After the Broncos moved on from former coach Vance Joseph and most of his staff following the 2018 season, many fans and pundits expected executive Gary Kubiak to return to the sideline as the team’s new offensive coordinator.
Kubiak had disagreement’s about Denver’s offense staff, though, causing him to leave the team and join the Vikings as an advisor. At the time, losing Kubiak seemed like a big blow to the Broncos’ offense.
Things might have worked out for the best for all parties, though, as Denver landed up-and-coming offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello (who coached under Kyle Shanahan, who coached under Kubiak).
Based off the glowing words of rookie quarterback Drew Lock, it’s safe to assume Scangarello has been well-received by players so far.
“Coach Scangarello is 100 percent the man,” Lock said after practice Thursday. “I love that guy. He teaches in such an awesome way. He’ll let you go out there and make a mistake and not rip you for that mistake unless you go back out there and do it again. Coming from a quarterback standpoint, at least me, I like that kind of coaching. Let us go out there and fail a little bit, throw everything at us.
“Once we come back, dial it in, get into the meeting room and really teach on the board and teach on the film. It’s something he’s really good at as well is being able to explain things on the board. A lot of guys need to come out here and run through everything in real life but he’s super good at teaching you and getting you ready in the quarterback room rather than having to take a full live rep.”
That coaching method worked well for Scangarello in the past when he was a quarterbacks coach with the 49ers. The Broncos are hoping it leads to success for starter Joe Flacco and his understudy, Lock.
Scangarello will make his play-calling debut for Denver when the Broncos face the Falcons in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 1.
