If the Denver Broncos decided to bring Vic Fangio back as head coach for the 2022 season, what changes would be absolute necessities?
As the 2021 NFL season draws to a close, Denver Broncos fans everywhere are wondering what is next. What moves will George Paton make?
A lot of people are understandably anticipating wholesale changes with this franchise, starting with the head coaching position which is currently a role held by Vic Fangio.
Fangio’s first three seasons in Denver have been rather interesting, to say the very least. The Broncos were not a very good team in 2019 as a whole, but they did have some promising young players and a defensive core that John Elway felt would be greatly enhanced by Fangio’s presence.
Unfortunately, the team chose to trade for Joe Flacco at the quarterback position and move on from Case Keenum, a move that will go down as one of John Elway’s worst as an executive. Not necessarily the fact that Elway moved on from Keenum, but the fact that the move was Joe Flacco in the first place.
From the outset, it seems from the outside looking in that Fangio has had a pretty substantial say in player personnel as well as coaches. He has not had roster autonomy but Fangio’s stamp is all over the roster, and some moves have obviously been more sensible than others.
The Broncos were still rebuilding in 2019 but they managed to win four of the final five games of that otherwise dismal season with a number of players breaking through as bright spots, including wide receiver Courtland Sutton and rookies Noah Fant and Drew Lock.
It feels like it’s been a lifetime since that group was torching the Houston Texans on the road late in that 2019 season.
Nevertheless, the 2020 offseason hit, and the first order of business for Fangio and company was to fire Rich Scangarello and hire Pat Shurmur as offensive coordinator. That decision would ultimately pave the way for where we are today with the Denver Broncos absolutely regressing offensively over the past couple of seasons, Shurmur’s scheme not helping any of the young playmakers, and the development of Drew Lock a failure up to this point.
The Broncos’ offense is still horrendous, but the defense has been good with Fangio at the helm, regardless of the player personnel on the field.
Although the 2021 season was supposedly a playoff-mandated season for Fangio and his staff, there remains a chance that Fangio could still be the head coach of the team after the Broncos’ Week 18 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
That may seem unlikely to many of you, but there are a number of things to keep in mind here. First and foremost, general manager George Paton stated upon his arrival to Denver that Fangio was a reason why he decided to come to the Broncos.
Although it appears as though Fangio had a stake in the acquisition of Joe Flacco and he chose to go with Teddy Bridgewater over Drew Lock in the 2021 season, it’s impossible to argue that Fangio has had it “good” at the QB position.
The Broncos — George Paton, specifically — need to weigh whether they view Fangio as a truly strong head coach option moving forward and how important it is to keep him specifically in charge of their defense.
Again, there exists a chance that the Broncos keep Fangio beyond this season (he is under contract, after all) and if they do, there are some things I think should be required, not only of Fangio specifically but of the Broncos’ front office as well.
Denver Broncos requirements if Vic Fangio is retained for 2022
1. You have to make a change at offensive coordinator
If George Paton decides to keep Vic Fangio aboard in 2022, it has to come with the caveat that Fangio will hire a new offensive coordinator.
When the Broncos hired Fangio back in 2019, it seemed like the plan was to do their best to also correct the mistake of not hiring Kyle Shanahan a couple of seasons prior. The proof of that was in the team’s decision to hire the inexperienced Rich Scangarello, the 49ers quarterbacks coach under Shanahan whose only prior experience calling plays was at a small college.
Scangarello didn’t exactly look like a wunderkind out there as an offensive coordinator but the Broncos drafted players for the Shanahan style of scheme, and Fangio made the decision to fire Scangarello after one season and hire Pat Shurmur instead.
John Elway was likely the one who wanted to bring in Scangarello in the first place, and although we don’t know this for a fact, you could tell that Fangio preferred a veteran coaching staff altogether, which is why he fired Scangarello for the must more well-traveled Pat Shurmur.
Over the last two seasons, Shurmur’s offense has been among the worst at opening drives and opening scripts in general, third-down conversion rate, red zone touchdown rate, and in 2020 they were the league’s worst team in terms of turning the ball over at an average of two turnovers per game.
Whether it’s player development, using players to suit their skills, play-calling, flow to the offense — anything you could possibly pinpoint, Shurmur simply hasn’t done the trick in Denver.
If Fangio is back in 2022, Shurmur has to be out and someone different has to be in that seat coaching up the offensive side of the ball and calling plays.
2. You have to make a change at special teams coordinator
There is no doubt that if Vic Fangio is retained in 2022, he needs to find a new special teams coordinator.
