Schlereth: Munchak may be ‘most important’ offseason hire by Broncos

By many accounts, the Denver Broncos bringing on Mike Munchak as its offensive line coach after he lost out on the team’s head coaching job to Vic Fangio has been a coup for the organization.

Regarded by many as one of the best, if not the best, offensive line minds in the NFL, Munchak “may be the most important hire of this offseason,” said “Schlereth and Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth on Friday.

“Did we possibly, quite possibly, get a coach who becomes the most valuable coach, even more so than the head coach, in Mike Munchak?” Schlereth said.

Schlereth called Munchak’s hiring an “admission” by the Broncos, and specifically general manager John Elway and the front office, that there are issues with the team’s offensive line that need correcting.

“We understand that the biggest issue we have has been our offensive line,” Schlereth said. “We can talk about the quarterback. We can talk about the running game. We can talk about the tight ends. We can talk about the receivers. But the bottom line is we weren’t winning the line of scrimmage enough.”

Pointing to the teams who advanced in this year’s NFL playoffs as examples, Schlereth said winning at the line of scrimmage is vitally important.

“Look at the teams that have won playoff games. Every one of them captured and won the line of scrimmage,” Schlereth said. “And we need, desperately, to fix that aspect of our football team. So, we went out and got arguably the best offensive line coach in football.”

Schlereth, however, said the Broncos need to do more than just hire Munchak, that the talent level needs to be addressed. But Munchak, he said, can facilitate the process much faster.

“A great offensive line coach can take a group of five that may be not individually the best but make them work together as the best,” Schlereth said. “(He) can tie them together and make them one unit.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.