What we learned from Vic Fangio's end-of-season press conference

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Less than 24 hours after wrapping up his second season as the Denver Broncos head coach, Vic Fangio added another all-important responsibility to his plate as the team looked toward the offseason.

With John Elway relinquishing his title of general manager, Fangio will be one of a few tasked with finding the replacement for the “most important and impactful person in the history of the Denver Broncos,” as Joe Ellis stated.

On Tuesday, Fangio spoke to the media to wrap up the 2020 season and about finding the right replacement for Elway. Here’s what we learned.

FINDING THE NEXT GENERAL MANAGER

Entering his second full offseason with the Broncos, Fangio will be one of four people in the room for every general manager interview. Sitting alongside the head coach during the interviews will be Elway, Ellis and chief communications officer Patrick Smyth.

“I’ll be involved in the process. John and Joe will make the ultimate decision,” Fangio confirmed on Tuesday. “But I’ll be involved in the process and if I feel strongly one way or the other, I’ll make that known to them.”

Although Fangio will be involved in the hiring process, he fully understands the next general manager will have total control of the roster.

“He’s going to be in charge of everything as it relates to building this team and the roster,” Fangio stated. “He’s going to be just like all GMs. He’s going to be in charge of the 53. He’s going to be in charge of the draft. He’s going to be in charge of free agency. He’s going to be in charge of the salary cap.”

However, despite not having the final say in personnel decisions, the head coach said it “behooves you to have the coaches involved” in those decisions in order for the personnel department and coaching staff to have the same vision.

“Moving forward, whoever we end up hiring here, I’m sure we’ll forge a good relationship,” Fangio said. “I’ve had experience over the years, obviously working with many different general managers. I like to this I’m easy to work with. And I’m sure who we hire will be a guy that’s a consensus builder, but ultimately be the guy that makes the final decision as it relates to the roster.”

The relationship between a head coach and general manager cannot go understated, as Elway emphasized on Monday. With over 30 years of experience in the NFL, Fangio was quick to respond to what qualities he’s looking for in Denver’s hire.

“The guys that have a vision of what the team should look like, in conjunction with the coaching staff, and never veering from that vision,” the head coach stated. “It’s always easy, and sexy sometimes, to veer away from what you think is your ultimate blueprint for a team and sometimes you’ve got to resist that. Then by the same token, maybe there is a chance or two that you might be able to take, but you have to be educated and they have to be good chances that everybody is on board with.”

The Broncos are already in the process of compiling a list of potential general managers. The team will conduct their first round of interviews virtually and may look into having another round of interviews in person, if necessary. Ellis stated on Tuesday, the team will interview “several black candidates” as having diversity and interviewing minority candidates is “very important.”

On Tuesday, the Broncos received permission to interview Chicago Bears’ assistant director of player personnel Champ Kelly. Kelly was with the Broncos from 2007 until he took a promotion with Chicago in 2015.

COACHING STAFF RETURNING

There will be no changes to Vic Fangio’s coaching staff, despite the team finishing 5-11.

“I do anticipate it returning in full,” Fangio stated about his coaching staff. “As always, as things happen in the early part of the offseason, some guys may have some opportunities for advancement and will always look at that, but other than that, I’m anticipating the staff back.”

In the past five seasons, the Broncos have had five different offensive coordinators. With Pat Shurmur returning for the 2021 season, Denver will finally have continuity on that side of the ball.

After the special team’s unit struggled mightily at times throughout the season, there was a belief Tom McMahon was on the hot seat.

“Our special team’s performance was a lot like our offense and defense—it was choppy at times,” Fangio said on Tuesday. “We allowed too many negative plays to happen against us in the return game. We had a punt blocked or two, that we can’t have.”

However, with no changes to the coaching staff, the veteran special team’s coordinator will be back for his third season with the team.

“I have confidence in Tom that he’ll get that turned around,” Fangio said, showing support for McMahon. “Tom was a guy John recommended highly to me when I first took this job. We’ve kept Tom. He’s a tireless worker. Very knowledgeable in the kicking game. We just have to, like we do on offense and defense, button up those things to avoid the disastrous plays.”

Last offseason, Fangio decided to fire offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello weeks after the season ended. Unless Fangio decides to make a similar move weeks down the line, all three of Denver’s coordinators will be back in 2021.

LOVE FOR SIMMONS AND VON

Fangio wants to see more than just his coaching staff return in 2021. The defensive-minded head coach hopes to see Justin Simmons and Von Miller, two of his best defensive players, return next season.

