ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - John Elway and Gary Kubiak are back together drawing up blueprints for the Denver Broncos to get back to the Super Bowl.
Elway hired Kubiak on Monday, inking his former backup QB and offensive coordinator to a four-year contract. Kubiak replaces John Fox, who was ousted last week following Denver's stunning loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC divisional playoffs.
"Having coached on three Super Bowl teams and 11 playoff teams, Gary knows what it will take to deliver another world championship" to Denver, Elway said in a statement.
Fox went 49-22, counting playoffs, in four seasons in Denver, where he won four AFC West titles. But Elway didn't like the lack of fire the team displayed in its biggest games, including a 35-point loss in last year's Super Bowl and a 24-13 loss at home as a heavy favorite two weeks ago.
Fox was hired Friday as the Chicago Bears' new coach.
Kubiak and his staff are expected to bring a discipline and toughness Elway deemed was lacking in Denver, where a talent-laden roster that featured an NFL-high 10 Pro Bowlers lost at home in the playoffs after a bye for the second time in three years.
In each of the past two seasons, Elway, the team's general manager and executive vice president, found it necessary to address the players himself following particularly bad performances, something the head coach usually handles.
In Kubiak, Elway brings back a man who went down the championship trails with him in the 1990s.
Kubiak's relationship with Elway includes nine seasons as his backup QB, from 1983-91, and four seasons as his offensive coordinator.
Starting in 2006, Kubiak was 63-66 in eight seasons as head coach of the Texans.