Old-school Vic Fangio makes impression on day one
Jul 18, 2019, 6:37 PM | Updated: Jul 19, 2019, 7:07 am
Vic Fangio has been coaching since 1979. During those 40 years, he’s learned a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to preparing a football team for an upcoming season. And those lessons were on full display during day one of the Broncos training camp.
The most-noticeable change was the fact that the team didn’t have music blaring throughout practice, as had been the case in recent years. Once warmups were over, the thunderous speakers that surround the practice fields went silent.
Under Fangio’s watch, there will be no playlist of hip-hop, country, rap and classic rock billowing for two-plus hours. Instead, the focus will be on football. As it should be.
Practice is a time for teaching and learning, so it always seemed counterintuitive to blast loud music into that environment. While not the sole reason, it’s hard not to connect the dots between the two seasons under Vance Joseph featuring this distraction during camp and the repeated mistakes his teams made on the field.
That potential problem has been eliminated by Fangio. And that’s great news.
Once practice was underway, the head coach didn’t take it easy on his players. Despite the record heat that hit Denver on Thursday, the Broncos went through the full paces.
“The heat wasn’t bad,” Fangio said after practice, once again donning his trademark sweatshirt in the 90-degree weather. “You’ve got to remember, I spent nine years in New Orleans, some in South Carolina and Houston. They pray for a day like this.”
That’s the definition of old school. “This ain’t bad; let me tell you about bad.” And it too is a welcome breath of fresh air.
And finally, Fangio showed his experience when he immediately nipped the earliest “training camp darling” conversation in the bud. The gathered media was collectively giddy over the performance of Troy Fumagalli on day one, including the tight end getting the initial reps with the first team offense instead of first-round pick Noah Fant. But when they asked Fangio about Fumagali, he was quick to deflect the hype.
“It’s still early — no pads yet,” the head coach said. “But he is doing fine.”
In other words, “Wait and see.” The perfect response. The perfect tone.
Not every day will be a smooth one during training camp. But in the first day of his first one at the helm, Vic Fangio showed that he had a particular way he wanted to do things, and he executed his old-school game plan to perfection.
