Vic Fangio is quickly shaping his coaching staff, only four days into his tenure as the Denver Broncos head coach.
We know Gary Kubiak will not be the offensive coordinator for the Broncos, and there are a ton of options at OC out there, including Rich Scangarello who the 49ers blocked from interviewing with Denver.
Fangio will reportedly pick his own offensive coordinator — and seemingly his defensive coordinator, too — which is a positive change from the John Elway-led decisions the last few years.
Defensively, Ed Donatell — who’s coached twice in Denver and has been with Fangio for the last eight years — is the leading candidate for DC in the Mile High City, but he’s deciding on whether or not to return to Chicago or follow Fangio.
Who else is expected to return, and who will be leaving?
Earlier in the weekend, Sean Kugler left and was reportedly going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but now he’ll interview with the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals as their offensive line coach. Kugler was the guards and centers coach in Denver in 2018. And fellow offensive line coach, Chris Strausser, is drawing interest from the Cleveland Browns per Mike Klis. That would mean Denver would need to find a new offensive line coach or use two, as Vance Joseph did in 2018.
That could be Mike Munchak, who’s deciding if he wants to make a lateral move from Pittsburgh to Denver in the same role he has with the Steelers. Considering he was a finalist for the head coaching job with Fangio, getting Munchak as the offensive line coach would be massive for the Broncos.
Also leaving is defensive backs coach Greg Williams per Cealey Godwin after only one year with the Broncos. Williams is interviewing with the Carolina Panthers soon.
On special teams, coordinator Tom McMahon is expected to return per Klis, as is his assistant Chris Gould. McMahon’s unit left a lot to be desired last year, ranking in the bottom-third in nearly every category, but he’s being given a chance to turn them around.
Running backs coach Curtis Modkins has been requested by multiple teams for interviews, but they’ve been denied as Klis reported. The Broncos running game was phenomenal in 2018, with Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman impacting the game immediately as rookies and Denver clearly wants to keep him on board going forward.
Defensive line coach Bill Kollar and linebackers coach Reggie Herring are expected to be retained by the Broncos, per Mike Klis. Kollar’s been with the team since Jan. 2015 and has been credited with helping the line play much better against the run as well as helping coach up players like Adam Gotsis and Shelby Harris. Like Kollar, Herring’s an old-school coach who still has a ton of passion for the game and he’s also been with the team since 2015 and that Super Bowl 50 run.
Finally, strength and conditioning coach Loren Landow is expected to be back in 2019 after his first season with the Broncos last year. Landow’s company, where he trains professional athletes in Denver, helped lead him to the Broncos. Last season, he implemented new training techniques and programs, which will likely continue this year.
