Vic Fangio is no stranger to tough starts.
The first-year Broncos coach began his NFL career in 1986 as the linebackers coach for the New Orleans Saints, who started 1-4. His first seasons with expansion franchises didn’t fare any better, with an 0-5 start in Carolina in 1995 and a 1-5 start in Houston in 2002. And more recently, the Bears started 0-3 in 2015 in Fangio’s first year running their defense.
So, how has Fangio applied past lessons in early tough sledding to his first head coaching gig? The 61-year-old recalled Jim Mora’s message during that first tenure with New Orleans, when Mora refused to let his team quit.
“He’s a tough guy who wasn’t going to give in to anything, and he wasn’t going to let his team do it (either),” Fangio said.
Fangio hopes he’s instilling the same resiliency in the Broncos, who this week lost star outside linebacker Bradley Chubb for the season with an ACL injury. Denver is preparing for a road divisional bout against the Chargers and looking to avoid its first 0-5 start in franchise history.
Whether Fangio’s seasoned leadership can help Denver out of its current quagmire is the big question. Receiver Emmanuel Sanders noted, “I don’t think he has a choice” in that matter, suggesting a turnaround will go as far as Fangio’s guiding hand takes it.
In that vein, Broncos veterans said Fangio reaffirmed his faith in his players following another gut-punch loss last Sunday, by way of a last-second field goal by Jacksonville.
According to safety Will Parks: “He said, ‘We’re still in it, the first quarter of the season is done and we were 0-4, but we can’t think about that. Everybody knows the hole we’re in. Stay with each other. Stay with the culture we’re trying to build.'”
History is against Denver getting back into playoff contention. The 1992 Chargers are the lone team in NFL history to make the playoffs following an 0-4 start. But the team’s veterans appreciate Fangio’s consistent leadership nonetheless.
“We’ve faced some struggles, some hard games, and he’s been consistent in telling us who we are now, who we can be, and the team he still feels like we have,” linebacker Todd Davis said. “We have to clean up some areas. He doesn’t let anyone slide on anything — if you’re not doing your job right, he’s going to let you know in front of the entire team. That allows for accountability, which makes me believe we’re going to get things straightened out.”
Fangio also occasionally meets with a council of veterans that includes Sanders, Von Miller, Joe Flacco, Derek Wolfe, Kareem Jackson, Ron Leary and Chris Harris — all of whom understand the potential growth that could come out of an ugly start.
“I’ve always said, being in the type of games we’ve been in the first four weeks, when we do come out of this, you’re going to look back at this time period and see how much character itap built in this football team because late in the season and once the playoffs come around and you’re playing but nothing but good teams, nothing is very easy,” Flacco said. “You’re always going to be situations we’ve been in the last four weeks.”
Whether Denver’s a bonafide cellar-dweller or just an under-performing team that’s gotten unlucky remains to be seen. The Broncos have lost four games by an average of 5.3 points. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said, “They could easily be sitting there at 2-2 or 3-1 with the way the games have gone.”
Rivers would know, having started 0-4 in coach Anthony Lynn’s first season in 2017. That Chargers team won nine of their final 12 games, though they missed the playoffs.
How did Lynn, now 23-13 and heading up one of the AFC’s better teams, right the ship?
“We didn’t flinch, and we stayed true to the process,” Lynn said. “We kept re-emphasizing (little) things, because at that point you need clarity. The guys have to understand exactly what the standards and expectations are, and as long as you do that, it’s going to turn. I knew it was going to turn, and I’m pretty sure Vic knows it’s going to turn with his squad. I just hope it doesn’t turn this week.”
