Vic Fangio Fires Shot Across Bow of Broncos' STC Tom McMahon After Poor Preseason Showing
You've heard the old maxim 'a team is only as strong as its weakest link.' If that's true relative to football, all the improvements the Denver Broncos have made on defense and offense could be for naught due to the continued foibles of the special teams.
After a rough showing in the first two preseason games, the Broncos' third-phase turned in another stinker in the finale on Saturday night vs. the Los Angeles Rams. The Broncos' specialists haven't been the culprits to these breakdowns, but rather, the coverage units.
Head coach Vic Fangio appears to be losing his patience with the continued erratic execution of the third phase. Following the Broncos' 17-12 win over the Rams, Fangio put his team's depth players on notice as he detailed Denver's third-phase foibles.
“I didn't like the kickoff return early which—the first field goal they scored on, the big plays were the kickoff return," Fangio said on Saturday. "We got a facemask penalty and then they hit a straight on us for a good chunk which was a good play on their part. Giving them the ball wherever it was, that was too much."
The veteran coach didn't leave it there, punctuating his remarks on the matter by firing a shot of sorts across the bow of special teams coordinator Tom McMahon.
"We've got to make it better," Fangio continued. "We've got to find the players that we keep to cover kicks better, and if not, we need to find players who will be. Obviously, we need to do a good job of coaching it.”
The Rams averaged 26.7 yards per kick return against the Broncos with a long of 40 yards. If Saturday night's breakdowns in kick coverage were the exception, it wouldn't be such an issue.
Any Broncos fan will complain about how bad the special teams unit has been in recent years. Unfortunately, that significant dip in third-phase execution began with the hiring of Brock Olivo under then-head coach Vance Joseph back in 2017 but it didn't end after the one-and-done special teams coordinator was fired.
McMahon arrived to replace Olivo and with his tenured resume as an NFL special teams coordinator, the expectation was that the Broncos' execution in this area would stabilize. Alas, it hasn't shaken out that way. In fact, one could argue that Olivo lost his job due to the six muffed punts of Isaiah McKenzie more so than producing an outright incompetent coverage unit. If only Olivo had his 22 Janos...
Meanwhile, McMahon's special teams tenure has been replete with coverage breakdowns in the return game and an overall lack of execution. But in statistical comparison to NFL rivals, the Broncos haven't been as bad under McMahon's tenure as the perception would have you believe.
However, perception is reality and that's only been magnified with the proliferation of social media. Fangio kept McMahon when he took over for Joseph in 2019 and despite the expectation that he would replace the special teams coordinator in 2020, and in 2021, the head coach has stubbornly stood behind him.
Perhaps Fangio's ethos is that if the Broncos' ship is to sink, he'll go down with it, along with the coaches he hired to coordinate the three phases. As admirable as that may be, Fangio's decision to cut bait with offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello after one season refutes it as some concrete philosophy on the head coach's part.
Reading between the lines of what Fangio said about the Broncos' special teams on Saturday night, we can interpret his remarks as a definite shot across McMahon's bow. However, Fangio himself is on the hot seat, which puts each of his coordinators squarely on the same stool.
In other words, McMahon's job security is in line with Fangio's, when it comes down to it. Still, it'll be interesting to see what Fangio will do if the Keystone Cops showing in the third phase continues into the regular season. If there's to be a sacrificial lamb meant to buy Fangio a little bit more time, don't be surprised if it turns out to be McMahon.
A team is only as strong as its weakest link, after all.
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