“We would love to have both of them back,” Fangio stated. “That’s obvious.”

However, that will be a personnel decision, which Fangio will not have the final say on.

“Once we do hire the new general manager, he’ll assess our roster, where we’re at, how it relates to the salary cap and he’ll have the major say in that moving forward,” Fangio said about the prospect of Miller and Simmons returning. “So I would like to defer to that. But both of those guys are guys that I would like to have back.”

Miller, Elway’s first draft pick ever, is under contract for the 2021 season but carries a $22.225 million cap hit. If Denver moves on from the franchise’s all-time sack leader, they would save $18 million in cap space. On Monday, Elway stated the team would “love to have Von finish his career here.”

Simmons, on the other hand, is not under contract. Denver has three options when it comes to the Pro Bowl safety. They can either let him walk in free agency, franchise tag him for a second consecutive year or sign him to a long-term deal.

LOCK’S FUTURE

After an up and down second season in the NFL, Fangio still believes Drew Lock has a chance to be Denver’s starting quarterback next season.

“He can be. He can be,” Fangio stated when asked if Lock can be the team’s starter. “He’s going to have to improve, which he knows, and we all know. We have to eliminate the negative plays and we have to become more efficient in our whole operation offensively. As the quarterback, he’s the leader of that unit.”

In his first full season as the starting quarterback, Lock threw for 2,933 yards on 57.3 percent completion, 16 touchdowns, 15 interceptions and a 75.4 passer rating, while missing nearly three games due to a bruised shoulder.

Despite leading the league in interceptions, Lock closed out the final quarter of the season throwing seven touchdowns to only two interceptions. That, along with other factors, gives Fangio hope Lock can take a big step in his third year in the NFL.

“I think the biggest benefit he’ll have is he played I think 12 games this year of going through the same offense. Being able to study the cut-ups in the offseason, actually seeing himself in our offense and being able to improve from that, you can make improvements in the offseason just through the classroom, and especially because he’s going to be watching himself on tape and not somebody else,” Fangio stated on why he believes Lock can improve. “That helps that process. So yes, I do think he can come back better.”

If Denver’s new general manager has a different opinion than Fangio on the 24-year-old quarterback, the head coach said that won’t create a challenge.

“That’s a new set of eyes which is sometimes a good thing,” Fangio said, showing his openness to fresh perspectives. “A lot of times when you’re the guy and the coach who is working with somebody, you feel a commitment and determination to make it work. Sometimes a new set of eyes comes in and sees it different, or he may see it more so. He may say, ‘This is the guy, let’s move.’ I think a new set of eyes and a new perspective is only going to be beneficial for that position and all of our positions.”

Drew certainly has a chance to be Denver’s quarterback next season, but he’s certainly not locked into the role yet.

OTHER TIDBITS

• Fangio was in touch with Ja’Wuan James “a couple of times” throughout the season. Denver’s high-paid right tackle opted out of the 2020 season. On Monday, Garett Bolles said James “knows what he has to do to earn our trust back.” On Tuesday, Fangio added to Bolles’ comment.
  • “I know he’s anxious to get back here and get back in the fold,” Fangio stated. “Anytime you’ve been out for a year, you got to get yourself back into the mix and earn the respect and trust of everybody moving forward. I’m sure he’ll be able to do that.”
• When asked what player took the biggest step over the course of the season, Fangio pointed to Lloyd Cushenberry.
  • “He was a guy that constantly got better inch by inch. He never made a big jump one week to the next, but he just kept getting better in small increments and by the end of the season was playing his best football,” Fangio said about the rookie center. “I think after this offseason and he gets to watch himself in cut ups and getting coached by Mike [Munchak] and ‘Kupe’ [Chris Kuper], that he’ll come back a better player. I expect him to flourish next year even more so.”
• Michael Ojemudia (knee) and Austin Schlottmann (shoulder) will both undergo “minor” surgeries in the offseason, Fangio told reporters on Tuesday.
  • “You know what the definition of a minor surgery is? It’s a surgery performed on somebody else. It may seem minor, but it won’t be minor to those guys,” Fangio said. “We think those things will heal in time and be fine.”
• Finally, following the team’s fourth-straight losing season, Fangio made it clear that everything will be evaluated in the offseason.
  • “A to Z we’re going to evaluate everything, and we’ve already started that,” the head coach stated. “We’re going to study other teams, as many as we can in the time given, and we’ll turn over every stone in an effort to improve.”
  • When asked, Fangio did not rule out handing over some defensive playcalling duties to Ed Donatell next season, stating that would fall into his idea of evaluating everything.