Every coach in Colorado sports will get a free pass in 2020
Aug 3, 2020, 6:35 AM
Given the current state of sports, coaches are largely going to get a free pass when it comes to their team’s performance in 2020. And for good reason; they’re having to deal with situations they never could’ve imagined, trying their best to navigate the ultimate in uncharted waters.
If the Nuggets don’t fare well in the bubble, Michael Malone isn’t going to be on the hot seat. They could go 0-8 during the regular-season restart and get swept out of the first round, but it wouldn’t matter. The head coach had his team in first place, within striking distance of the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference for the second straight season, when the coronavirus shut down the NBA. Malone should be judged on that sample size, not how his team does while quarantined for weeks in Orlando.
The same thing goes for Jared Bednar. Yes, his team looks like a Stanley Cup contender. And yes, the hiatus allowed the Avalanche to get healthy, which they weren’t in mid-March. But it’s hard to say how Colorado will do in Edmonton, operating within the Western Conference hub. Maybe they’ll thrive, coming together as a team in the close quarters. But they could also crumble, as players who’ve already cashed all of their checks for the 2019-20 season would prefer to get home and spend time with their families. Bednar can only do so much to lead them down the first path.
Bud Black is certainly facing a tricky situation. Given what’s happened with the Cardinals and Marlins in the last week, the Rockies skipper has to be as much of a babysitter as a manager in 2020. It’s his job to constantly remind his team that trips to nightclubs and casinos can jeopardize their health, the health of their teammates and the health of Major League Baseball. In addition, he’s trying to win games during a 60-game sprint of a season. If Colorado fails to make the playoffs, Black shouldn’t be on the hot seat, so long as his team follows protocols along the way.
And Vic Fangio is facing a huge challenge, as well. The second-year head coach is trying to improve upon a 7-9 season, end the Broncos run of three-straight sub-.500 campaigns and get the franchise back to the playoffs, all with a very young, but talented, offense. That would’ve been difficult under normal circumstances. Doing it without an offseason program and no preseason games is going to be difficult. Fangio is going to have to guide new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to success with a quarterback that has played five games in his career, a new running back and a pair of rookie wide receivers. That’s tough.
This might sound like a soft approach. It may reek of the “blue ribbon” culture, where everyone gets a prize for simply showing up and trying. But that’s failing to see the big picture.
Whatever happens during the rest of 2020 will certainly go on each of these coach’s respective résumés. It won’t be forgotten, by any means. But the results during these remarkably strange seasons shouldn’t be enough to indict them as leaders; they can only be a part of the puzzle.
If Malone’s team flops again next year in the postseason, which would make it three-straight trips to the playoffs where the Nuggets have underachieved, then the team should consider making a change. But losing to the Blazers at home in Game 7 last year, plus the hypothetical loss next season, will be bigger reasons why that’s necessary than anything that happens in the bubble.
Bednar is in the same boat. If Colorado can’t parlay all of their young talent into a legitimate Stanley Cup run in 2021, which would come on the heels of a flop in Edmonton, then the Avs would need to take a hard look at who they have behind their bench. The NHL is notorious for making quick coaching changes, so that wouldn’t be a surprise. Not wasting any of Nathan MacKinnon’s prime years would be the No. 1 reason to have a quick trigger.
The Rockies playing poorly in 2021, which would be three-straight losing seasons if this year’s promising start doesn’t hold, would be bad news for Black. At that point, the back-to-back playoff trips in 2017 and ’18 would look like the aberrations, where last year’s debacle currently falls into that category. The skipper will also be judged on how his young pitching staff develops. German Marquez, Jon Gray and Kyle Freeland all progressing is almost as important as wins and losses, although the two things do go hand in hand.
Fangio is perhaps the only coach who doesn’t automatically get a free pass to 2021. If the Broncos are a total disaster this season, if their defense lets them down at the end of games again, Von Miller isn’t utilized properly, Brandon McManus is throwing tantrums on the sidelines and the head coach is throwing everyone under the bus after losses, a change at the end of 2020 could be in order.
John Elway learned his lesson when he didn’t part ways with John Fox and Vance Joseph when he originally wanted to do so. He won’t make that same mistake with Fangio. If his gut tells him to make a move, he’ll likely make a change at head coach, despite all of the challenges that were in the way in 2020.
That might not be fair. It might not be right. But it’s the reality.
Michael Malone, Jared Bednar and Bud Black are playing with house money in 2020. Vic Fangio simply has to avoid a total disaster, however, to find himself in the same boat.
