Understanding the Broncos' assistant coach firings requires a look beyond position performance

ENGLEWOOD, Colo — The wrecking ball has made its first trip through Denver Broncos headquarters.

On Monday evening, the Broncos officially announced that they had parted way with six, count ’em, six assistant coaches, following an abysmal 5-11 season.

Running backs coach Eric Studesville, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, outside linebackers coach Fred Pagac, special teams coordinator Brock Olivo, offensive line coach Jeff Davidson and defensive backs assistant Johnnie Lynn were all shown the door on black Monday.

The first three, Studesville, Tolbert and Pagac, all raised eyebrows in Broncos Country as they have become very recognizable names to fans throughout the years.

Studesville, of course, was the Broncos longest-tenured coach, he joined the team in 2010 under Josh McDaniels and has since coached Knowshon Moreno and, just this season, C.J. Anderson, to 1,000-yard campaigns. He notably served as the team’s interim head coach when McDaniels was fired.

Tolbert joined the team just one year later in 2011. In his seven seasons with the team, he helped Demaryius Thomas go to five consecutive pro bowls to go along with five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He also coached receivers for the most prolific offense in NFL history.

Pagac became a part of the staff when Gary Kubiak was named head coach in 2015. Most notably, he coached Von Miller to a Super Bowl MVP and a postseason for the ages.

On the surface, it’s easy to look at these moves as head-scratchers, but to understand the decisions, it’s important to know that there is a lot more that goes into these decisions than simply how their respective units performed.

Staff Chemistry

One factor that plays a role in such decision is how a coach works with the staff around them. How did they respond to direction from the coordinator? What about the head coach?

The same way an offensive line’s success is tied to its chemistry, a coaching staff is very similar. When the Broncos won the Super Bowl in 2015, the cohesiveness within Gary Kubiak’s staff was as clear as day; it’s one of the reasons that team was so successful despite some talent deficiencies in crucial areas.

Just as John Calipari can bring in a class full of five-star players to Kentucky only to see them not click as a unit, sometimes a coaching staff just doesn’t mesh.

Gameplan

The role of an assistant coach goes beyond simply coaching their position group. Assistants, in most cases, are also responsible for certain parts of the game plan and scouting each week. For example, the outside linebackers coach may be in charge of scouting the opponent’s tendencies on third and long and reporting back to the coordinator as it relates to the game plan.

When looking back at a game, the head coach doesn’t only evaluate the players, he evaluates the coaches—including their responsibilities in the game prep. It’s not uncommon for an assistant’s work in these areas to affect their standing with the team.

Player Development

It’s easy to point to the success of Von Miller, C.J. Anderson and Demaryius Thomas when evaluating a coach, but what about the development of guys like Shane Ray and Cody Latimer? What about the Ronnie Hillmans or even the Devontae Bookers of the world?

When players are selected in the draft, the organization obviously believes in their talent. When they aren’t developing into the players they were believed to be, is it because of a misevaluation in the personnel department or is it on the position coaches for not getting through to the guy? Unfortunately for the assistants, the front office usually tends to take the side of their own evaluations.

Connections

Finally, and definitely most important when looking at the Broncos moves Monday—especially the eye openers—is looking at who brought that coach in. For Studesville, Tolbert and Pagac, they were all brought in by previous coaching staffs. Davidson was connected to Mike McCoy. One of Vance Joseph’s saving graces may have been the fact that it wasn’t entirely his staff coaching the Denver Broncos in 2017.

For Joseph, and expected offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, to be able to have their guys in place in 2018, means they can have no excuses if the results don’t come. Musgrave, with his own staff in place, put together an offense that ranked sixth in the NFL in total yards in 2016. Of note, Musgrave’s 2016 staff, which was still in place this season under Jack Del Rio in Oakland, has been cleared to seek new employment in light of Del Rio’s firing.

Joseph, too, has coaching connections that he may be looking to bring in. From a running backs standpoint, one name that sticks out is Kansas City Chiefs RB coach Eric Bieniemy, who—of course—has ties to Joseph as a fellow CU Buff. Bieniemy, widely considered one of the league’s best coaches at the position, would be one hell of a pull from inside the division, and he could be blocked by the Chiefs, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Broncos try to make a play there.

It’s obvious that guys like Studesville, Tolbert and Pagac can coach, and they’ll have no trouble finding works elsewhere, but so much of coaching—especially in the assistant ranks—is about connections. In a season where so much went wrong, fingers can be pointed just about anywhere, but in a profession with so little job security, your connections are often your most valuable asset. In 2018, Vance Joseph should have a staff full of coaches with Vance Joseph ties. In that scenario, the buck only stops at one place, and that’s the way most head coaches prefer it.