The season has officially begun and in front of roughly 4,000 fans the Gary Kubiak era got underway. The Denver Broncos offseason has been full of changes and surprises and it is clear that things are different at training camp in 2015. After a year away, the fans returned to a new, but familiar head coach, a remodeled campus and a lot of new faces.

Even the name of the facility has changed. Formerly named Dove Valley, the UCHealth Training Center has a new field house and a large grassy hill for thousands of onlookers to watch their beloved team grow. The changes in staff and personnel have been mostly visible on paper this offseason but today, day one of camp, the team looked and practiced differently to the loud cheers of Broncos Country.

“You definitely notice a difference in training camp practices with fans out here. I’d never been through a training camp like last year when there were no fans. It definitely was great to see them back out there and cheering us on, especially as you get into these practices,” Peyton Manning said.

As the season begins several questions have been looming over the team and the way the players were split into groups said a lot. Ty Sambrailo, Ben Garland, Gino Gradkowski, Louis Vasquez and Chris Clark, from left to right, were the first team offensive line.

On the other side of the ball, Malik Jackson was in the starting right defensive end postion and Darian Stewart patrolled the deep middle of the field at free safety. Another encouraging change from years past was that not one player was placed on the PUP list due to injury. However, Jackson did leave practice early due to a calf strain. Change was everywhere and it was embraced by the players throughout the brief two and a half-hour practice.

“First day obviously you come out of here and have a few gitters but at the end of the day it was a productive practice,” Emmanuel Sanders said. “Today was a good day and we just have to continue to get better and I’m looking forward to it.”

Kubiak, a coach who has been around the league for decades is bringing in change to his first training camp as the Broncos head coach. He is emphasizing meetings maybe more than practice itself.

“One of the ways that I’ve set up camp this year that I’ve never done before, we’ve actually got three meeting times in a day instead of two. We’re meeting in the morning, we’re meeting at lunch and we’re meeting at night. I think this team needs refreshers on our schemes and those type of things on a consistent basis. That is a big importance right now.”

The team went through postion drills, onto separate offensive and defensive drills, practiced kickoff and then had several rounds of team offense versus team defense before a light walkthrough to end the practice day.

Manning connected with Sanders several times during the day while also practicing play-action rollouts. Brock Osweiler struggled at times and fumbled two snaps in a row early in the practice. Kapri Bibbs also seemed to struggle and running backs coach Eric Studesville was adamant in his displeasure on the field.

After getting high praise from DeMarcus Ware and Kubiak yesterday, Kenny Anunike showed how far he has come from an arm injury last year and was on the second-team defense throughout the day.

“I’m ready to go. I definitely worked hard in the offseason. Gained about twelve pounds in the offseason,” Anunike said after day one of camp and acknowledged that the words that were said about him the previous day were encouraging to hear. “I’m in my second year now and I’m going to take everything they said and use it as fuel and just get better from here.”

Derek Wolfe and Sylvester Williams were the two other down linemen with the first-team defense but Anunike will compete for a starting job as Wolfe sits out his four-game suspension. Vance Walker and Antonio Smith will also be in the mix.

Danny Trevathan, Brandon Marshall, Smith and Demaryius Thomas all were held out of most team drills when helmets were on but participated with the first-team during the walk through. Kubiak, who has had very limited time with Thomas was clearly excited to finally be on the field with his big receiver.

“He’s got a long way to go to catch up mentally. But boy, I’ll be honest, I had no idea he was that big. Remember now, I haven’t seen him. But he is a big, good-looking guy.”

As a result of Trevathan and Marshall’s slow process back into full speed practice, Todd Davis and Steven Johnson were at the two inside linebacker positions in team drills. The time off recovering has benefited the group as a whole.

“I tell you what, the group has gotten a lot better,” Kubiak said adamantly after practice. “They are a really deep, solid group.”

Last season that could not have been said with a straight face but due to serious injuries to both Trevathan and Marshall, players gained valuable experience and it showed on day one of camp.

After practice was over each player expressed their excitement to be back at camp and their smiles suggested that the coaching staff’s brand of practice has been a good change.

“It feels different. It was a great feeling, a great atmosphere, a great mood, great,” Von Miller said moments after coming off of the field. “Great teams know how to have fun and be serious and flip that switch instantly. So it was great.”

Miller looked like his explosive self in individual drills and also blew past Chris Clark a few times without much trouble. It was easy to see why he was so happy after practice. He is primed to have a big season with Ware on the other side and Shane Ray coming along as well. Ray practiced at full speed for the first time since being drafted in May and looked quick and fluid while running with the second-team.

The Broncos have been so close to the ultimate success in the NFL in recent seasons but something needed to change in order to attempt another run at the Lombardi Trophy. If people weren’t sure if they changed enough already, Friday certainly showed that a new era has begun. But even in spite of all the change some things are the same and Kubiak is certainly embracing all of it.

“The other night I was talking to the players and I was introducing (Head Athletic Trainer Steve) Greek (Antonopulos) to them—which I didn’t need to introduce him—but I told them, I said, ‘33 years ago, I flew into what was Stapleton Airport. Got in the cab—they didn’t pick you up in those days—took a cab over to 58th street and there was a blue barn. That was the Broncos facility. And I walked in and Steve Antonopulos was there and he’s still here.’ Today, just looking out my window about 9:15, seeing the fans, I can’t tell you how much it means to me to have this opportunity to be back. It’s just very special.”

Kubiak’s ‘special’ season is now underway and fans and Broncos alike will be able to witness it all.

Email Sam at sam@milehighsports.com and follow him on Twitter @SamCowhick.