Pagano, Fangio top Franklin’s coach picks, Broncos should avoid Flores
Jan 2, 2019, 5:08 PM | Updated: 8:12 pm
Denver Broncos general manager made sure to express on Monday that experience was a top priority in selecting the team’s newest head coach.
And with that requirement in mind, 104.3 The Fan’s Orlando Franklin favors two of the more experienced coaches on the Broncos short list: Chuck Pagano and Vic Fangio.
“I’m going to go with Chuck Pagano at No. 1 just because he’s had some success at the head coaching position,” Franklin said as he filled in on “Stokley and Zach” on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, when he was fired, he got fired with a winning record in this league.”
A long-time coaching veteran, Pagano was the top guy for the Indianapolis Colts between 2012 and 2017, wherein he had a 53-43 record to go with a 3-3 postseason record.
Fangio’s coaching experience dates back to the late 1970s and has spanned more than three decades in the NFL, not to mention he led the Chicago Bears to the league’s top defense in 2018.
“This guy has 39 years of coaching (experience) — 31 out of the 39 he’s been in the NFL coaching on the defensive side of the ball,” Franklin said of Fangio. “He checks all the criteria that John Elway’s looking for as far as a specialist at his position on his side of the ball.”
As for New England Patriots defensive coordinator Brian Flores, whom the Broncos will interview on Monday, Franklin said that he’s likely the one person on Denver’s short list who won’t get hired.
However, “Pritchard and Cecil” co-host Mike Pritchard said on Wednesday that despite Flores’ inexperience and connection to the Bill Belichick coaching tree, he should still get a legitimate shot at the Broncos job.
“This guy, who in 2004 was a scouting assistant, now he’s a candidate for head coach. That tells you something about him,” Pritchard said. “That right there, getting an opportunity 14 years later, just getting an opportunity like this, to be a head coach in the National Football League, that’s incredible. That means this guy is ascending.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