Obviously, there is only so much Tom McMahon can do, but he is the common denominator of an absolute comedy of errors with the special teams unit over the last four seasons.
The Broncos have given up a plethora of return touchdowns compared to the rest of the league, they have had issues all over their coverage units, they have had issues with consistency in the punting department. Remember the whole Marquette King/Colby Wadman saga?
They have been average — at best — in the return game.
There are constant penalties happening on special teams, and these issues all seem to pop up at the worst possible times.
It’s hard to believe at this point that Fangio or someone else hasn’t mandated a coaching change here, but Tom McMahon has had ample opportunity to get things on the right track and it hasn’t happened.
The Broncos have tried a variety of different personnel on special teams, they have traded for guys, and they have certainly used key starters on special teams units and that hasn’t translated to any sort of sustained success.
3. Vic Fangio must be willing to work with a young QB
This won’t be the only point dealing with the quarterback position, but if Vic Fangio is going to be retained for the 2022 season, he’s got to be open-minded about working with a young quarterback.
Back in 2019, Fangio seemed overly resistant to the idea of playing Drew Lock at all as a rookie until Joe Flacco suffered an injury that forced his hand. The Broncos even went with Brandon Allen at the QB position for a period of time while Lock cut his teeth coming back from injured reserve with a thumb injury.
It certainly seemed, at the time, like Lock was healthy long before the final five games of the 2019 regular season and that he should have played far sooner than he did.
After the 2020 season and what even Fangio himself labeled a close training camp battle, Lock lost his starting job to Teddy Bridgewater and that was an utter waste of time for everyone.
Fangio proved in 2021 that drafting and developing Drew Lock was John Elway’s idea, not his. He prioritized his own job over the development of Drew Lock, and for some, that is unforgivable. For others, it’s completely understandable.
No matter what camp you fall in there, the fact of the matter is, Fangio is going to have to ditch his resistance to the idea of a young quarterback because that is a possibility moving forward, even if the Broncos’ preference is a veteran.
4. Get a new person to tell Fangio what plays to throw the challenge flag on
Nobody knows who is in charge of feeding Vic Fangio information about which plays he should throw the red challenge flag on and which he shouldn’t, but the person the Broncos have in the booth in charge of this particular area is arguably the worst in the NFL.
Every time Fangio throws the challenge flag this season, it’s more hilarious than the last.
Against the Chargers, Fangio threw the red flag on a play in which Chargers running back Austin Ekeler was clearly not down, but the person in the booth must have figured, why not spend a timeout here anyway?
At times, you can’t help but wonder if the person feeding Fangio information about what plays to challenge knows what they are doing at all.
At this point, the fact that this is a talking point shows just how bad it has been.
If Fangio is going to stick around in 2022, the Broncos need to get him someone up in the booth who can give some good advice about when to throw the challenge flag and when not to do it.
Right now, this person is costing the Broncos valuable timeouts.
5. Get the man a quarterback
If Vic Fangio is fired by the Denver Broncos — and there are plenty of valid reasons for the team to do that at this point — his one legitimate gripe after three seasons is this: If he had strong quarterback play, things could have been vastly different.
The 2019 season was ugly and Joe Flacco was always a bad idea.
The 2020 season with a change in the offensive scheme, Pat Shurmur trying to fit all of the square pegs on the roster into the round hole that is his offense, and the pandemic all combined together for an absolute disaster at the QB position.
The 2021 season with Teddy Bridgewater is being dubbed by some as the “best” in the post-Peyton Manning era, but in all honesty, very little changed over the last three years when it comes to offensive efficiency.
Why?
The primary reason is obviously the quarterback position. I have said before and I’ll say again — if Vic Fangio had a star QB at the helm, he’d probably look like a pretty darn good head coach. Of course, that’s far easier said than done and he took the Denver job knowing full well the QB situation.
Still, another opportunity to take a swing at the QB position in 2022 could turn things around for all parties.
If the Broncos are able to make a deal for a top-flight veteran quarterback — Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson — or even from the tier below that — Kirk Cousins, Matt Ryan, Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, etc. — it’s not outlandish to think the Broncos could be legitimate Super Bowl contenders with any of those guys and probably a few others.
5 Denver Broncos players who could follow Vic Fangio if he’s let go
The Denver Broncos have a number of key free agents on the defensive side of the ball. If Vic Fangio is let go, who could follow him to his next spot?
George Paton has his work cut out for him in the 2022 offseason. Regardless of who is the head coach, that guy is going to need a QB to succeed. Vic Fangio’s pitch will almost undoubtedly be: Why not let that guy be me?