Vance Joseph is facing plenty of pressure as he prepares for his first year as head coach in the NFL. As the Broncos begin training camp, Joseph and the rest of the Broncos’ staff can finally begin assembling all the pieces gathered throughout the offseason into a team.
For former Denver Broncos head coach and Ring of Famer Dan Reeves, that is the most fun part of the offseason. The hard work of finding the right players and coaches is finished, and now Joseph is able to put a product on the field. Reeves joined Gil Whiteley and his former receiver Mark Jackson on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 to discuss a coach’s mindset on the eve of training camp.
“You’ve got the, as they say, ‘all the hay in the barn,’ and now the fun part is trying to put your team together,” Reeves said. “You’ve got your plans for what you’re going to do at every single practice and you have to be able to adjust to that because there’s always things that happen that you have to adjust to. But, all the hard work is done, you’re excited now about going in and putting your football team together.”
In addition to compiling the players, Joseph and the front office also found what they believe will be the best coaching staff to complement the rookie head coach. A defensive backs coach in the NFL from 2005-15, Joseph held his first coordinator position last season leading the defense for the Miami Dolphins.
To combat the lack of head-coaching experience, John Elway and the rest of the Broncos front office brought in coaches with plenty of NFL experience. After a four-year stint as head coach of the Chargers, Mike McCoy returns to Denver as the offensive coordinator, a position he held from 2009-12. The Broncos also hired former Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave as the team’s quarterback coach.
Reeves believes that it would behoove Joseph to rely on the experience he has on his coaching staff.
“Well, I think he’d be crazy if he didn’t [rely on his staff],” Reeves said. “You know, experience is so important. I think that the reason why you put a staff together is because they can help you become better, and you depend on them a great deal. That said, you have to surround yourself with good people. For a head coach, certainly one of the first line of people that you try to put together is your coaching staff.”
As far as the players that will contribute on the field, production is the only thing that matters for Reeves. Regardless of if someone was a number one draft pick or signed on the team as a free agent, those who produced were the ones called upon the most frequently.
“You show us what you can do and if you can help us as a football team, it doesn’t make any difference how you got there,” Reeves said. “It’s just the fact that you came in there and helped us build a better football team.”
Listen to the full interview, including why Reeves stressed winning the first game of the season so heavily, in the podcast below.
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