Watching from afar these past eight months as neophyte head coach Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos waded through the kind of rough waters that would challenge any veteran coach, it would have been easy to assume that the Broncos were a mess and that McDaniels, whom Broncos owner Pat Bowlen plucked from Bill Belichick's coaching tree, was overmatched.

Most famously, there was the Jay Cutler-McDaniels-Bowlen melodrama that messily played out in public this past February and March before Cutler was shockingly traded to the Bears April 2.

And this summer, into training camp featured, several incidents involving petulant WR Brandon Marshall, whose erratic behavior on and off the field has resulted in multiple suspensions.

Through it all, I've been impressed by how focused and collected McDaniels is, rolling with the punches and not deviating from his belief in the system he's working so hard to put in place.

Trading Cutler for Kyle Orton was a perfect example of McDaniels trusting his system enough to know that Cutler's high-risk, high-reward style of play wouldn't fit as well as Orton, who makes fewer mistakes and boasts a winning record as a starter, which Cutler does not.

However, it could be argued that McDaniels' biggest move of the offseason was hiring ex-49ers head coach Mike Nolan to run the defense.

The 3-4 scheme preferred by McDaniels, and expertly coached by Nolan, has been a revelation. And it has carried the day while McDaniels' offense looks to hit its stride.

Still, the question remained — how would the players, some older than the 33-year-old wunderkind, receive him? They answered that question emphatically following the thrilling Week One win.

McDaniels had trouble getting to midfield to shake Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis after Denver's last-second 12-7 victory over Cincinnati because so many Broncos players kept coming up to congratulate McDaniels on earning his first NFL win as a head coach. That told me that the perception of McDaniels was far removed from the reality of the situation.

"He has impressed me with just the way he handles himself," says WR Brandon Stokley, who scored the game-winning TD to beat the Bengals. "With me being the same age (33), I would find it really hard to be a head coach, but from the first meeting on, he's done a great job of handling the locker room, handling the guys and taking control. He's been very impressive in that regard."

Having played for a high school coaching legend like his father, Thom, in football-mad northeast Ohio no doubt helped prepare McDaniels for the challenges he would face as a head coach.

Mentoring under a multiple Super Bowl champion like Belichick honed McDaniels' coaching acumen and showed him how to build a perennial Super Bowl contender, just like his old team in New England.

He knows what it takes to be a winner, and he's imparting that to his players.

The Broncos have played relatively mistake-free ball thus far, with two turnovers and 16 penalties in three games.

That discipline will help a Denver roster filled with average to above-average talent keep pace with the best teams.

Don't be surprised if the Broncos' belief in McDaniels and his system starts reaping some big rewards.

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