Tuesday at noon some familiar faces took the podium at Dove Valley to discuss their return to the Denver Broncos. Wade Phillips, Rick Dennison and Joe DeCamillis all shared their enthusiasm as they launch into the Gary Kubiak coaching era.
Each coach was ecstatic to return to a familiar organization, but one that has made significant strides in their facilities, roster and overall standing in the NFL. Each coach has come a long way since their last stints with the team and expect their second-go-around to be better than the first.
Phillips in particular was candid on his first stay in Denver as a defensive coordinator (1989-92) and head coach (1993-94). “I was a lousy head coach but I’m a pretty good defensive coordinator,” Phillips said.
Phillips has 33 years of experience as a defensive coordinator or head coach in the NFL and stated several times Tuesday that this may be the best team he has joined in all his years.
“This is a way better situation that I have ever come into. Normally you have a bad year and you call me in as the defensive coordinator. This team has a lot of talent on defense but we are going to do better. That is what I do, is improve,” Phillips declared.
Phillips and the staff are just beginning to evaluate the roster but he was clear on his intentions to bring his style of play to the defense.
“I think everyone knows we are going to a 3-4,” Phillips said matter of factly and commented on what that means for his players. “Defensive players are aggressive by nature. I think you take something away from them if you don’t let them be. Aggressive doesn’t mean you blitz all the time but it does mean everybody coming off the football. This is an attack defense.”
While Phillips was adamant that this defense has some immense talent, he stated that he has not been around long enough to comment on any particular player on the roster, free agents or otherwise.
“We are evaluating all the personnel through every game last year. I’ve only been here a day and half but we are spending a lot of time evaluating our own personnel and where they fit and what they can do within our scheme to unitize their skills and their limitations.”
When asked about Terrence Knighton and Nate Irving, both free agents, Phillips stated he has not evaluated them yet.
On the other side of the ball Dennison echoed Phillips sentiments and knew that Denver would be in his future one way or another. “I was coming back to Colorado, working or not. This is where I really want to be.”
When Dennison left in 2008 he had spent 26 years with the club as a player and a coach. Since then, he followed Kubiak to Houston and then to Baltimore. His return to the Broncos is something he feels very comfortable with and is excited for the challenge.
“Right now we are just trying to get everything settled,” Dennison said. “The challenge every year, going in is just figuring out what your team does best. Whether it is zone, man, gap we will do what we do best. We’re really just scratching the surface of looking at our personnel.”
Dennison believes that regardless of Peyton Manning’s decision, it will not delay the offenses progress through the offseason. He acknowledged that Manning still has time to make his decision.
In regards to the rest of team, Dennison commented that having coached in the Pro Bowl as a Baltimore Raven; he saw a lot of Broncos on the rosters and is ready to coach a “talent-laden” team.
Having been around several Super Bowl teams with the Broncos he understands the pressure that he will be under as he returns to the organization.
“Certainly having been around here for years, I know what the expectations are and I’m excited for those expectations.”
Much like Phillips, Dennison was not ready to address free agent questions regarding players like Julius Thomas and Virgil Green but had confidence that John Elway would make the appropriate moves in order to get the best out of the roster in 2015.
“John and those guys will figure out who will be on our team. Once they are on our team, if we have a bunch of tight ends we will throw to them, if we have a bunch of wide outs we will throw it to them. I think that we have done enough in the past that we will figure out who the best guys are.”
Dennison made one final statement as to the identity of his offense and the ideals that Elway wants moving forward.
“When we go into the game we they will have confidence, they will know what they are supposed to do, what we want them to do, and they will play hard.”
The third coordinator to return to the Broncos is special teams coach Joe DeCamillis. Entering his 27th season as a NFL coach he has been away the longest. He was an assistant and a defensive quality coach from 1989-1992. “I was basically a secretary to be honest with you,” DeCamillis said with a chuckle.
Since then he has coached special teams in Chicago, Dallas, Jacksonville and Atlanta and is happy to return to Colorado. He grew up in Arvada and remembers always being a Broncos fan and the teams’ first Super Bowl with head coach Red Miller.
“I couldn’t be more excited about being here. Be able to get a chance to work with John and Mr. Bowlen. Mr. Bowlen really helped me at the start of my career by even hiring me in the first place. Hopefully I can help him out now at this part of my career. Help him out more than the first time, that’s for sure,” DeCamillis said.
DeCamillis stated his two objectives clearly Tuesday. “We want to play faster than our opponents. When they look at it on tape I want them to know we are a fast, physical team. The other thing about it is to be very fundamentally sound.”
From the hiring of Kubiak to the return of several former Broncos coaches the staff has been reunited and all of the parties involved know the stakes. Expectations and excitement are both at extreme highs and after spending decades in other cities, on other teams Philips stated what makes this region different than most.
“I said it when I was here, this is a great town because they expect the team to win. They expect the most from their team and I think that helps them have the great traditions they’ve had here, especially under Pat Bowlen in his regime. I think I felt the same thing and I feel it now, this city and the fans here, they demand a lot, they expect a lot, but I think it helps our team. It helps you to get to that level you want to be and now you’ve got a guy that’s a great competitor leading us, John Elway.”
Now comes the hard part; meeting those expectations.
Email Sam at sam@milehighsports.com and follow him on Twitter @SamCowhick.