Taking the next step

“Just take any step, whether small or large. And then another and repeat day after day. It may take months, maybe years, but the path to success will become clear.”

– Aaron Ross

As a wildly irresponsible young man, I’d committed for the umpteenth summer to mow my grandparent’s lawn, and for too many weeks in a row, I’d not held up my end of the bargain. I finally showed up after skipping a few weeks to an overlong lawn, and a seriously frustrated grandfather. I tried to fall on my sword with a series of apologies, but they were sorries my grandpa had heard too many times before. With a note of exasperation and frustration, he asked me a question and answer that stuck with me for the rest of my life.

“Do you know what sorry means to me, Michael?”

I stared at the driveway as I told him I didn’t.

“Sorry means, ‘I’m not going to do that any more.’ ”

And I didn’t. Ever again. Every time I apologize, I remember that the point is that I plan to not do it again.

You’d have to think that Vic Fangio is sorry for a lot of the outcomes of the past three Denver Broncos seasons while he’s been at the helm, though its career suicide to actually apologize for such things to a fan base. After 7-9, 5-11, and what will probably be a 7-10 campaign this year, the Broncos head coach has visited a fair bit of angst upon the Denver faithful.

There’s no doubt that Uncle Vic has had some difficult moments along the way due to injuries, pandemics, and bad luck. He’s certainly had help with how poorly things have gone from players and staff alike. He’s a defensive wizard who has still had spotty returns from one of the most expensive and stacked defenses in the league, and has yet to have found the answer in who is steering the offensive side of the ball. The blame cannot solely rest with Fangio, but the buck certainly has to stop somewhere.

After a 3-0 start against teams that are now a combined 10-38, the Broncos have gone 4-9 for the rest of the year, with only two of those wins over teams that were meaningful this season, against the Cowboys and Chargers. If Denver loses to a Chiefs team that has a lot to play for this weekend, Fangio will have steered this squad to consecutive double-digit losing seasons, to their fifth losing season straight, and to becoming the first coach to steer the team to three losing seasons straight since Nick Saban in the ’60’s and ’70’s.

So it comes down to this. Vic Fangio is hell of a guy. A hell of a defensive coach. And probably a hell of an uncle, given that everyone calls him Uncle Vic. But the bottom line is that after several shifts and opportunities, he’s not been able to turn this ship around. If GM George Paton has the courage to move on from Von Miller at the peak of a season still in question, he needs to nut up, move on from Fangio, and bring a little hope back to the Broncos faithful. While there are several shifts between here and success for Denver, the first, best, and easiest is to show Vic the door, no matter how this last weekend plays out.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

– Chinese proverb

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, shame on both of us.”

– Stephen King