How do you achieve greatness? One way is to surround yourself with great people. After accepting the position as head coach of the Denver Broncos, that’s exactly what Vance Joseph set out to do.
“My first order of business after taking the job was to acquire the best staff we could,” Joseph said whilst introducing his staff on Tuesday. “My first call was to Mike McCoy.”
McCoy comes from the (then)San Diego Chargers, where he served as head coach. Prior to that, he spent four seasons as the Broncos’ offensive coordinator. For Joseph, a first-time head coach, his experience in both positions played a role in him landing the job.
“Being an ex-head coach, that was important,” Joseph said. “Being a successful coordinator in the past, that was more important.”
McCoy is known for his ability to adjust to his personnel. He won’t be alone in trying to fix the Broncos offense however, as the staff boasts three other people with experience as an offensive coordinator in the NFL in offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, quarterbacks coach Bill Musgraves and tight ends coach Geep Chryst; the latter two of which have called plays recently.
“We wanted to have Mike, and Bill and Geep Chryst, three guys who have called plays in the last four years in this league,” said Joseph. “It was a must.”
As it is with the players on the field, constructing the new offense will be a team effort. While the play-calling will ultimately fall to McCoy on gameday, they will all have a hand in creating the game plan.
“I think the great thing about my job is the staff we put together,” McCoy said. “Because it’s not my offense, this is our offense. This is the Denver Broncos offense that we’re building over time. I’m going to ask for a lot of input.”
The input won’t just come from the coaching staff either, players will also have some say.
“I’m big into talking to the quarterbacks and installing, from a week-to-week basis, looking at our plans and being open with these players and saying ‘what do you really like? What are your favorites?'” added McCoy. “When we get into the game plans, at the end of the week, I want to ask the quarterbacks “what are your favorite plays in these situations?” Just so they have a lot of confidence when they’re under center on game day.”
It is, after all, the players that will be asked to go out an execute. The coaching staff is there to put them in a position to succeed.
“This is going to be a very player-friendly system,” he said. “I think we’re always going to do what players do best.
“It’s our job in the next couple of months to figure out what each one of those guys do and take advantage of their strengths, and kind of minimize their weaknesses.”
Photo credit: Ben Swanson/DenverBroncos.com
