On Thursday, the Denver Broncos welcomed their 17th head coach to the Mile High City in Vic Fangio, and a whole host of players were there for his introductory press conference at Dove Valley.

Fangio’s comments about a team dying a “death by inches” not only earned him the job in the interview with John Elway, but it hit home to the players, too. This Broncos team has been undisciplined for the last two years, and that’s going to end now. If it indeed changes, the Broncos will not only be competitive in 2019, they’ll make the playoffs.

“I’m excited,” superstar Von Miller said after Fangio’s introductory press conference. “Talked to Khalil (Mack) about him, he raved about him. Just about everybody has raved about coach Fangio. He’s a great coach and I’m looking forward to getting great coaching.”

Miller went on to say, “It’s only going to be ten times better with coach Fangio.”

Along with Miller, in attendance on Thursday was Shelby Harris, Todd Davis, Domata Peko, Derek Wolfe, Josey Jewell; about a dozen Broncos players so pumped to meet their head coach, they attended the press conference. And after talking to the new head man, many of the players took to twitter to share their excitement.

https://twitter.com/ShelbyHarris93/status/1083460058619494400

And here’s more from Will Parks from Friday morning:

And besides those reactions, Chris Harris Jr. went on with the Broncos’ Phil Milani to explain what he thinks of Fangio:

“I was happy with it, man,” Harris said of the hiring. “I’m excited to see how he plays me.”

Derek Wolfe went on Mile High Sports Radio on Thursday afternoon, explaining “you don’t want to let a guy like Fangio down.”

It’s not just current players who are stoked for the new regime, either, but former stars like Ray Crockett:

And, not to be missed, Broncos players love Gary Kubiak, and some of them shared their joy in “Kubes” returning to the team as the offensive coordinator.

The excitement from the players is important after three straight years of missing the playoffs in Denver. Fangio — and Kubiak — are coaches the players are already getting behind. Knowing they have solid leadership from the top-down is already pushing guys like Harris to want to compete in the Pro Bowl and Brandon Marshall posted on Instagram they’ll have to “drag him out” of Dove Valley’s workout facility.

And those players are certainly buying into the “death by inches” philosophy of Fangio, too.

The Broncos are heading into the 2019 season focused, with their eyes on the prize of making the playoffs once again. They have the talent to do so, and now, with Fangio as head coach, it would be surprising to see Denver miss the postseason again.