were hit with a loss that doesn’t compare to any gameday defeat. Wide receiver Kenny McKinley, 23, committed suicide in his Denver home.

McKinley was a key player on special teams in 2009, and was placed on the IR in August of 2010 due to a knee injury.

The Broncos organization has suffered their fair share of tragedy with the deaths of Darrent Williams (drive-by shooting) and Damien Nash’s (collapsed after a charity basketball game) in 2007, and McKinley last year.

Last year at this time, the Broncos went into high gear to honor a fallen player. The team held a moment of silence, and wore No. 11 decals on their helmets. They also kept his locker intact as the season continued on.

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As Broncos fans, we have all experienced the highest of highs and the lowest lows we care to feel. We were there when our proud owner chanted those four magical words that still send shivers down the spine of this fan. “This one’s for John,” we heard. I know I’ll never forget it. I can still hear the usually reserved Pat Bowlen belt out those words. Unfortunately, as a Broncos fan, we have also experienced the lowest low points imaginable. Just like I’ll never forget where I was when I heard the magical four, I’ll never forget the devastation I felt when I heard of Darrent Williams’ death. It hit even harder when Damien Nash died just months later, and it really hit home when Kenny McKinley committed suicide earlier this year. Since Williams’ death, I’ve never been able to see our team run through the tunnel without feeling like someone is missing. Even now, almost four years after his and Nash’s tragic deaths and just a couple months past McKinley’s death, it feels like our team takes the field on game days with 50 men on that roster, not 53. That void will never cease.

I’ve been a Broncos fan since I was born. It just feels as natural as breathing air or eating to survive. Three things in life are certain for this fan: death, taxes and Broncos football.

My earliest memory is watching John Elway on Monday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs and the famed Joe Montana at the helm in 1994. Although the Broncos lost that cold Monday night, it instilled something in me that had been around me my whole life. The Denver Broncos were my team. That feeling was pretty great when you’re a seven year old kid. Feeling like you belong to something so much bigger than yourself. Feeling, for the first time, a sense of community that could never be trivialized or compromised. I became more aware of the fellow fanatics around me.

I picked up on mannerisms and sayings from the diehards, too. I even got reprimanded when I was nine for telling my art teacher, “It’s all over, fat man!” For what reason I said it, I don’t know. I probably did it to be the “cool kid” that we all aspired to be at nine. When my grandmother had to come get me from the principal’s office, she found out what I said and although she threatened to spank me harder than I ever felt, when we got to her house, she asked where I’d learned that phrase. “I saw Tom Jackson say it to the Raiders!” She was upset yet she never spanked me. To this day, I’ll be damned if she wasn’t proud of her young grandson for quoting one of the most treasured quotes from Broncos lore.

My grandmother was the most diehard Broncos fan I’ve ever known. In her fragile later years, all she wanted to see was the Broncos win the Super Bowl. When they won in January of 1998, I was there when a fragile old woman was dancing and cheering like a sophomore cheerleader watching the home team take down the rival on homecoming night. My grandmother got her passing wish twice, and ever since November 15, 1999 when she passed away, I’ve never felt a stronger bond with anything outside of family than I have with my team, your team: The Denver Broncos.

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