Why John Elway went old school while the rest of the league went new school

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Welcome to today’s NFL, or as it should be properly renamed: SMVL, for The Sean McVay League.

The boy wonder out in Los Angeles has turned the league on its head the last 24 months and completely changed the way organizations are building their rosters, coaching staffs and playbooks.

Offense has never been so hip in a league where “defense wins championships” is preached every February.

Look no further than the head coaching hires across the league this offseason to see just that.

Zac Taylor. Matt LaFleur. Kliff Kingsbury. Freddie Kitchens. Bruce Arians. Adam Gase.

Offense. Offense. Offense. Offense. Offense. Offense.

A similar trend accompanies their ages, too: 35, 39, 39, 44, 66, and 40, respectively.

And then there’s the Broncos, the good old — yes the “d” was intentionally left — Denver Broncos out in the wild, wild west.

Of the eight teams searching for a coach this offseason, only one hired a defensive-minded coach.

Of the eight teams searching for a coach this offseason, only one hired a coach with more than 30 years of NFL experience.

The Broncos are, in fact, that one team.

While the majority of the NFL is searching for the next young “hot” offensive mind, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, quarterbacks of all time did the exact opposite.

John Elway hired a first-time head coach, just like much of the league, but he came in a very different form and fashion.

Meet Vic Fangio, the 60-year-old, first-time head coach with 39 years of football coaching experience, including 32 years in the NFL, all on the defensive side of the ball.

“The game in the NFL is changing, but I believe that the things that are still about what football is all about, to me, is what Vic Fangio is all about,” Elway said, attacking the topic head-on from the get-go.

“And what is that?” he questioned rhetorically, so badly wanting to explain his reasoning for the against-the-grain hire.

“I believe that football is still built from the ground up. And I think Vic is built from the ground up.

“Now, what do I mean by that?” Elway again questioned rhetorically, so badly wanting to show off his “new” head coach.

“Discipline, accountability. He holds his team to high standards, emphasizes teaching technique, fundamentals, blocking, tackling — those are all the basics of what the NFL is still about. Even though the game is changing.”

John knew exactly what questions he was in line for after making this hire. He heard the afternoon talkshows stating how this next hire needed to be innovative and progressive, not a bunch of guys closing in on retirement.

He obviously didn’t listen.

“The thing is, when we had a chance to sit down with Vic, all of those things I just talked about were his emphasis,” Elway explained, telling why Fangio was the perfect fit in his eyes. “And how he teaches his team, how he gets his team going in the right direction. And it starts from the ground up.”

In his khaki pants that were rolled up and safety pinned at the bottom, and an orange tie given to him the day before by Chicago Bears’ Chairman George McCaskey, Fangio wasn’t blowing Elway away by his three-piece, custom, tailored suit that a young offensive candidate might’ve worn.

Instead, Elway traded in the idea of a high-flying offense and perfectly combed hair for a man that will engrain the fundamentals into his football team wearing his favorite pair of sweats, or what he calls his “grey business suit.”

“We’re not going to cut any corners. I’m a fundamentals coach. I think the game of the NFL, everybody thinks has changed and it’s a high-scoring league, etc., but fundamentals are still what wins in this league,” Fangio said, stating his case for the world to hear after selling Elway on it a few days before. “I’m going to stress those; we’re not going to cut any corners, there will be no death by inches. We’re going to stress fundamentals.”

What would have put other executives around the league to sleep during an interview with Fangio was music to John’s ears.

“The little things,” Elway said, explaining what stood out the most. “The attention to detail, the fundamentals, the way that he coaches, the importance of the coaching side, but also the players. Teaching the players what they do within the system, how he talked about his system, and so I just loved his basic attention to details and how he goes about it. To me, that’s the basis of what football is all about. That’s what you talk about the most.”

When Vic began his coaching career 40 years ago at his high school in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, all he wanted to do “was be a teacher, a high school coach and be a head high school coach eventually.”

Core principals such as teaching, specifically on the football field, couldn’t help John think of his late father, Jack, when he talked to Vic.

“One other thing that always stood out when my dad talked about coaching and what I heard from Vic, was when you have coaches talk about teaching, because that’s what it is, it’s about teaching and about teaching them the right things to do and fundamentals,” Elway said, opening up with a very personal and dear connection.

“As a player, when you have a coach that teaches you those fundamentals, but also gives you a chance to be successful as a player and puts you in situations to be successful, that’s what a great coach is. I think it’s not about the glitz and the glimmer and what somebody does on the offensive side. I think it’s about getting the foundation right, especially for us. That’s our fit. Again, all of the other coaches that got hired are great coaches, but what was best for us was that we needed to start at the ground again and build up.”

After all, as Elway said, teams don’t draft All-Pro players, they have to develop them.

But it won’t be all old school. The experienced, veteran coach has some new tricks up his sleeve.

“I think Vic’s evolving on the defensive side,” Elway said, reiterating what Fangio himself has admitted in the past. “The great thing about Vic, you think that these guys have got a defensive mind, really, they know what offenses are going to try to do against them. They know what they don’t like to go against.

“When you have great defensive coordinators that are able to talk to an offensive staff and say, ‘That gives us problems, that gives us problems and that gives us problems.’ I’m sure Vic will be in the middle of those offensive meetings too because of that fact.”

John Elway won’t use the word rebuilding — he finds it to be an excuse. But there’s no question the Broncos are building, starting with their new head coach, Vic “Fundamental” Fangio.

“We’re going to get back to get the fundamentals and the foundation of what football is all about, and then we can build from there. We will build from there,” Elway said confidently, getting fired up about fundamentals like never before.

“Vic’s background on the defensive side is unmatched. I’m thrilled that Vic is our next head coach. I believe he is exactly what we need when it comes down to the things I’ve talked about, when I talked about the attention to detail.”

Sorry flashy, entertaining, exciting, high-flying offenses, it’s all about the fundamentals in Denver.