Despite lots of interest and multiple offers for defensive coordinator jobs, former head coach of the Broncos Vic Fangio has decided against taking any of the opportunities offered to him for next season, according to league sources of ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
In three years as the Broncos’ head coach, Fangio failed to accomplish a winning season, coming closest in 2019 with a 7-9 record that was good for 2nd place in the AFC West. The next two seasons saw the Broncos finish 4th in the AFC West. This past season, Fangio’s Broncos started strong with a 3-0 start. Finishing the season 4-10 the rest of the way led to the end of Fangio’s tenure in Denver.
Denver was Fangio’s first head coaching job at any level of football. Before that, Fangio had several successful stints as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. Since 1995, Fangio has served as the defensive coordinator for the Panthers, Colts, Texans, 49ers, and Bears. In his last year in Chicago, Fangio was awarded the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year award.
It’s no surprise, then, that Fangio was so sought after following his departure from the Broncos. Schefter asserts that it’s likely Fangio will take the 2022 season off from coaching and return next year as a highly coveted candidate for open defensive coordinator positions.
I still that it was a mistake for Denver to fire Fangio without giving him a quarterback, especially given how well the defense played despite missing several key starters every year and also spending so much time on the field due to the anemic offense. Fangio will land on his feet wherever he goes, though. Hopefully for Denver they will be able to say the same.
Are the owner candidates for Denver as clueless about football as David Tepper? If the answer is yes then Fangio will be thankful for the chance to work elsewhere.
3 mediocre seasons from the defensive wizard wasn’t enough to move on?
No, not when the defensive wizard was being just that, and management could not supply a quarterback. It’s not like the Broncos were hopeless. Fangio deserves blame for retaining Shurmur and Shula, but he gave a more exclusive product to the team through their defensive performance than another coach could in another area. Keeping Fangio and getting a better long term quarterback and a better coordinator easily would have had Denver in the playoffs.
Remember, they went 7-10 without their primary starter at QB. Bridgewater is not a great talent, but he’s certainly a better option than Lock, and would have given Denver a much better chance to win those games to get in. A better QB than Bridgewater would have increased that possibility immensely.
The Head Coaches responsibity is to connect with all of his players, it was well documented through the Broncos organization that he and Pat Shurmur didn’t connect with any of their players. The organization noted the Coaching Staff just couldn’t connect at any level with the players and provided a very mundane locker room without any passion.
And if you looked at any of his Press Conferences, including his introductory press conference you just never saw any fire in him.
According to some Broncos fans, Fangio wasn’t coaching much during the last three years either.
By choice?