New OC Pat Shurmur ready to utilize Denver’s young weapons
New Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur likes the weapons he inherited.
When introduced to the media Thursday, he quickly made note of next season’s potential for Denver’s potent young offensive core, which features building blocks in quarterback Drew Lock, running back Phillip Lindsay,
receiver Courtland Sutton and tight end Noah Fant at the skill positions.
“We’ve got an outstanding young roster on offense, and a lot of guys who played extremely well (last season) and some of them who had an impact as rookies,” Shurmur said.
“I look forward to working with them and having some impact on them for us to win football games.”
The Broncos will be Shurmur’s fourth offensive coordinator gig, following St. Louis, Philadelphia and Minnesota. He was head coach of the New York Giants the past two years and is most well known for his work developing quarterbacks such as Donovan McNabb, Sam Bradford, Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Daniel Jones.
Shurmur said he’s thought
highly of Lock since last year’s draft, when he evaluated the former Missouri star prior to New York selecting Jones with the sixth overall pick instead.
“We had a very high opinion of Drew Lock (in New York),” Shurmur said. “There’s a lot of similarities between the two players — they’re young, talented players who had good college careers, and their skill sets are very similar… You saw flashes of really good football from both of them this year as rookies.”
The 54-year-old Shurmur was 9-23 with New York before being fired Dec. 30. He also spent two years as the head coach in Cleveland, and has seven years of play-calling experience on his resume. He replaces first-time play-caller Rich Scangarello, whom coach Vic Fangio fired after one year in Denver. Shurmur said the Broncos’ offense will remain a West Coast-style system, with certain adjustments.
“There were many things they did well on offense here last year, but there’s obviously certain things I believe in (that I’ll bring),” Shurmur said. “The nomenclature is very West Coast, like it was from my initial days with (Chiefs coach) Andy Reid, but we’re going to do what is best for our players.”
The Michigan native said he’s looking forward to working with a defensive-minded head coach like Fangio, and is confident the two can build chemistry together.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been deeply impacted by defensive coaches,” Shurmur said. “First my uncle Fritz, I played for George Perles (at Michigan State), I worked three years for Nick Saban, I was a coach for Steve Spagnuolo, who just coached a defense that won the Super Bowl. More recently, Mike Zimmer.
“So I’ve been impressed by defensive coaches and I know the importance of running the football, and how that not only affects your offense but your full team.”
Meanwhile, as Shurmur vowed that part of his play-calling philosophy includes the belief that “it’s important that you do attack the defense down the field,” Fangio said he welcomes a more aggressive offensive gameplan than what the Broncos displayed last season.
The Broncos were 28th in the NFL in both points per game (17.6) and yards per game (298.6).
“Contrary to the stereotype that is always out there — a defensive head coach wants to ground-and-pound and considers a pitch to the halfback a pass — that is not me,” Fangio said. “I like to be aggressive.”
Mike Shula, Denver’s new quarterbacks coach, followed Shurmur from New York after being the Giants’ offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach the past two years.
Shurmur cited Shula’s resume and big-game experience as reasons for the hire, and added that Broncos offensive line coach Mike Munchak was a big draw in taking the offensive coordinator position in the first place.
“(Munchak) goes in that Mike Shula category (of outstanding coaches) for me,” Shurmur said.
“He’s had great success, first as a player, and he’s an outstanding person and an outstanding coach. That had a little bit to do with me coming here — for an offensive coordinator to be around a tremendous offensive line coach, that’s huge.”
Boss talks new hire. Fangio also addressed the Broncos’ hire of John Pagano as outside linebackers coach, which was made official Thursday.
Pagano, 52, was the Houston Texans’ senior defensive assistant/outside linebackers coach for the past two seasons before being dismissed Jan. 18. A Boulder native and former star linebacker at Fairview High and Colorado Mesa, Pagano has 24 years of NFL coaching experience, including five as a coordinator.
“John was the quality control coach for me (20 years ago) and he did a (heck) of a job with that,” Fangio said. “From there, he went on to spend a lot of years with San Diego all the way up to being named the coordinator there, and he’s been with Oakland and now Houston. I obviously followed his career, and he’s done a good job.”
Pagano replaces Brandon Staley, who left to become the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator.