Q&A WITH DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH VIC FANGIO

Interview with Broncos Head Coach Vic Fangio
Q&A WITH DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH VIC FANGIO
Q&A WITH DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH VIC FANGIO /

How are you working relationship with general manager George Paton? The relationship has been great so far. George has come in here with boots to the ground, working his butt off and watching a ton of film. He did a deep dive on our team. We worked hard on the free agency aspect of it, and we're now into the draft part of it. I've been very impressed with how he goes about his business. [He's] very knowledgeable around the league in every facet—with the agents, players, and contacts. I think we have a great, great one here.

What were your takeaways from the team after studying the film during the offseason? I didn't see a whole lot that I wasn't expecting to see. We just need to be better. We need to not turn the ball over as much. We need to get more takeaways on [defense]. We need to cover better. We need to rush the passer better. We need to convert more third downs on offense. We need to be better in the red zone on offense. I wasn't surprised by the cut ups and what the offseason study has shown thus far.

There are a lot of rumors surrounding quarterback Drew Lock, are you confident in his abilities? I'm confident that Drew's going to continue to improve. Drew has had a great offseason up to this point. There's not a lot you can do, but he's working hard on his own and coming over here and getting workouts. I know he's doing a lot at home by himself and watching video by himself. He's got a good setup over there. He's doing anything and everything he can to improve, even in February and now in March. I feel like he'll continue to improve. As it relates to the quarterback carousel that everybody's talking about going around the league, we'll see how it turns out. Right now, it's just a lot of rumors and innuendoes and everybody proposing this and that. I really don't know what's going to happen with some of the names that are being bandied about out there.

Will you seek to bring in outside competition to help raise the level of competition in the quarterback room? We're always looking to bring in players at all positions that can raise the level of competition and the quarterback is no different in that regard. Until we get—or until Drew proves to be the next great quarterback like the ones that the Denver franchise has been used to in years past or the ones certain teams around the league have, you guys know where they are and are used to, we're going to always try and bring in competition. But I have confidence that Drew can continue to improve.

What was the thought process behind hiring defensive backs coach Christian Parker? He's a guy that I didn't know anything about until I started to search. I tend to take—unless I have a guy in mind that I know and have worked with and I know will be a great fit and a great coach for us—I tend to take my time on those things because you never know what will turn up the longer you wait. I got rewarded for that this year. We were at least two weeks into the opening, and somebody brought his name up to me. Fortunately, he's been around people through my investigation that I know and trust, and those people know me and what I would like. We interviewed and liked the interview. He's been here now 10 days, probably. Up to this point, we're very, very happy to get him. I know Green Bay was very disappointed to lose him. After we offered him the job, they came back very hard to try and keep him."

Are there any specific attributes or characteristics you look for in rookie cornerbacks? Corners come in all shapes, sizes and styles. I think if you pigeonhole yourself into only wanting a certain type of corner, whether it be size, certain speed, etc., you're going to end up finding yourself without enough corners that can play in the NFL. The corner position—because you play so much nickel, the math will tell you there are 96 starting corners in the NFL. I don't think there's enough to go around for the entire league. If you pigeonhole yourself into a certain prototype or characteristic that you want, you won't have enough time to find them in time. We're looking for good players at corner, realizing that they come in all shapes and sizes. Bryce Callahan was probably our best corner last year. We really had him planned to play nickel a good bit of that time but was forced to play corner. He's 5'9 and everybody would like a 6-foot corner. I just like corners that can play a bit.

Do you feel that the current defensive personnel on this roster is the right mix of players to effectively run your defensive scheme? Hopefully, we'll have a good offseason and pick up a player or two or three through free agency and the draft. I kind of feel like we'll have two offseasons this year once we get some of the guys back that were injured last year and didn't play much for us. Hopefully, we get those guys back healthy and have an influx of a few guys. Then, I think the biggest thing you have to do every year is improve the guys that are already on your roster. This roster, no matter what happens in free agency and the draft is still going to be made up of a bunch of guys that were here last year. It's our job to improve those guys. We think a lot of those players have a lot of room for improvement. They're young, they have some talent and we have to work hard to improve it. There's no doubt that we need to have an influx of a guy or two. 

QB | RB | FB | WR | iWR | TE | LT | RT | OG | OC | DT | NG | 3-4 DE | 4-3 DE | 3-4 OLB | 4-3 OLB | ILB | CB | iCB | FS | SS

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Published
Ric Serritella
RIC SERRITELLA

A known media maven, who created the NFL Draft Bible, which used by all 32 NFL teams. Also responsible for developing and installing the fiber-optic network for MLB Network. Served as executive producer for the T.Ocho Show on NBC Sports. Helped launch the YES Network, working on the first show (Mike & The Mad Dogg) and created the Wall Street Journal YouTube Channel. Owns Bachelor’s degree in Sports Entertainment & Event Management from Johnson & Wales University.