The Denver Broncos are 3-2 and have a chance to finish well, but what if you-know-what hits the fan? What if in-season changes are made?
Nobody wants the Denver Broncos to have to make in-season changes at head coach, offensive coordinator, or otherwise. Okay, maybe Broncos Country is pretty unanimous in agreement that special teams coordinator Tom McMahon should be replaced, but other than that, and possibly even including that, everyone wants to see this Broncos team figure out a way to win enough games to get to the postseason in 2021.
The likeliest path to the postseason probably doesn’t involve in-season coaching changes, specifically when you’re talking about firing the head coach (who is also the defensive play caller) and/or offensive coordinator.
After two straight losses validating what many were saying about the Denver Broncos potentially being “pretenders” after a 3-0 start, however, the difficult questions must be asked.
Broncos in-house candidates if coaches are getting fired
Just to play the hypothetical game, what if Vic Fangio and Pat Shurmur are fired in-season? Who would replace them?
Here is what I would do if it were up to me.
1. Mike Munchak (OL coach) replaces Vic Fangio as head coach
Back in 2019 when the Denver Broncos were courting potential head coaches, there was a time when Mike Munchak was considered the favorite for the job.
It wasn’t until an interview with Vic Fangio that blew John Elway away that Fangio took the lead down the final leg of the race.
Until Fangio’s interview and even before the interview process began, Munchak was considered the favorite.
He’s been an NFL head coach before (Titans) and is one of the most respected and decorated offensive line coaches in the game. A Hall of Fame player himself, Munchak would undoubtedly be the most natural option in-house to transition to a head coaching position if the Broncos move on from Fangio in the middle of the season.
Broncos in-house candidates if coaches are getting fired
2. Zach Azzanni (WR coach) replaces Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator
As far as offensive coordinator replacements go, the Denver Broncos would have a number of options if they decided to move on from Pat Shurmur at some point in the season.
Although they came as sort of a package deal, the Broncos could give play-calling duties to quarterbacks coach Mike Shula, who was an offensive coordinator at three previous stops (New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
However, Shula calling plays would not be my personal first choice.
Curtis Modkins, the Broncos’ running backs coach, has also been an offensive coordinator at multiple NFL stops (Buffalo, San Francisco).
However, as qualified as those two gentlemen would be in this kind of a scenario, my choice would be wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni.
The Broncos apparently didn’t realize what they had in Brandon Staley, who was an outside linebackers coach for Vic Fangio in Chicago and Denver from 2017-19 before getting a defensive coordinator gig with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020 and head coaching gig with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021.
Staley’s rapid ascent is not exactly normal but you also can’t help but wonder if the Broncos may have another gem on their hands in wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni.
Azzanni was the passing game coordinator for the Florida Gators in 2010 in addition to being their receivers coach. He was offensive coordinator for Western Kentucky in 2011 and became the passing game coordinator for the Tennessee Volunteers in 2015-16.
Azzanni’s prior experience as a passing game coordinator and even one year as an offensive coordinator along with the fact that he’s done a tremendous job the last four seasons with the Broncos’ receivers makes him an intriguing potential option if Shurmur is let go in-season.
Broncos in-house candidates if coaches are getting fired
3. Ed Donatell calls the defensive plays for Vic Fangio
Pretty much everywhere Vic Fangio has gone in the last decade, Ed Donatell has gone with him.
Fangio’s close relationship with Donatell has proven to be beneficial for both coaches and the players they have coached along the way, and the Broncos have a very good defense.
Let’s get something clear — Vic Fangio being fired in-season would certainly have nothing to do with his ability to call defensive plays. He’s tremendous at it and would have a new job almost instantaneously.
With that being said, you could argue that his relationship with Donatell potentially cost the Broncos an opportunity at keeping Brandon Staley around, at least in 2020, to groom him as a potential defensive coordinator themselves.
Who knows how that would have all turned out?
If a move at head coach does happen, the Broncos would need a new play caller. Donatell would be the most logical option, unless he decided to remain loyal to Fangio by resigning in the event that Fangio would get fired.
Behind Donatell, you would have a couple of options to consider. Notably, outside linebackers coach John Pagano has experience calling defensive plays in the past and has had some success with it.
Linebackers coach Reggie Herring has also been a defensive coordinator at the college level in the past and has been with the team since the Super Bowl 50 season.
Broncos in-house candidates if coaches are getting fired
4. Replace Tom McMahon (special teams coordinator) with Chris Gould and players
Here’s where you have an opportunity to get really creative.
The Denver Broncos only have two special teams coaches — coordinator Tom McMahon and assistant Chris Gould.
There has got to be someone else on the coaching staff who could assist in the event that McMahon gets the axe, but certainly the first man up would be assistant Chris Gould.
Gould was an assistant special teams coach at Syracuse before joining the Denver Broncos, and the team used a draft selection in 2016 on one of Gould’s protegès at Syracuse, punter Riley Dixon.
He had a tough pill to swallow when the Broncos traded Dixon a few years back, but he’s remained with the team and obviously has enough experience as an assistant at this point to call plays for the entire special teams unit.
In addition to Gould being promoted, why not get the players involved here a little bit? What do the kickers and punters do all throughout practice and in terms of film study?
Not to demean their role, but amplifying their involvement in the strategy behind what they do, which is obviously a very niche position in all of sports.
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Brandon McManus and Sam Martin are both veterans who would certainly be able to have some say in the way things are being done from a special teams strategy standpoint and they could function, in a way, as Gould’s assistants.