ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Instant success in the NFL remains rare.
That’s especially true in the Broncos’ offensive system. In time, the rewards can be great. But in the first year of this scheme, with three different starting quarterbacks, progress is measured by where you are at the end compared to where you stood in September.
“It’s hard to bring a team together in this offensive system,” offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said. “There were no former players that played in this offense that we brought in here. We were young guys starting together ourselves. Most of these coaches, I didn’t know. So, we’re learning together.
“All of us together, we had to gameplan off each other, understanding our players and getting it easier for them. All that takes time, and I think it’s showing that. In San Francisco in 2017, we started 0-9 and we struggled mightily, too. It’s just the way it goes sometimes. I think we’ve got a lot of resilience in this facility with these players and I think they’re going to be very good in the future.”
The proof is in the results. An offense that averaged 17.5 points per game and 1.75 points per possession in the first four games of the season has improved, and in the last four games averaged 21.0 points per game and 2.15 points per possession, totals that would be even better if the Chiefs game had been played in benign conditions.
The Broncos offense didn’t score more than 24 points in September, October and November; it has now done so twice in December. Their average in games not suffocated by snow this month is 27.0 points per game.
That’ll do.
The end-of-season surge with Drew Lock at quarterback resembles the one the 49ers had in 2017, when Scangarello was in his first season as their quarterbacks coach under Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers started three quarterbacks that season, too. But Jimmy Garoppolo, acquired in a midseason trade from New England that year, provided a jolt that echoes the one that happened with Lock in Denver.
“Every situation is a little different, but I will say this, where it is unique is the last five games. We had Jimmy come in and I thought he re-energized some things just with his personality and whatnot. To some degree, that’s what Drew’s done,” Scangarello explained.
“Not that the other guys didn’t do a good job and all that, it’s just he’s done his role to do that. We’re excited about where we’re headed and I think the guys around him are getting better and he’s empowering them, too. We’ve got a chance to get better in the future. We’ll see where that takes us.”
Does that plan include recommending others from Scangarello’s Rolodex to help Lock in the offseason?
“I’m not going to comment about that, but there’s definitely a plan that can help him that some other guys that we’ve had have done, and I’m hoping to see that happen,” he said.
For Garoppolo, such a plan for help from outside involved a name Broncos fans know well: Mike Shanahan.
At the NFL Annual Meeting last March, Kyle Shanahan confirmed that his father spent time last December with Garoppolo, who was on injured reserve with a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered three weeks into the 2018 season. Scangarello, then the 49ers’ quarterbacks coach, was busy at the time working with 49ers quarterbacks Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard.
The scope of that work?
“Literally, everything,” Garoppolo told NBC Sports Bay Area last April. “We watched our offense, our defense, other teams, teams that played two years ago that he thought a clip could help me. It’s applicable in different ways. He’s so smart that it was incredible to have that experience and I thank him a lot for that.”
Scangarello is part of the “QB Collective,” a group of coaches that is no more than two degrees of separation away from Mike Shanahan. Members of that group have gathered in the offseason to discuss offensive coaching and philosophy, according to a Sports Illustrated story last August. Scangarello’s connection is through Kyle Shanahan, under whom he worked in Atlanta in 2015 and again with the 49ers in 2017 and 2018.
The group is headlined by the Shanahans, but also includes Rams head coach Sean McVay and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. It sits at the intersection of dynamic young thought and sage wisdom that comes only with age and experience.
And everyone in the Collective suffered frustration at some point, whether as an assistant or as a head coach, as they worked to implement their concepts. Eventual success is also typical. Scangarello saw all of that in San Francisco under Kyle Shanahan, which is why the public sniping this season didn’t faze him.
“It’s just part of the business,” he said. “What goes on inside the building, we all know where we’re headed. What it looks like on the outside, everyone’s going to have their opinions, and they’re going to question things, and this and that, and that’s just the nature of this league and how it is nowadays.
“But I have no issue with those opinions. We were 0-9 in San Francisco and no one panicked, because Kyle had been through it, and he knew what this offense took, and it taught me a lot, and I think that helped me through this process as well. I’m excited about where we’re headed, and I’m not worried about those things.”
He also shouldn’t be worried about the direction of the offense. It took a while, but with a core of young contributors helping guide the late-season revival, Scangarello and the Broncos have tangible proof that their ideas can — and will — work.
