What are the “many, many reasons” why Vic Fangio isn’t worried?
Dec 31, 2021, 11:59 AM
After losing to the Raiders last Sunday, a defeat that dropped his team to 7-8 on the season and on the brink of elimination from playoff contention, Vic Fangio was asked about his job status. The Broncos head coach didn’t seem too concerned about losing his gig after three years.
“For a lot of reasons, I do not worry about it,” Fangio said on Monday. “I acknowledge that it’s certainly out there and could happen. Do I worry about it? I absolutely do not worry about it, for many, many reasons.”
That last comment had plenty of people in Broncos Country scratching their heads. What could the “many, many reasons” be that a head coach who is 19-28 in nearly three seasons at the helm isn’t worried about getting fired?
Maybe he’s not a worrier by nature. Perhaps he realizes that there’s nothing he can do to control what Joe Ellis, John Elway and George Paton decide about his future.
But he didn’t say those things. It would’ve been really easy to add those sentiments to his statement.
Fangio didn’t. Instead, he was intentionally vague, adding that his reasons for not worry are “personal” to him.
So what could those reasons be? What does Fangio know that the rest of us don’t? There are a few options.
The head coach could believe he has the resume to support an argument for him keeping his job. While a losing record, three straight non-playoff seasons and potentially another sub-.500 season, that seems silly. But Fangio is known for his defense. And his defense has been pretty good in 2021.
Currently, Denver is surrendering just 17.3 points per game. That’s the best in the league. And performances against the Chiefs (22 points), Chargers (13) and Cowboys (16) suggest that Fangio has dialed up a winning defensive formula.
If the Broncos want to keep Fangio’s defense, they have to keep him as the head coach. That probably gives him some confidence.
Keeping Fangio, however, doesn’t mean everything will stay the same. While he said this week that he “absolutely” believes that his staff deserves to be retained, something is going to have to change. It’ll be tough to sell the fan base on keeping the band back together.
There’s no shortage of potential scapegoats. Fangio repeatedly talks about how the Broncos offense doesn’t score enough points to allow them to win. Putting up 10 against the Bengals and 13 versus the Raiders, with the playoffs on the line, certainly supports that argument.
So perhaps Fangio knows that Pat Shurmur will be the fall guy. Maybe he knows a change at offensive coordinator is on the horizon.
And it might not end there. The Broncos special teams have been a disaster for three seasons, all under Tom McMahon. The special teams coordinator could get the finger of blame pointed at him.
The same could be the case for Denver’s quarterbacks. It’s pretty likely, in fact. Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Lock have not had good seasons. The Broncos will want to upgrade at the most-important position in sports is on their wish list. Doing so would give the franchise a story to spin around a fourth season under Fangio.
That’s what they did last offseason. After a 5-11 campaign, one that had plenty calling for change, the Broncos brought back Fangio and his entire staff. They pinned the bad season on Lock, bringing in Bridgewater to jumpstart and offense that retained every other coach and player. So the Broncos know that script.
Part of it includes a litany of excuses. The 2020 debacle was blamed on COVID and injuries. The same argument can be made this year. As the team deals with a coronavirus breakout in the final two weeks of the season, recency bias could make it plausible to suggest the pandemic put Fangio in a no-win situation.
That’d be absurd. But it could happen. It could buy the Broncos some time.
With an ownership change on the horizon, Denver might be wanting to let the new boss be in place before they interview, hire and sign a multi-year contract with the next head coach. Fangio is already under contract for the 2022 season, so keeping him buys time for the transaction to go through. The timeline suggests an approval on a new owner by March, with a total transition by October.
Fangio knows that as well as anyone. It could be why he mentioned this week that he’d be willing to coach on the last year of his contract, something that is very rare. Coaches usually want an extension in order to avoid a lame-duck season.
The fact is that Fangio is going to get paid by the Broncos in 2022 whether he coaches or not. So he’s financially secure either way, which could reduce his worry.
He also knows that he’ll be in demand if he’s let go by Denver. While he might not get another head coach offer, he’ll have options as a defensive coordinator. Fangio has coached football every year since 1979; he knows he will coach in 2022 if he wants to.
Add it all up and the Broncos head coach is in a pretty good position. There really are “many, many reasons” why he isn’t worried about his future.
