Broncos strike gold with dynamic offensive duo

Denver Broncos vice president of football operations and general manager John Elway and new head coach Vance Joseph have done a complete retooling of the team’s coaching staff in only a few short days.

Elway welcomed in former Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph earlier this week and once that deal was finished, the two went right to work.

Denver welcomed in former San Diego (Los Angeles) Chargers head coach Mike McCoy and Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave into the Mile High City as they work to build a Super Bowl-caliber staff.

“Mike is an experienced play-caller who can build a system around our players,” Joseph said in a release sent from the team. “It was our goal to find an offensive coordinator who has flexibility with his scheme, and Mike has done that as both a head coach and coordinator. He’s had a lot of success in this league with many different styles of offense, including here with the Broncos.”

McCoy will enter his second stint as offensive coordinator for Denver and during his short time here the first go-around, he was quite successful. McCoy was the driving force behind the Tim Tebow revolution that led the Broncos’ to an AFC West title and a playoff win over Pittsburgh Steelers 2011. During his tenure, Denver also led the league in rushing yards.

Now, the return of Mike McCoy is quite the story in and of itself as a strong ‘free-agent’ pickup for the team, but what about Musgrave? If one is good, two is just an abundance of riches.

Bill Musgrave, a Colorado native out of Grand Junction, has his fair share of coaching experience in the National Football League and was signed to be Denver’s new quarterback coach; he will be charged with the task of shaping both Trevor Siemian and first-round pick Paxton Lynch. Musgrave has 18 years of coordinator/quarterback coaching experience and is more than up to the challenge.

It is not just his experience as a coordinator that has fans and fellow coaches excited to have Musgrave on the staff, he also has experience as a starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Musgrave started one game during the 1996 season in Elway’s absence. The recent addition also played QB for the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, and Indianapolis Colts before announcing his retirement and joining the Oakland Raiders coaching staff for the first time in 1997.

His professional career might have been brief, but what he accomplished at the University of Oregon is something special. Musgrave was a four-year starter for the Ducks and led the school to back-to-back bowl games for the first time in school history. During his run at Oregon, Musgrave set school records for passing yards and total offense.

While handling the offense for a variety of teams in the NFL, quarterbacks under Musgrave have shined, including Matt Ryan, Michael Vick, and Steve Beuerlein. All three went on to have Pro-Bowl caliber years under Musgrave. Most recently the QB guru took to Oakland Raiders young gunslinger Derek Carr. Carr, who was selected to the Pro-Bowl each season under Musgrave, saw his career skyrocket during the two years the tandem was together, and their work led to Carr’s best season by far in 2016 before it was cut short with a broken leg. Carr threw for nearly 4,000 yards and only six interceptions in 2016 while leading Oakland and the league’s 7th-best offense.

What’s more? The duo of Joseph and Elway continued their crusade on Saturday, as news came out that the team will add longtime successful offensive line coach Jeff Davidson to the staff, moving quickly to repair what may have been the worst part of their team this season.

Many questioned the hiring of Vance Joseph due to his lack of experience in the coordinator ranks and no experience beyond that, but as he builds his staff, it’s becoming clear that the acclaimed “leader of men” came into Denver with a distinct plan.