Why “ball is everything” is the Broncos’ new offensive slogan and will be key on defense too

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — To the Denver Broncos’ new coaching staff, ball is life.

Well, not quite to that extent, but almost.

Ball is “everything,” to be more precise.

And this isn’t referring to the 100-hour work weeks that Nathaniel Hackett’s young and eager staff is sure to put in over the course of the next many months—and for their sake, hopefully years—but instead, it’s the phrase that’s going to guide the Broncos’ offense and defense under Justin Outten and Ejiro Evero.

“The ball is everything and you’re going to hear that over and over again. When you win the turnover battle, plus one, you’re 72 percent win percentage. And then if you’re plus two, it goes up to 82 percent,” Broncos’ new offensive coordinator Justin Outten said on Tuesday, during the coordinator’s introductory press conference, when talking about what to expect from his offense in Denver.

“So that ball is everything in this offense,” Outten stressed once again. “We’re going to make [the offense] look very complex to the defense, but keep it simple for our guys so they can play fast. The goal is to identify each guys talents and make them come to life on Sundays.”

Last year, when Nathaniel Hackett and Outten were in Green Bay, the Packers’ 13 turnovers tied for the fewest in the NFL. Living by the phrase “ball is everything,” the Packers 13-4 record was the best in the NFL, tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On the flip side, Denver’s offense last year was actually tied for the sixth-fewest turnovers. Yet, largely due to their inability to rack up points, the Broncos finished at the bottom of the AFC West for a second-straight year.

Outten has a plan to change that.

“You always want to be efficient with methodically moving down and ending every series with a kick. That’s your No. 1 goal,” the new OC said. “I made a joke—it wasn’t a joke, but—at the basketball game a couple of weeks ago, ‘We’re going to score a lot of points!’ Our goal is to score points here and that’s how you win football games.

“Just finding ways, creative ways, especially when you get down in the red zone, to put the ball in the end zone is your No. 1 goal,” he continued. “These coaches are going to work tirelessly trying to find ways to put the ball in our playmakers hands.”

On top of that, expect the Broncos’ offense to be ever-changing. While the foundation of Hackett and Outten’s offense will start with outside zone, the offense will evolve on a weekly basis.

“We’re trying to find ways for us to be productive that week. There’s not going to be a lot of carry over, in a sense, when it doesn’t match the next defense,” Outten said, explaining how Denver’s offense will change depending on who they are playing. “So [adapting] each and every week and making it its own little Super Bowl in a sense. This is your Super Bowl Sunday.”

This idea of changing their offensive game plan on a weekly basis to matchup better against their opponent will be drastically different than what Denver did last year as they continuously ran out three-wide sets week after week even after having little success.

Expect a significantly different offensive approach in 2022 than in 2021.

On the flip side, however, Denver’s defense will have a lot of similarities to Vic Fangio’s scheme last year.

The Broncos will run a 3-4 base defense and mix in a variety of sub packages, Evero made official on Tuesday.

“There will be a lot of carryover from what these guys did last year,” Denver’s new defensive coordinator stated. “But at the end of the day… you’ve got to see who is on your roster. You’ve got to see what they do well. And then the scheme has got to fit your players. You can’t go the other way around with that. There will be a lot of carryover and I think the players will be familiar with a lot of what we’re going to present to them. But we’re going to always start player first and then move into the scheme.”

Much like on offense, the ball will be everything on defense too.

“Just like Coach Outten said, the biggest thing in football is the ball and we’ve got to be attacking the ball and that’s going to be a big point of our emphasis,” Evero stated. “We’re talking about playing with great energy and great physicality. We’re talking about being about the ball. And we’re talking about playing with great situational awareness.”

Last season, Evero lived the motto “being about the ball” as the Rams were in the top third of the league in takeaways. Denver, however, was in the bottom third, despite having the NFL’s highest-paid defense and a defensive-minded head coach.

One way Evero is going to try and change Denver’s luck is by bringing the heat.

“You got to affect the quarterback,” Evero said without any hesitation. “If you can’t get there with four, you got to bring five. If you can’t get there with five, you got to bring six. We’ll bring pressure if we need to. That’s just all going to depend on the rush.”

Denver’s 3-4 defense won’t be exactly the same as Fangio’s. Instead, it’ll be a blend and mixture of many defensive masterminds that Evero’s studied under in his 14 years in the NFL.

“I have a big background with a bunch of different people, so we’ve got a lot of things that we can fall back on and pull from and we’re going to take advantage of all of that,” Denver’s new defensive coordinator stated.

Since entering the NFL as a defensive quality control coach in 2007 with Tampa Bay, Evero has worked under the likes of Monte Kiffin, Fangio, Dom Capers, Wade Phillips and Brandon Staley, just to name a few.

“The great thing about [working under those coaches] is it exposed me to so much in terms of different schemes, so many different identities. It makes you realize there’s a lot of different ways to get it done,” Evero explained. “The biggest thing about all of those guys, the reason that they had success is they are great teachers, they had an identity, they stuck to that identity and they got the players to buy into it. And that’s the biggest thing that we want to get done. That’s what we’re going to get done here as well.”

Wee-hours into Hackett’s staff’s tenure in Denver, an identity is beginning to form.

“Ball is everything” will be exhibited with their early morning meetings that extend late into the night. And, they hope, ball is everything will carry over to the field, where under their watch, the Broncos will dominate the turnover battle, which will lead to wins.