Vic Fangio Anticipates his Coaching Staff 'Returning in Full' for 2021
In the wake of Monday’s earth-shattering news that John Elway has accepted an 'elevated' role in the Denver Broncos front office, the team will hire a new GM. The future of the franchise is very much in question.
Vic Fangio's standing as head coach, however, is not. The Broncos aren't 'blowing it all up' but are instead keeping Fangio in the pursuit of continuity.
Just one day after the biggest news to hit Broncos Country in nearly a decade spread like wildfire, Fangio spoke to the job security of his current staff and whether there will be any coaches fired in the wake of the team's 5-11 finish.
“No, I do anticipate it returning in full," Fangio said on Tuesday. "As always as things happen in the early part of the offseason some guys may have some opportunities for advancement. We’ll always look at that, but other than that I’m anticipating the staff back.”
It was just last week that ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Fangio would return for his third season in Denver. While the announcement wasn’t necessarily a surprise for those on the ground in the Mile High City, the timing felt odd because of the significant areas of improvement Fangio and his staff had yet to fully master.
In the season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders, Fangio again demonstrated his difficulty in managing the game as head coach. On the Raiders' final drive, the defensive guru opted 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.
The Broncos offense was left with a meager 24 seconds to attempt a drive that would hopefully set up a game-winning field goal. It wasn't in the cards as the Broncos dropped their 11th loss of the season, falling 32-31 to the Raiders.
For the last two seasons, it’s been painfully obvious that Fangio is uncomfortable with time management, offense, and special teams. Just like in the loss to the Tennessee Titans in the season-opener, which saw Fangio’s clock management and timeouts usage in the clutch directly lead to the team’s first loss, his 32 games as head coach have revealed that his defensive Xs and Os acumen, and play-calling, interrupt his responsibilities as head coach.
Fangio has compiled a record of 12-20 with a .375 winning percentage. When asked whether he evaluates his own performance from the season, Fangio was circumspect.
“Absolutely. A to Z we’re going to evaluate everything, and we’ve already started that," Fangio said. "We’re going to study other teams, as many as we can in the time given, and we’ll turn over every stone in an effort to improve.”
It’s been theorized that veteran coach Ed Donatell has been severely underutilized as Denver’s defensive coordinator. Having 30 years of NFL coaching experience, Donatell is now on his third stint with the Broncos and has worked the last 10 years with Fangio in previous stints in San Francisco and Chicago.
Fangio has been on record as saying he prefers to call games from the booth, gave a vague answer when asked whether he’d consider handing over play-calling duties to Donatell.
“I think that falls under what I said before," Fangio said. "Anything we can do from A to Z to improve, we will look at and we will evaluate and see if we think it’s the best thing to do.”
Another area of improvement is undoubtedly the special teams’ unit which has been abysmal under coordinator Tom McMahon. The 51-year-old coaching veteran was hired by Denver in 2018 and many fans have publicly called for McMahon’s dismissal on social media, and the same can be said for offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who will also return.
The fact of the matter is, the last time the Broncos special teams unit was ranked in the top-10 was in 2001. An argument can be made that special teams has gone by the wayside as a result of inconsistency and lack of roster depth.
“I think our special teams’ performance was a lot like our offense and defense,” Fangio said on Tuesday. “It was choppy at times. We allowed too many negative plays to happen against us in the return game. We had a punt blocked or two that you can’t have.”
Fangio was also asked what gives him confidence in McMahon.
“I have confidence in Tom that he’ll get that turned around, Fangio said. "Tom was a guy that John [Elway] recommended highly to me when I first took this job, and we’ve kept Tom. He’s a tireless worker, very knowledgeable in the kicking game. We just have to—like we do on offense and defense—button up those things to avoid the disastrous plays.”
Headed into Fangio’s third season, there seem to be more questions than answers. What is the team’s identity? What is Fangio mission statement? How will Fangio improve?
Assuming the NFL and the Broncos are more prepared and equipped for another bizarre offseason with potential COVID-19 restrictions, Fangio is maintaining an optimistic outlook for his future.
“Hopefully the third year will be the magical year for me, where everything goes a little bit smooth again,” Fangio said.
Follow Luke on Twitter @LukePattersonLP and @MileHighHuddle.
