Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy might not say it, but a Week 1 win over his former team would be pretty nice.
McCoy, the Chargers’ head coach from 2013 to 2016, doesn’t have to say it. Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, like everyone else, can connect the dots without McCoy having to say a word. He wants to put up some points on Monday.
“Absolutely. If you were the head coach for the Chargers and you got fired, you play them on Monday Night, what would you want to do?” Thomas asked Thursday with a laugh. “I’d try to put 100 if I could. I don’t know if that’s possible, but I’d try.”
Points weren’t exactly easy for the Broncos to come by in 2016, but the offense seems to have a new life with McCoy in town for the second time. According to McCoy, his scheme is going to incorporate hockey lines to make his offense work.
“In our scheme we’re going to play a ton of guys and we’re going to play everybody,” McCoy said on Thursday. “If you have a uniform on game day, there’s a good chance you’re getting in there at some point in time. I think we have a talented roster and speaking offensively in the skilled position, my job is to take advantage of the talent we have, use those guys and keeping everybody fresh.”
Obviously a stagnant scheme isn’t going to get the job done, which is why McCoy’s will change as the season progresses. He certainly has the talent to do just that.
“We’ll change from week to week and what we’re doing now is we’re trying to attack teams,” McCoy said of his scheme. “Philosophically we’re going to add some wrinkles and to go back earlier on some of the questions with the first year in the system and we still have a lot to do moving forward. We’re learning and we’re finding out each week and each day how we’re preparing, how we’re practicing and learning what each player does best. I have plenty of film up there that we haven’t broken out yet to show guys, but we have to make sure we take our time and do what we do best right now moving forward.”
Four years after accepting the Chargers’ head coaching position, he’s back in Denver. As fate would have it, the Broncos open the 2017 season against that very team on Monday night.
It’s human nature to want to make a statement to not only his former team, but the entire NFL in his first game back with the Broncos. He still won’t say anything. Instead, he’ll look at Week 1 as an opportunity for the Broncos to pick up their first win of the season against a division opponent.
“I give all the respect in the world for everyone in the organization,” McCoy said on Thursday. “I can’t thank the Spanos family for everything and [for] the opportunity they gave me back in 2013 to lead their organization. I understand the importance of the game being a division games, it’s our opener and it’s our home opener, playing in front of our greats fans and everything. I have a lot of respect for all of those players. A lot of great people, not just players but the way every coach and every player through some tough times fought their tails off every day. There was no excuse as we just showed up to work every day, but unfortunately we didn’t win enough games. We’re excited here and that’s the thing now. I’ve got a new home and we’re ready to go.”
