Englewood, CO (My Sportsbook) - The Denver Broncos introduced John Fox as the 14th head coach in club history on Friday.

"We couldn't have found a better fit," Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway said in describing Fox.

Fox takes the job after a relatively successful nine-year stint with the Carolina Panthers, which included a pair of division titles, three playoff berths and a Super Bowl appearance, but he was not retained following a 2-14 campaign in 2010.

He'll have his work cut out for him, trying to reverse the fortunes of a franchise which suffered through its worst full season since joining the NFL. The Broncos were 4-12 this past season and fired Josh McDaniels 12 games into his second year as head coach.

"This is an organization I've admired from afar. It's a storied organization," Fox said. "There aren't foyers you walk into in every league city that look like this one does. He's (owner Pat Bowlen) done it with as much class and success as anybody in this league."

Fox took over a Panthers club that finished 1-15 under George Seifert in 2001, and within two years posted a winning record. That season, Carolina finished 11-5, won the NFC South and lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

The remainder of his tenure produced mixed results, as a wild card berth and an appearance in the NFC title game in 2005 was followed by two .500-or-less campaigns. Then, a 12-4 finish with another division crown in 2008 exploded into a second-round loss to Arizona.

Carolina was just 10-22 over Fox's last two seasons and finished with a record of 73-71 during his nine-year tenure.

The Broncos are looking for that spark Fox once provided. Denver has missed the postseason every year since 2005, when it went 13-3, won the AFC West, and lost to Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game.

It is the longest drought since the franchise failed to play beyond the regular season every year from its 1960 inception with the American Football League until 1977.

Last year under McDaniels and interim head coach Eric Studesville, the Broncos posted their worst record since going 3-11 in 1967, and finished last in the AFC West for the first time since 1999.

"Offensively, we are going to work to get more balance because it helps your defense," Fox said. "You can't be one-dimensional. We need to be disruptive on defense and create more turnovers."

Prior to his stint with the Panthers, Fox served as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants from 1997-2001, helping them earn a berth in Super Bowl XXXV against the Baltimore Ravens.

That know-how will be necessary to revamp a defense which allowed a league- worst 471 points last season.