Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Pat Shurmur Says he Tried to Work With Vic Fangio in the Recent Past
Pat Shurmur was announced as the Denver Broncos' new offensive coordinator just this past Tuesday, only a couple of days after the team fired Rich Scangarello. Shurmur himself was barely two weeks removed from being fired as the New York Giants' head coach.
If you're a savvy offensive coach with a track record of player development, you don't wait in the unemployment line long. Shurmur was a coach in high demand, as the Broncos had to compete with the likes of the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears for his services.
Shurmur ultimately chose the Broncos and we learned on Thursday that the presence of quarterback Drew Lock heading into his second year as a pro probably had a lot to do with that. We also learned through Shurmur's sit-down with Broncos TV that Vic Fangio was a massive draw for him.
“I’ve always admired the Broncos and what they stand for—a winning organization," Shurmur told Phil Milani of the team site. "I wanted to come to a place where I could make a difference. I really believe in John Elway, [I] really believe in Vic Fangio and the staff that he’s put together. I think that they got a really good start this first season. I just want to be here and be a small part of their success.”
Shurmur also credits Elway and the Broncos as an organization but it was something that the new offensive coordinator said toward the end of his conversation with Milani that caught my attention. Shurmur has tried to work with Fangio in the recent past.
“Well, I’ve got a very high opinion of Vic, obviously," Shurmur said. "When you’re on the offensive side of the ball, guys that are hard to score against, guys that play great defense, guys that can stop the run, put pressure on the quarterback—all the things you admire about a defensive coordinator. And beyond that, I admire him as a coach and as a person. I tried to get it so that we could work together once before here recently and it didn’t happen and fortunately, now it did happen.”
Since Shurmur said this, I've wracked my memory trying to recall whether Fangio had interviewed with a team Shurmur was with, either as an offensive assistant or head coach. Fangio left a defensive coordinator job with the Chicago Bears to take the Broncos' head-coaching gig. He wasn't a free agent, though, as it were.
The last time Fangio had been truly free to interview and sign with whichever team he wanted was in 2015 when he ultimately took the Bears' DC job under John Fox, following the end of the Jim Harbaugh era in San Francisco. During that coaching carousel, Fangio also interviewed with the Washington Redskins.
At the time, Shurmur was Chip Kelly's offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, where Bill Davis was the defensive coordinator. We can only wonder whether the 2015 Eagles made overtures to the free-agent Fangio, even if it was for a non-coordinator gig.
Shurmur would go onto have a very tumultuous 2015 season as Kelly was fired and he was tapped to serve as the Eagles' interim head coach. The next spring, Shurmur was hired to coach the Vikings' tight ends, which is the position he held for the 2016 NFL season up until early November when Norv Turner suddenly resigned, vaulting Shurmur to interim OC. Meanwhile, Fangio was in year two as the Bears' DC.
The next year, Shurmur was promoted officially to the Vikings' OC job while Fangio was in year three with the Bears. Following the 2017 season, the Bears fired head coach John Fox and hired former Kansas City OC Matt Nagy as the new head coach. Meanwhile, due to the magnificent job Shurmur did with Case Keenum, leading the Vikings to an NFC Championship appearance, Shurmur was tapped to be the Giants' new head coach starting in 2018, which coincided with Nagy arriving in Chicago.
Nagy kept Fangio on as Bears' DC but it's possible Shurmur tried to pry Fangio away to be his defensive czar in New York. I have no evidence of this, but just going off of what Shurmur said about trying to "work together once before here recently", it kind of makes sense that it might have taken place in January of 2018. So maybe Fangio was given an opportunity to at least talk to outside teams when Nagy took over in Chicago, though he ultimately chose to remain int he Windy City.
After all, Nagy's decision to retain the DC of the previous regime was atypical of how most new head coaches approach building their staff. A new head coach likes to hand-pick his own staff.
Fangio chose to stay in Chicago for multiple reasons, not the least of which was the feeling of unfinished business after putting the personnel pieces in place over the preceding three seasons. It was the right move for Fangio, as the Bears went on to acquire Khalil Mack, which helped propel the defensive unit to No. 1 status almost across the board, a Division title and a playoff berth.
Meanwhile, Shurmur hired James Bettcher to serve as the DC in the Big Apple. Wherever that recent (but unsuccessful) opportunity was for Shurmur and Fangio to work together, it's all water under the bridge now. The Football Fates have willed them together in Denver and on the heels of the Broncos' 7-9 start to the Fangio era, the two veteran coaches have the chance to make some noise together in 2020 and really capitalize on the positive momentum this team took with them into the offseason thanks to the youth of the roster.
“I think it’s a very good group," Shurmur said. "This is a young player’s league. They need to come into the league, play right away and develop quickly, so I think that’s the challenge that we have in front of us. But this is a really, really good group and I look forward to working with them."
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
