BREAKING: Vic Fangio out as head coach of the Denver Broncos

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Vic Fangio era in Denver is over.

On Sunday morning, George Paton informed Fangio he will not return for a fourth season, DNVR has confirmed (first by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport).

Fangio’s tenure with the Denver Broncos ended a day after the team lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 28-24, capping off a 7-10 season.

In his three seasons with the Broncos, Fangio compiled a 19-30 record, missed the playoffs three-straight years and never had a winning season.

Fangio was hired in Jan. 2019 by John Elway for his ability to create a dominant defense. For the most part, Fangio upheld that part of the job, specifically in 2021, as Denver had a top-four scoring defense.

However, the Broncos’ offense failed to ever find a groove in Fangio’s tenure. In 2019, Fangio’s first season, Denver’s offense finished as the fifth-worst scoring offense in the NFL, only averaging 17.6 points per game. After a bottom-five finish, Fangio fired offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello following his first season.

Fangio replaced the first-time offensive coordinator with veteran offensive coordinator and former head coach Pat Shurmur. In his first season leading the offense under Fangio, although they averaged 20.2 points per game, Shurmur’s unit also finished with the fifth-worst scoring offense. However, Fangio stuck with Shurmur for a second year.

In 2021, Denver’s offense improved to the 10th-worst offense in the NFL, but only averaged 19.7 points per game.

When hiring Fangio, Elway and Co. attempted to build a team that could stop the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Derek Carr, instead of trying to build dominant offenses that could keep up with those three quarterbacks. Three years later—or five including the Vance Joseph era—that formula rarely found success.

But the Broncos’ issues under Fangio weren’t just limited to the offense. Fangio struggled throughout all three years in game management and challenges, including going 1-for-8 this past season. Additionally, the Broncos went 2-10 in the AFC West the past two seasons.

Although Fangio stated he would return for the final year of his deal in 2022 without a new contract, Paton ultimately decided to move on a year early.

Denver is now searching for their 18th head coach in franchise history.