In the wake of Monday’s earth-shaking news that John Elway has assumed an ‘elevated’ role in the Denver Broncos front office, the team will hire a new GM. The future of the franchise is highly debated.
However, Vic Fangio’s status as a head coach is not. The Broncos don’t “blow it all up,” but keep Fangio in the pursuit of continuity.
Just a day after the biggest news about Broncos Country spread like wildfire in nearly a decade, Fangio spoke about the job security of his current staff and whether any coaches will be fired in the wake of the team’s 5-11 finish.
“No, I expect it to return in full,” Fangio said Tuesday. “As always when things happen in the beginning of the low season, some guys may have some opportunities to grow. We will always look at that, but otherwise I expect the staff back.”
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That was only last week ESPNs Adam Schefter reported that Fangio would return for his third season in Denver. While the announcement didn’t necessarily come as a surprise to those on the ground in the Mile High City, the timing felt strange due to the major areas for improvement that Fangio and his staff had not yet fully mastered.
In the season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders, Fangio demonstrated again that he was having a hard time managing the game as a head coach. On the Raiders’ final ride, the defensive guru chose to use both of Denver’s remaining timeouts, which Las Vegas used to regroup and exploit with a touchdown and two-point conversion in consecutive plays.
Broncos’ attack was left with a meager 24 seconds to attempt a drive that would hopefully deliver a game-winning field goal. It wasn’t in the cards when the Broncos dropped their 11th loss of the season, falling 32-31 to the Raiders.
For the past two seasons, it has been painfully clear that Fangio is uncomfortable with time management, insults and special teams. As with the loss to the Tennessee Titans in the season opener, in which Fangio’s clock management and clutch timeouts led directly to the team’s first defeat, his 32 games as head coach have revealed his defensive Xs and Os acumen, and play -calling, interrupt his responsibilities as a head coach.
Fangio has compiled a record of 12-20 with a .375 win rate. When asked if he is evaluating his own performance of the season, Fangio was cautious.
We’re going to evaluate everything from A to Z, and we’ve already started doing that, “said Fangio. to improve. “
Veteran coach Ed Donatell is believed to be severely underused as Denver’s defense coordinator. With 30 years of NFL coaching experience, Donatell is now on his third stint with the Broncos and has worked with Fangio in previous stints in San Francisco and Chicago for the past 10 years.
Fangio has said he prefers to call games from the booth, gave a vague answer when asked if he would consider handing over play-calling duties to Donatell.
“I think that’s what I said before,” said Fangio. “Everything we can do from A to Z to improve, we will review and evaluate and see if we think it is the best thing to do.”
Another point for improvement is undoubtedly the special teams unity, which under coordinator Tom McMahon was terribly bad. The 51-year-old coaching veteran was hired by Denver in 2018 and many fans have publicly called for McMahon’s resignation on social media, and the same can be said for offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who will also return.
The fact is, the last time the Broncos special teams unit was ranked in the top-10 was in 2001. It can be argued that special teams have been left out due to inconsistency and lack of roster depth.
“I think the performance of our special teams was a lot like our offense and defense,” Fangio said on Tuesday. ‘It was choppy at times. We let too many negative plays happen against us in the return game. We had blocked a flight of stairs or two that you cannot have. “
Fangio was also asked what gives him confidence in McMahon.
“I have faith in Tom to turn that around,” Fangio said. “Tom was a boy like John [Elway] highly recommended to me when I first took this job and we kept Tom. He is a tireless worker, very knowledgeable about the game of spades. We just have to – as we do with offense and defense – button those things up to avoid the disastrous plays. “
Heading into Fangio’s third season, there seem to be more questions than answers. What is the identity of the team? What is Fangio’s mission? How will Fangio improve?
Assuming the NFL and Broncos are better prepared and equipped for another bizarre low season with possible COVID-19 restrictions, Fangio maintains an optimistic outlook on his future.
“Hopefully the third year will be the magical year for me, where everything goes a bit smoothly again,” said Fangio.
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