ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- John Fox turned around a bumbling team before. The Denver Broncos are counting on him to do it again.

Fox was picked over four other candidates to replace Josh McDaniels, who was fired Dec. 6 amid the Broncos' worst slide in four decades and the embarrassing Spygate II videotaping scandal.

The lost season led to a restructuring of the front office and the return of Hall of Famer John Elway as chief football executive. On Thursday, Elway hired Fox, the 55-year-old former Carolina Panthers coach to a four-year contract.

"For what this building needed, John Fox was the perfect fit for us," Elway said outside team headquarters before zipping off in his Bentley on Thursday evening.

"The one thing I saw in John he had great football wisdom," Elway said. "And I think that comes with the experience that he has. But not only does he have it on the defensive side, but overall his football wisdom is what won us over."

Elway broke the news of Fox's hiring on Twitter in keeping with the organization's new emphasis on transparency as it tries to reconnect with a disenchanted fan base.

Fox went 78-74 including playoffs in nine seasons with the Panthers, who didn't renew his contract following an NFL-worst 2-14 season.

"I'm very competitive," Fox said as he left the team's Dove Valley headquarters Thursday night. "Last year was obviously a very disappointing and very hard season, but that's all the more reason to jump back in and get things turned around here."

Fox and general manager Brian Xanders spent much of the day putting together a coaching staff. Speculation centered on Fox keeping Mike McCoy as Denver's offensive coordinator and hiring former Seahawks head coach Jim Mora Jr., as his defensive coordinator.

"There's been no decisions in that area yet," Fox said.

Fox's task in turning around this team seems as high and steep as the biggest peaks in the Rocky Mountains.

The Broncos are coming off a franchise-worst 4-12 season, own the second overall pick in the draft and are in need of a major overhaul -- much like the Panthers were when Fox arrived in 2002 following a 1-15 season.

He led them to a 7-9 mark in his first year before guiding them to the Super Bowl in his second season.

Fox arrived in Denver on Wednesday to meet with Elway after his flight out of North Carolina was delayed three times by winter weather. He was the fifth and final candidate interviewed, and his sit-down lasted 90 minutes longer than the others'.