Stokley ‘blown away’ by Broncos head coach Fangio in first presser
Jan 10, 2019, 3:54 PM | Updated: Jan 11, 2019, 12:03 am
Heading into Thursday press conference introducing Vic Fangio as the Denver Broncos next head coach, Brandon Stokley admitted that he had the bar set low.
Fangio, by many accounts, was an excellent football coach, beloved by his players, but maybe not the type to win the press conference.
So, when the 60-year-old first-time head coach exceeded those expectations, the “Stokley and Zach” co-host said there was no other way to walk away from his first media availability than to be “overly impressed.”
“When Vic Fangio gets up there, you can hear his experience, you can hear his expertise. He is sharp, and I’m telling you I was blown away,” Stokley said.
Stokley’s co-host, Zach Bye, concurred, saying it was hard to “not be impressed,” especially with Fangio touching on accountability and discipline.
“I think, for where the Broncos are at right now, where the accountability around here has really slipped and the culture has slipped, Vic Fangio might just be the perfect guy for this,” Bye said.
What stood out to general manager John Elway through the interview process with Fangio was the concept of “death by inches.”
“I’m sure you’re going to hear him say that many times, but ‘death by inches’ is when you keep taking an inch, and you keep taking an inch. Those inches add up, and when those inches add up, you’re in a losing program,” Elway said. “He says, ‘I promise you, we will not kill ourselves by inches.’ And I thought that was the best thing that he said in the interview.”
And as a former player, Stokley said guys “want discipline,” want a coach who will hold you accountable, along with having a someone who can coach you up.
“As a player, that’s what you want from your head coach. You want a guy who’s going to hold everybody to the same standard but also coach you up and put you in a position to be successful,” Stokley said, adding that if he were a player in the room Thursday he’d be “happy and thrilled (Fangio) was my head coach.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
