In a recent interview with ESPN’s John Keim, NFL coaches Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay and Matt LaFleur were asked a variety of questions, including which coach’s defense is the toughest to read and attack.
All three coaches mentioned Broncos coach Vic Fangio, who was a defensive coordinator in the NFL for many years before being hired by Denver earlier this year. Shanahan gave arguably the best answer.
“[Fanigo] does so many things with his personnel groupings that he puts you in a bind with protections,” Shanahan said. “He ties a lot of stuff together. Playing against him, I feel he packages stuff very similar to how I would think. [Bill] Belichick is very similar. They do it in a different style. You know they don’t just run their defenses.
“They figure out what you’re doing and then they think about how to stop what you’re doing and that’s very similar to how I am. I don’t just run my offense. I have no idea what I’m going to call until I know what defense I’m visualizing and trying to attack. It’s fun.”
Before practice Tuesday, Broncos coach Vic Fangio was asked for his reaction to all three coaches picking his defense as the toughest to face.
“I wasn’t aware of that. They said that?” Fangio said. “That was nice of them. I don’t know what to say. It’s better than the alternative, them saying the easiest, right? Nice of them to say that. I appreciate it.”
