Mike McCoy Returns to Denver Hoping To End His Old Team’s Season

Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno (27) and San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy greet each other following the game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The San Diego Chargers defeated the Denver Broncos 27-20. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

The Denver Broncos took to the practice field Monday with an opponent to focus on for the first time in ten days.

For the third time this season, the Broncos will play the San Diego Chargers, who are coached by former Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.

Winning their last five games, the Chargers have hit their stride at the right time, and McCoy is a big reason why.

If this were a Norv Turner coached team, the Chargers likely would have started the season by going 5-1 or 5-2, and then ended the season 1-5.

“I think he’s done a tremendous job,” John Fox said of McCoy. “They’ve played well when you need to—that’s late in the season. It was a tough challenge to go out to Cincinnati and win that game.”

McCoy was hired as San Diego’s head coach exactly three days after the Broncos lost to the Ravens last January. He had just helped the Broncos to their second-highest win total in team history, which was highlighted by an 11-game win streaking to end the regular season. The team’s offense was ranked 4th in the league. Perhaps just as impressive as what he did last season, McCoy helped the 2011 Broncos reach the divisional playoffs after winning their first AFC West title since 2005.

“I take my hat off to him because when he was here he did a great job with the guys that he did have around him,” Demaryius Thomas said. “He’s been doing great. I expected it, I just didn’t know it was going to be this fast but he’s been doing a good job.”

 McCoy knows the Broncos well and he knows that keeping Peyton Manning off the field is what’s necessary in order to help his team win. That’s why the Chargers rushed 44 times and had possession for nearly 39 minutes in the Chargers December win in Denver.

At 41 years old, McCoy is the second-youngest active head coach in the NFL and the second-youngest in Chargers history.

He’s done a great job, but winning in Denver for the second time this season against an extremely fired up Broncos team seems almost impossible.

It’s good to see McCoy succeed, but there’s one day that Broncos Country doesn’t want him to come out on top — this Sunday, January 12.

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