Denver Broncos Fire Vic Fangio, Who Might Be Next
The Denver Broncos fired head coach Vic Fangio Sunday morning following a timeline reported by OutKick Saturday.
The club announced the move through a statement from club president Joe Ellis.
Ellis said the responsibility of finding a new coach on general manager George Paton.
“With the foundation in place, the progress that’s been made and the resources we have to get better, I’m excited about the future of our team. We will find an outstanding leader and head coach for the Broncos and our fans,” Paton said.
Denver's search will begin this afternoon in earnest as the team moves to put in interview requests for potential successors.
Among those potential successors: Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Green Bay offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and others.
The problem for Fangio was his 19-30 record in his three years with the team. Anytime you lose 30 games in three seasons, it's no surprise a change is made.
But as Fangio said Saturday in his final game, he was put in a tough situation by the personnel department. The Broncos, you see, have had mediocre to unsatisfactory QB play throughout Fangio's tenure.
Denver's AFC West rivals have outstanding QBs on their rosters with the Chargers having Justin Herbert, Las Vegas having Derek Carr and the Kansas City Chiefs having Patrick Mahomes.
"Those other three teams have top-shelf quarterbacks, which is obvious to everybody," Fangio said.
Fangio's tone changed in a statement he released Sunday morning through the team:
“It was an honor and privilege to serve as head coach of the Broncos," Fangio said. "I want to thank John Elway and Joe Ellis for giving me the opportunity to be part of this storied franchise and special community when they hired me 3 seasons ago.
"Over the past year, I am grateful to have been able to work with George Paton, one of—in my opinion—our league’s best General Managers. Broncos fans, you have a great one in George.
"To the players, coaches and staff: Thank you for the fight and character you showed each and every week. No matter the adversity, circumstances or challenges, you never backed down. I am proud to be associated w/this group of fighters and competitors ..."
Fangio is not the last coach to be fired this cycle.
The Minnesota Vikings are expected to fire Mike Zimmer and the Chicago Bears are expected to fire Matt Nagy after their season finales Sunday. The two teams play each other at 1 p.m. and this will be a game after which both coaches are expected to be fired, regardless of the outcome.
The Raiders also are going to conduct a coach search after the season with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh the top candidate for that opening.
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