3 reasons the McVays, Shanahans and LaFleurs of the NFL fear going against Vic Fangio's defense

This offseason there was an easy trend to see happening among the NFL coaching ranks. Teams are hoping to find the next young offensive mind to lead the way to prosperity.

The Arizona Cardinals hired a not-so-successful college coach in Kliff Kingsbury in the hopes that his creative play calling could lead to some success with No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray. Cincinnati, for the first time in what seems like forever, made a coaching change and brought in young gun Zac Taylor, former QBs Coach with the L.A. Rams.

Green Bay decided to pair Aaron Rodgers with a coach in Matt LaFleur who is just four years older than him and whose last stop was as OC in Tennessee. The Jets made a similar decision in hiring Adam Gase to pair with Sam Darnold. So why would the Broncos go against the flow in hiring the defensive-minded and relatively old Vic Fangio?

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The answer to that question might be found in a recent ESPN interview with Matt LaFleur, San Francisco 49ers' head coach Kyle Shanahan, and Rams head coach Sean McVay, all three of whom picked Vic Fangio as the toughest defensive coach to go against.

It makes sense that despite seeing every team go with these young offensive minds, the Broncos hired the one guy that seems to give them fits. So, what makes a Vic Fangio defense so hard to face?

LaFleur: There are so many guys and every system is different, but I look at Vic Fangio. Just the fronts and the multiple looks you get from him. That's incredibly difficult. Shoot, Indianapolis last year we knew exactly what they were going to do to us and we didn't have a lot of success because they were so sound. They stuffed the run out of a two-safety defense and played extremely fast.

Shanahan: My hardest has probably always been Vic Fangio. He does so many things with his personnel groupings that he puts you in a bind with protections. He ties a lot of stuff together. Playing against him, I feel he packages stuff very similar to how I would think. [Bill] Belichick is very similar. They do it in a different style. You know they don't just run their defenses. They figure out what you're doing and then they think about how to stop what you're doing and that's very similar to how I am. I don't just run my offense. I have no idea what I'm going to call until I know what defense I'm visualizing and trying to attack. It's fun.

McVay: For us, I think Fangio and the Bears did an outstanding job of a sound scheme with versatility mixed with great players. And clearly what New England did down the stretch was impressive. Those are the two defenses that gave us the most trouble. I thought the Saints were excellent as well.

Let’s look at three things that really stick out about Fangio's schemes.

1. Versatility

Looking around the league, there are two coaches that stick out in terms of how often they look for players that can do multiple things on the field. The first is Bill Belichick.

There are a lot of players that have failed elsewhere who have found success with Belichick and the Patriots in large part because he plays to the strengths of the player. The strength many of them bring is the ability to line up in multiple positions making an offense guess what they will do on any given play.

The same goes for Fangio. In the trenches, Fangio likes to get defensive linemen that can both shoot a gap, but also handle a double team if asked. It is why a smaller guy like Shelby Harris could be a perfect fit at the nose tackle position for Denver with his ability to get in the backfield.

So far in the preseason, Harris has answered the bigger question concerning his game of being able to hold up against some double teams in the run game. Edge rushers are going to be asked to drop back into coverage at least a few times a game.

I know this will anger some fans of watching a pass-rushing talent like Von Miller drop back every once in a while, instead of getting after the quarterback, but this is what helps set up bigger plays throughout the game.

In the secondary, the Broncos' cornerbacks have to at least be proficient in both zone and man coverage. Part of what makes it so difficult for opposing quarterbacks going against a Fangio unit is that the defense can show a zone look yet still end up in man coverage and vice versa.

There are even plays where they will play what is called zone/man. The play will start out as zone coverage but once a player comes into the zone of a defender they start playing more like that of man coverage. Intelligence trumps that of athletic ability in a Fangio scheme.

It is why players like Chris Harris, Jr. are perfect in the secondary. As for the safeties, this defense sets up for great success if they can be versatile on the field. They need to be able to play either safety position and come down for man coverage on any given play. This again keeps a quarterback guessing on who is covering who and what coverage they are running in the secondary.

2. In-game adjustments

One of the most infuriating things to watch a coach do is refuse to make adjustments throughout the game. Too often the pride of a coach believing their scheme can stop anyone costs teams games throughout the year.

When Jack Del Rio was in Denver, the entire 2014 season there were very few adjustments that were made from one week to the next and for sure very few adjustments made throughout the games. He believed the talent and his scheme were enough to win.

This was true against most opponents, but the great quarterbacks in the league tore Del Rio's defense apart. Vance Joseph had a similar problem.

Teams knew exactly what the Broncos were doing on defense and there were no adjustments throughout the game to help the defense out. Players themselves complained about this very thing.

When talking about the Vic Fangio defense, Kyle Shanahan said, “You know they don’t just run their defenses. They figure out what you’re doing and then they think about how to stop what you’re doing and that’s very similar to how I am.”

Part of why Belichick was so good against Peyton Manning was because he continually changed up what the defense was doing throughout the game. He knew that Manning would eventually figure them out.

Fangio has the same way of changing up throughout the game. If the defense is getting beat early, he doesn’t just continue to try to fit a square peg into a round hole.

3. Discipline

This past season it was easy to see this Broncos’ defense was anything but disciplined. Players were constantly out of position. Penalties were committed at an extremely high rate.

The Broncos finished third for most defensive penalties. Vic Fangio’s Bears, on the other hand, were among the league's least penalized. Players under Fangio are coached on the smallest of details and are held accountable when they mess up.

This is something the Broncos desperately needed to add to the building. There are rumors that have circulated that the players had stopped listening to the coaches and were going rogue on the field.

Players this offseason have talked about how much they care about the opinion of coaches especially that of Fangio. When they do something right, they look to him for any sign of approval and when they mess up, they look to him in wondering how upset he is for their mistake.

Sean McVay when speaking of a Vic Fangio defense said, “I think Fangio and the Bears did an outstanding job of a sound scheme with versatility mixed with great players.”

Talent isn’t enough to make a Fangio scheme work. Discipline and intelligence are two big keys to allow the confusion they try to create. The only way the scheme can work is if every player is on board with what they are called to do on any given play.

Fangio's response to the praise received (via ESPN)

"Well, I would say thank you for the compliment. ... You hope that's the case, you hope you are a challenging teams to play, you want to be tough to prepare for because they're tough to prepare for."

What it means

The Broncos took a risk this past January going in the opposite direction of the NFL trend when it comes to the coach they hired in Vic Fangio. Only time will tell whether he is the right man for the job, but there is one thing that should make fans feel comfortable about heading into this season, and that is the defense being set up for success.

GM John Elway said he wanted to hire a head coach that had shown great success on one side of the ball and Fangio meets that expectation better than most. He is arguably the best defensive mind in football.

So far in the preseason, the Broncos' starting defensive unit has shown well even with some starters missing because of minor injuries. Where Vic Fangio will have to make a name for himself as a head coach is his in-game decisions and the trust he has put into the rest of his coaching staff.

He has assembled a unique group of coaches, mixing veterans like Mike Munchak with first-time coaches like that of offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. Hopefully, this group can combine to get the Broncos’ franchise back on track and once again join the ranks of the top organizations in football.

Follow Carl on Twitter @CarlDumlerMHH.