Last Wednesday, the Denver Broncos hired the 16th head coach in the history of their franchise. Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was given the reins to a team that is just one year removed from winning a championship.
Joseph has a reputation for being an excellent leader. He helped the Dolphins reach the postseason for the first time in eight years. He has coached in Cincinnati, San Francisco, and Houston, where he spent time with both Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips.
After hiring Joseph, Broncos general manager and Vice President of Football Operations John Elway, set out to start filling out the rest of the staff.
Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was signed to become the offensive coordinator. McCoy was most recently the head coach for the San Diego Chargers, but after a 27-37 record over four seasons, he was released. McCoy is more than familiar with the Broncos, having served as the offensive coordinator from 2009-2012.
In 2012, under the guidance of McCoy, the Denver offense averaged nearly 400 yards, and over 30 points per game.
Next, Elway managed to grab Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, to be the Broncos new quarterbacks coach.
Musgrave was born and raised in Grand Junction, Colo. He played eight seasons in the NFL, and even spent two seasons backing up Elway, in 1995 and 1996.
Musgrave has seen some success as both a quarterback’s coach and an offensive coordinator. While in Oakland, he transformed the Raider offense from a unit that averaged just 333 yards and 22 points per game in 2015, to the high-powered group that racked up over 370 yards and 26 points per game in 2016.
Elway wasn’t finished.
Knowing that the offensive line was a major weakness this season, he grabbed offensive line coach Jeff Davidson to develop a unit that sorely needs it. Davidson has 15 years of offensive line experience, and has a history of getting his group to open running lanes, and protect their quarterback. Under Davidson, San Diego Chargers running back Melvin Gordon rushed for 997 yards and 10 touchdowns in just 11 starts.
On Monday, defensive backs coach Joe Woods was named defensive coordinator. Woods has been in charge of the Broncos “No Fly Zone” defensive backfield, a unit that may have been the strongest on the team.
Now we are going to find out exactly how good this coaching staff can be.
When Vance Joseph took the podium at his introduction, he mentioned that this job isn’t a rebuild, but a reboot. While he may be right, for the most part, this coaching staff does have some serious work ahead.
The quarterback situation is far from resolved. Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch combined for just 20 touchdowns, and a meager 6.9 yards per attempt. The offensive line was an absolute sieve, allowing Denver quarterbacks to be sacked 40 times, and pressured on seemingly every play. The Broncos running game was virtually non-existent this year. Denver averaged just 3.6 yards per carry and scored only 11 touchdowns on the ground.
While the offense is the culprit for much of the struggles of the team, the defense has some very serious flaws of their own.
At first glance, it may seem like the defense is still top-notch. They still ranked 4th overall in yards allowed, and allowed just 18.6 points per contest However, the Broncos run defense actually ranked among the league’s worst. The Orange Crush allowed over 130 yards per game, and contributed to the team’s inability to win close games down the stretch.
So far, John Elway seems to have gotten some very good people to replace a coaching staff, that won a Super Bowl just last year. Now this group has some work to do, to get the Broncos back in contention, and do it again.