Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Report: Rich Scangarello to Return for Second Year as Broncos OC in 2020
It's amazing what having a dynamic quarterback can do for a coach's job security. Despite being roundly criticized for his anemic Denver Broncos offense through most of the season, offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello will reportedly return for a second year in 2020, according to NFL insider Benjamin Allbright.
Scangarello is in his first NFL season as a play-caller and only his fifth overall year at the highest level of the game. He joined the Broncos following a two-year stint as QBs Coach under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco.
Out of the gates, Scangarello's offense struggled in Denver, especially with the pedantic Joe Flacco under center. However, the Broncos offense showed brief signs of life when the significantly more mobile Brandon Allen took over for his three-game stint as the starter from Weeks 9-12.
However, when Drew Lock finally took his rightful place under center, it took about four quarters to fully get going, but Scangarello's scheme lit up on the road last week in Houston, as the Broncos offense scored 31 of the team's 38 total points, putting up 391 total yards and 22 first downs.
Even after that prolific performance at NRG Stadium, the Broncos find themselves ranked toward the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, including net yards (27th), rushing (18th), passing (29th) and scoring (27th). Scangarello proved early on that the scripted portion of his game-plans (the first 15-20 plays) can work in this league, though.
The question has always been how Scangarello counter-adjusts in-game, once he's forced to go off-script and the opponent makes its adjustment. Week 14 was the first time we saw Scangarello really keep his foot on the gas and make an obvious effort to step on the opponent's throat. We learned from head coach Vic Fangio following the game why the offensive change was so palpable.
"We knew we had to come out and get after these guys," Fangio said, "and not hope to win but try to win, and throw it around and have a good mix of run-pass.”
Too often, Scangarello has coached with the wrong mindset. He's coached not to lose instead of coaching to win the game (thanks, Coach Herm). That seemingly changed when Lock took over.
An allowance should be made for the fact that Scangarello is a first-time play-caller and has had to deal with three different starting quarterbacks 13 games in. However, GM John Elway has steadily maintained a public posture of support for Scangarello, acknowledging the coordinator's growth before our very eyes.
Mile High Huddle has been highly critical of Scangarello's body of work this year. But we always knew it would take time. In a perfect world, you'd hope that Scangarello's learning curve would have been a lot shorter than it has been but at the same time, he's been dealt a bad hand at quarterback.
Bottom line, Scangarello has shown a lot as a developer of talent (especially quarterbacks) and seems to have a mind-meld going with Lock. The coordinator and quarterback will get the extended opportunity to build on their burgeoning relationship and grow together in what is likely to be an extended audition for both of them in 2020.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
