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Following Monday’s shocking announcement that John Elway has accepted a “ high ” role in the Denver Broncos front office, the team will be hiring a new GM. The future of franchising is very much in question.
Vic Fangio’s status as head coach is not, however. The Broncos don’t “ blow everything up ” but rather keep Fangio in the pursuit of continuity.
Just a day after the biggest news to hit Broncos country in nearly a decade spread like wildfire, Fangio spoke about the job security of his current staff and the question of whether ‘There would be coaches made redundant as a result of the team’s 5-11 finish.
“No, I expect he will come back in full,” Fangio said on Tuesday. “As always things are at the start of the offseason, some guys may have opportunities for advancement. We’ll always be looking at that but other than that I’m looking forward to the staff coming back.
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It was just last week that ESPN 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 pitch in Mile High City, the timing seemed odd due to the important areas for improvement that Fangio and his staff had yet to master. .
In the season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders, Fangio once again demonstrated his difficulty in handling the game as a head coach. On the Raiders’ last drive, the defense guru opted to use Denver’s two remaining timeouts, which Las Vegas used to bundle and exploit with a touchdown and two-point conversion in games. consecutive.
The Broncos offense had just 24 seconds to attempt a practice that would hopefully set up a winning basket. It wasn’t in the cards as the Broncos lost their 11th loss of the season, falling 32-31 to the Raiders.
Over the past two seasons, it was painfully obvious that Fangio was uncomfortable with time management, attacking and special teams. Much like the loss to the Tennessee Titans in the season opener, which saw the management of the clock and Fangio’s use of timeouts in the clutch lead directly to the team’s first loss. , his 32 games as a head coach revealed that his keen sense of defensive X and Bones, and playing, interrupt his responsibilities as head coach.
Fangio compiled a 12-20 record with a .375 winning percentage. When asked if he is evaluating his own performance this season, Fangio was wary.
“Absolutely. From A to Z, we’re going to evaluate everything, and we’ve already started this,” Fangio said. “We’re going to study other teams, as much as we can in the allotted time, and we’ll flip every stone in. an effort to improve.
It has been theorized that veteran coach Ed Donatell was severely underutilized as Denver’s defensive coordinator. With 30 years of coaching experience in the NFL, Donatell is now on his third stint with the Broncos and has worked the past 10 years with Fangio on previous stints in San Francisco and Chicago.
Fangio said he preferred to call games from the pit, gave a vague answer when asked if he was considering handing over the playing duties to Donatell.
“I think that’s part of what I’ve said before,” Fangio said. “Anything we can do from A to Z to improve ourselves, we’ll look at and evaluate and see if we think it’s the right thing to do.”
Another area for improvement is undoubtedly the task forces unit which has been appalling under the leadership of coordinator Tom McMahon. The 51-year-old training veteran was hired by Denver in 2018 and many fans have publicly called for McMahon’s dismissal on social media, and the same is true of offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who will also be returning.
The point is that the last time the Broncos special teams unit was ranked in the top 10 was in 2001. It can be argued that special teams were dropped due to inconsistency and lack of depth of the list.
“I think the performance of our special teams was a lot like our attack and our defense,” Fangio said on Tuesday. “It was sometimes unstable. We allowed too many negative plays to happen against us in the second leg. We’ve blocked a punt or two that you can’t have.
Fangio was also asked what gives him confidence in McMahon.
“I have confidence in Tom that he will be able to make a difference,” said Fangio. “Tom was a guy that John [Elway] I highly recommended him when I first took on this job, and we kept Tom. He is a tireless worker, very proficient in the kicking game. We just have to – like we do in attack and defense – button these things to avoid disastrous plays.
As Fangio’s third season approaches, there seem to be more questions than answers. What is the identity of the team? What is Fangio’s mission statement? How is Fangio going to improve?
Assuming the NFL and Broncos are better prepared and equipped for another bizarre offseason with potential COVID-19 restrictions, Fangio maintains optimistic prospects for his future.
“I hope that the third year will be a magical year for me, where everything turns out a little better,” said Fangio.
Follow Luke on Twitter @LukePattersonLP and @MileHighHuddle.
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