Written by Jeff Legwold at Espn.com
In what players described as an emotional scene after the Denver Broncos’ 24-6 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, coach Gary Kubiak told his team he was stepping down for health reasons.
Kubiak had told a small, tight-knit group of team officials earlier in the week, but he did not tell the players or the coaching staff until after Sunday’s regular-season finale. Following the game, many players lined up to hug Kubiak as he went around the locker room.
“There some emotion — I’ve got a lot invested in this place,” Kubiak said. “You guys know how much I love this place.”
“It’s definitely sad to see him go — we won the Super Bowl with him,” said cornerback Chris Harris Jr. “It’s just sad to see him go.”
Kubiak has spent 22 years with the Broncos, including his nine years as a player, 11 years as the offensive coordinator on Mike Shanahan’s staff and the last two seasons as head coach. Kubiak went 21-11 in those two seasons with a win in Super Bowl 50 last February.
Kubiak has been on the team’s coaching staff for all three of the franchise’s Super Bowl wins. He held back his plans all through the week, and players and coaches arriving before Sunday’s game against the Raiders said Kubiak had not let on in the team meeting Saturday night.
Kubiak was asked after the win over the Raiders to specifically address his plans, but he deferred to Monday.
“I did talk to the team, right now … I’ll address my situation [Monday], but I had a real good moment with the players and told them how proud I was of them,” Kubiak said. “I’ll address everything else [Monday] … It’s about the football team right now — it’s not about me.”
Moments later, Kubiak did allow that “I struggled this year.” The Broncos were 7-3 at their bye week but lost a Week 12 game to the Kansas City Chiefs as they went 2-4 down the stretch to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
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