Tag: Tom McMahon

6 members of Vic Fangio’s old coaching staff have landed with NFL teams

Ed Donatell, Curtis Modkins and Chris Kuper are among the former members of Vic Fangio’s coaching staff who have landed new jobs.

By our unofficial count, the Denver Broncos parted ways with 14 members of Vic Fangio‘s coaching staff in addition to Fangio himself.

At the time of this writing, six of those coaches have landed gigs with other NFL teams.

Ed Donatell has accepted a defensive coordinator position with the Minnesota Vikings, assuming the same role he held in Denver.

Minnesota also hired ex-Broncos running backs coach Curtis Modkins (same role) and ex-Denver assistant offensive line coach Chris Kuper as their new OL coach. The Vikings also poached quality control coach Justin Rascati from the Broncos’ staff, giving him a promotion as an assistant OL coach.

Ex-Denver special teams coordinator Tom McMahon was hired by the Las Vegas Raiders as their new STC. Former Broncos assistant ST coach Chris Gould was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers to fill the same position he held in Denver.

Elsewhere in L.A., former Broncos assistant coach Chris Beake has joined the Los Angeles Rams as their new linebackers coach.

Perhaps the most notable former members of Fangio’s staff still available are offensive line coach Mike Munchak and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Munchak and Shurmur both have head coach experience in the NFL.

As for Fangio, he is expected to take a year off from coaching.

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Raiders hiring ex-Broncos special teams coach Tom McMahon

The Broncos allowed the most returns for TDs in the NFL during Tom McMahon’s tenure in Denver.

When Jon Gruden stepped down during the 2021 season, the Las Vegas Raiders made special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia their interim head coach. Bisaccia interviewed for the full-time head coach job this offseason, but the Raiders opted to hire Josh McDaniels instead.

After that, Bisaccia, arguably one of the NFL’s top special teams coaches, left Las Vegas to join the Green Bay Packers’ staff. That created a special teams coordinator opening for the Raiders.

In a move that will probably surprise many Denver Broncos fans, Las Vegas has picked Tom McMahon to replace Bisaccia as their new special teams boss.

McMahon had a four-year run with the Broncos from 2018-2021. Denver allowed six returns for touchdowns during that time, the highest total in the NFL. The Broncos had the worst kickoff coverage in the league last season, allowing an average of 39.4 yards per return.

McMahon will reunite with McDaniels, who was an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the St. Louis (now Los Angeles) Rams in 2011, overlapping with McMahon’s tenure as the Ram’s special teams coach (2009-11).

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Panthers interview Broncos ST coordinator Tom McMahon

The Broncos allowed the most returns for TDs in the NFL during Tom McMahon’s tenure.

After the Denver Broncos fired head coach Vic Fangio, KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis reported the team did not officially part ways with his coaching staff, allowing the next head coach to make those decisions.

Denver is allowing coaches to interview with other teams, though, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday that the Carolina Panthers are interviewing special teams coordinator Tom McMahon (via Panthers Wire).

Schefter described McMahon as Denver’s “former” special teams coordinator, and Klis later tweeted he was the “first of the fired Fangio’s assistants” to get an interview with another team.

It’s still unclear if McMahon has actually been officially fired yet, but it seems clear that he won’t remain with the team in 2022.

McMahon, 52, was hired by the Broncos four years ago and the team kept him after Vance Joseph was fired following the 2018 season.

McMahon’s tenure in Denver featured multiple blocked punts and field goal attempts, and arguably the worst kick coverage in the league. Over the last four seasons, the Broncos allowed an NFL-high six returns for touchdowns (four on kickoffs and two on punts).

This season, most of Brandon McManus’ kickoffs were touchbacks (62), but on Denver’s 14 kickoffs that were returned, opposing teams averaged 39.4 yards per return. That represented the worst kickoff coverage in the NFL.

Before joining the Broncos in 2018, McMahon coached with the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis (now Los Angeles) Rams and Atlanta Falcons. Given his experience in the NFL, McMahon will likely land another assistant coach position somewhere in the league.

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Broncos’ defense was let down by offense, special teams yet again

Stop us if you’ve heard this before — the Broncos’ defense was great, but an inept offense and a blundering special teams unit let them down.

