Broncos coach Dan Reeves’ 12-year tenure had ended in December 1992, but owner Pat Bowlen started his first coaching search since buying the team eight years earlier with one potentially uncomfortable situation: Interview candidates without running into Reeves.
Exhibiting the kind of non-stop work ethic that allowed him to spend 39 years in pro football, Reeves continued to keep office hours after his firing.
“He kept coming back in to do his stuff; it was kind of amusing because they would bring in a head-coaching candidate and see if Dan was in his office,” former Broncos media relations chief Jim Saccomano said in a phone interview Saturday.
That was just one of many Reeves stories that came to Saccomano’s mind and those amongst current fans and former players upon hearing that Reeves had passed away Saturday at age 77.
The only man to appear in at least two Super Bowls apiece as a player and head coach, Reeves’ 110 regular-season wins are second in Broncos history. And, he led the franchise to three Super Bowl appearances in the 1980s.
“The football world lost a heckuva coach and man in Dan Reeves,” former quarterback John Elway said in a statement. “Dan was a winner. I owe a lot to him. He was instrumental in my career and growth as a quarterback. We were able to win a lot of football games together, going to three Super Bowls and competing every single year at a high level.”
Reeves’ family said he died from complications due to a long illness, “peacefully and surrounded by his loving family.”
During his dozen years on the Broncos’ sideline, Reeves made more Super Bowls than he had losing seasons (two).
“One of the winningest coaches in NFL history, Coach Reeves set the foundation for the Broncos’ decade of dominance in the 1980s and championship tradition for years to come,” the Broncos said in a statement.
Reeves, a Colorado Sports Hall of Fame honoree in 2000 and Broncos Ring of Fame inductee in ’14, last coached in the NFL in 2003 for Atlanta. In 23 consecutive years as a head coach, Reeves went 190-165-2 in the regular season and 20-11 in the playoffs. He is ninth all-time in regular-season wins and tied with Jeff Fisher for most regular-season losses.
“What made him a good coach, he was smart,” Saccomano said. “He had an absolute passion to succeed. Dan was a winner — ‘This is how it’s going to be and this was the deal,’ he would say. There was no deviation from it. He was tremendous.”
Reeves’ first Broncos team, quarterbacked by former Dallas teammate Craig Morton, went 10-6, losing three of their final five games. The strike-shorted ’82 season was a wash as the Broncos went 2-7 (0-6 against division opponents).
Enter Elway and a run of tremendous excellence.
A week after Baltimore drafted him first overall, Elway was traded to the Broncos; he said at an introductory news conference he would have likely signed with the New York Yankees had the Colts kept his rights.
“We weren’t much different from the other 27 NFL franchises,” then-owner Edgar Kaiser said in May 1983. “We wanted him.”
The Reeves-Elway partnership stretched for more than a decade. Elway was NFL MVP in 1987 and made four Pro Bowls with Reeves as his coach.
The relationship wasn’t without bumps, though. Reeves and Elway clashed publicly.
“We don’t win without Elway and we don’t win without Reeves,” Saccomano said. “Very, very competitive and driven individuals.”
Saccomano said Reeves visited Elway’s Broncos office in 2014 and they had a “warm, half-hour talk.”
“You always had a chance with (Reeves) on your sideline,” Elway said in his statement. “As the head coach, Dan was tough but fair. I respected him for that. We may not have always seen eye-to-eye, but the bottom line is we won a lot of games together.
“Looking back, what I appreciate about Dan is how he gradually brought me along to help me reach my potential.”
Reeves was born on Jan. 19, 1944 in Rome, Ga., and was a multi-sport athlete at Americus High School, earning a scholarship to South Carolina.
Saccomano said Reeves hoped to play at Georgia after high school, but no offer materialized until after he won MVP of an all-star game. Bulldogs coaches approached him afterward to offer him a scholarship.
Reeves honored his commitment to South Carolina.
