SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Standing on the doorstep of Super Bowl 50, it's easy to forget how far Gary Kubiak has come over the past three seasons.
The Broncos coach has been universally praised by his players this week, but it was fair to wonder -- 13 months ago -- if he'd ever be a head coach again.
His stock was down after flaming out in Houston, but there were also concerns about his health after Kubiak collapsed on the field during the Texans' Week 9 loss to the Colts back in 2013.
After suffering what doctors diagnosed as a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) -- often referred to as a "mini-stroke" -- Kubiak was fired by the Texans the following month before turning in a marvelous season in 2014 as Baltimore's offensive coordinator.
Now back as coach of the Broncos, Kubiak acknowledged Tuesday that the health scare altered his approach to the job.
"I don't think it changed me as a person," Kubiak said. "I think after going through that and talking to a lot of doctors there in Houston and those type of things, it made me change a little bit as a coach and how I go about things."
Said Kubiak: "I look back and ... I know exactly why it happened, because I go back and I know what I was doing and what I put myself through and trying to do to much and kind of ran myself into the ground a little bit, so I've tried to do things different. I still love the work, so I'm going to be up early in the morning working the hours, but I also try to go about it a little different way, not to try to take on everything myself and understand that I have good people with me and I think it's helped me."
Kubiak also talked about learning from a "great, great organization" in Baltimore, saying: "I've taken a lot of that with me here to Denver. If anything, it just changed how I do things more than anything."
His newfound ability to delegate is helped by having a brilliant defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips by his side and an offensive aide in Rick Dennison who has teamed with Kubiak for years.
Still, it was fair to wonder how Kubiak would adjust to a Broncos gig with more pressure attached to it than any other league-wide. One more win on Sunday, though, and all that stress will turn to glory.