As usual, the Denver Broncos’ defense was not the problem in the team’s most recent loss.

Vic Fangio’s squad held the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense to just 16 points (Teddy Bridgewater’s pick-six accounted for KC’s six other points). And of those 16 points, three were secured on a short field goal after yet another Broncos special teams mistake.

So really, Denver’s defense held the Chiefs to 13 points, and the offense and special teams were responsible for nine points.

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a 57.3 passer rating, the worst of his career, with no touchdowns and one interception. Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce combined for 49 receiving yards.

Yet, that wasn’t enough.

It’s the same old story for the Broncos.

Special teams were a problem again, yet special teams coordinator Tom McMahon continues to keep his job following blunder after blunder.

And the offense was dismal and featured more questionable play calling, yet offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur continues to keep his job.

Fangio’s not directly responsible for mistakes on offense and special teams, but he is responsible for not making changes to the coaching staff. His defense was great, as they often are, but Denver’s self-inflicted wounds prevented them from sticking with the Chiefs in what was a winnable game.

The Broncos’ formidable defense is being wasted by a lackluster offense and a frustrating special teams unit, and seemingly everyone besides Fangio is willing to hold McMahon and Shurmur accountable. That decision to stick with his guys could ultimately end up costing Fangio his own job.

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Vic Fangio confirms Broncos won’t fire Tom McMahon during bye week

“Both Tom [McMahon] and I have to do a better job with coaching the special teams,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said.

The Denver Broncos will have a bye this week, giving them extra time to prepare for Week 12 and their seven remaining games this season.

That extra time would be a good window to make changes to the coaching staff, particularly on special teams. Denver has had a serious blunder on special teams in seven of its ten games, including a blocked field goal in Week 10.

Those mistakes have fans calling for special teams coordinator Tom McMahon to be fired, but coach Vic Fangio is not ready to make that move.

“No, there wouldn’t be,” Fangio said Monday when asked if there will be any thought given to making leadership changes on special teams. “Both Tom and I have to do a better job with coaching the special teams. We have to give it to our players and coach them better so that we don’t have these types of plays happen.”

The Broncos are also sticking with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur despite poor results on offense. Fangio appears content to stick it out with his staff, hoping to salvage the team’s season with the coaches in place.

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Broncos should begin making coaching changes during bye week

The bye week provides a good opportunity for the Broncos to begin making changes to the coaching staff.

After a disappointing loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Denver Broncos are now 5-5 and set to enter their bye week with .500 win percentage. Denver should use the bye to begin making changes to the coaching staff.

Because they are technically still alive in the AFC playoff hunt, it’s hard to imagine the Broncos firing head coach Vic Fangio right now. And offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is a Fangio “guy,” so Shurmur is probably safe for now as well.

Denver has no reason to not part ways with special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, though.

Special teams has been a problematic phase of the game for the Broncos for several years now, dating back to McMahon taking the job in 2018.

This season specifically, Denver has had a serious blunder on special teams in seven of its ten games, as DNVR’s Andrew Mason pointed out on Twitter. The latest disaster was a blocked field goal attempt on Sunday.

It’s time for accountability.

Special teams certainly hasn’t been the only problem, but it’s been a reoccurring problem, and general manager George Paton needs to demand better results.

It’s time for Denver to begin making changes.

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Broncos Wire podcast: Special teams remain a problem

On this week’s podcast, Ryan O’Leary and Jon Heath discuss the team’s struggles on special teams, Teddy Bridgewater’s hot start and more!

Two weeks down, two wins for the Denver Broncos!

On this week’s Broncos Wire podcast, I joined host Ryan O’Leary (@RyanO_Leary on Twitter) to talk about Denver’s injuries on defense, the excellent play of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, the team’s struggles on special teams and more.

Episode 35 can be heard below:

Note: After we recorded this week’s pod, news broke that outside linebacker Bradley Chubb will miss 6-8 weeks after undergoing ankle surgery.

On next week’s podcast, we will recap storylines from the New York Jets game and look ahead to a Week 4 showdown with the Baltimore at Empower Field at Mile High. Broncos Wire will release a new pod every Thursday during the season.

If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, you can check out previous episodes on Apple Podcasts or on your podcast service of choice. Please consider giving us a positive rating and review!

You can listen to every past episode below or at this link.