“That came from his upbringing,” Saccomano said. “Georgia offers him a scholarship and his dad said, ‘Didn’t you shake hands with those men from South Carolina?’ That was it. South Carolina it was.”
Reeves was a three-year starting quarterback for the Gamecocks (2,561 passing yards and 16 touchdowns) and also played baseball. He was inducted into the State of South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
Undrafted in 1965, Reeves signed with the Cowboys … as a safety. Coach Tom Landry moved Reeves to running back a year later and he led the team in rushing (757 yards on 175 attempts) and scored eight rushing/receiving touchdowns.
On New Year’s Eve 1967, against the Green Bay Packers in the famous “Ice Bowl,” Reeves threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to give the Cowboys a 17-14 fourth-quarter lead. But Bart Starr’s 1-yard touchdown propelled the Packers to Super Bowl I.
Reeves played in the Super Bowl in 1970-71 when the Cowboys lost to Baltimore and beat Miami. He played in 100 regular-season games from 1965-72, rushing for 1,990 yards and scoring 42 total touchdowns.
Upon his retirement as a player, Reeves joined Landry’s coaching staff, rising from offensive backfield coach to offensive coordinator. The Cowboys appeared in three Super Bowls during Reeves’ time on the staff, beating the Broncos and losing to Pittsburgh twice.
Reeves arrived in Denver in March 1982, shortly after Kaiser bought the team from Gerald Phipps and fired Red Miller. Elway was acquired in 1983 and the Broncos reached the postseason in six of the next nine years after qualifying only three times in their first 23 years of existence.
The Broncos were one-and-done in the playoffs in 1983-84 and didn’t qualify in ’85 despite an 11-5 record. After the 1986 season, they traveled to Cleveland for the AFC championship game and “The Drive” that forced overtime. The Broncos won 23-20.
“I remember all of it vividly,” Saccomano said. “Elway was just better than everybody else. I remember Dan after the game when everybody was cheering and euphoric, he was more like a proud father watching his guys. He watched them cheer and be euphoric.”
The Broncos lost consecutive Super Bowls to the Giants and Washington in 1986-87 and to San Francisco in ’89.
Reeves’ Broncos staffs included future NFL head coaches in Phillips, Mike Shanahan, Chan Gailey, Jim Fassel and Mike Nolan.
The end came when Bowlen fired Reeves after an 8-8 season in ’92.
“It’s been a great 12 years for me,” Reeves said during his exit news conference. “It’s kind of a dream come true when you go into coaching (and) you have a chance to run an organization and get the job done. … The only thing I look back on and hate is that this town deserves a world championship and we couldn’t come through.”
After working at the Broncos’ facility for awhile, Reeves walked into the doorway of Saccomano’s office and told him he wasn’t coming back.
“He said, ‘I’m leaving now for good,’ and he shed tears,” Saccomano said. “He was a really, really good man with a great soul.”
Reeves was hired by the Giants after they were spurned by Tom Coughlin (stayed at Boston College) and Dave Wannstedt (took the Chicago coaching job). The Giants made the playoffs in Reeves’ first year and he went 31-33 in four years (1993-96). Soon after, he was hired by his home-state Falcons.
In 1998, Reeves underwent bypass surgery in-season but returned to lead the Falcons to an upset over the 15-1 Minnesota Vikings for the NFC title before losing to the Broncos and Shanahan and Elway in the Super Bowl.
“Dan Reeves leaves a lasting legacy in our game as a player and coach,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement. “His track record of success in Dallas, Denver, New York and Atlanta over several decades speaks for itself, marking a long and successful life and career in pro football.”
Reeves’ nine Super Bowl appearances trail only Bill Belichick (12) and Tom Brady (10) in NFL history.
“It’s difficult to put into words how much Dan Reeves meant to me and so many others,” Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater said on Twitter. “He was not only a great coach and leader, but he was also a great person.”
