Denver Broncos

Peyton Manning says John Fox would have led Broncos to Super Bowl

Published Jan. 9, 2017 12:08 a.m. ET

foxsports

It's pretty clear Peyton Manning has a higher opinion of John Fox than the head of Denver's football operations.

Manning said Thursday that he believes Fox would have led the 2015 Broncos into the Super Bowl in the same fashion as his head-coaching replacement in Gary Kubiak. John Elway didn't express the same sentiment earlier this week when referencing Denver's two opening-game home playoff losses in a three-year span under Fox, who was fired after last season's 24-13 fall against Indianapolis.

"What our owner [Pat Bowlen] wants is to win a championship," Elway said. "That's why the decision was made last year to go in a different direction. Gary's done a tremendous job."

Manning also offered praise for Kubiak but stressed he was "grateful to play" for Fox starting with the 2012 season when he joined the Broncos.

"I was coming off a year that wasn't a lot of fun in 2011 not playing and being injured," said Manning, referencing the neck problems that sidelined him for the entire year in Indianapolis and led to his release. "I had more neck surgeries than snaps that year.

"John Fox is a big reason why I came to Denver. We had a great three years together. We had a special team on our Super Bowl (48) team that got beat by another special team [in Seattle]."

Manning said he has communicated with all four of his former NFL head coaches -- Fox, Jim Mora, Tony Dungy and Jim Caldwell -- as well as those from his days in high school (Tony Reginelli) and college (Phil Fulmer) during downtime before Sunday's Super Bowl 50 matchup against Carolina.

"I do think about coaches when I play a game like this," Manning said. "Every coach has different styles, different philosophies.

"I enjoyed learning from coach Kubiak this year. Continuity is always a great thing, but when you have a chance to play for different coaches, you want to take advantage and learn something from them."

In Elway's case, he learned Fox wasn't the guy he wanted coaching Manning and the Broncos anymore.