{"id":1314519,"date":"2019-09-11T20:36:01","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T02:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/broncos-coach-vic-fangio-treating-bears-game-like-any-other\/"},"modified":"2019-09-11T20:36:01","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T02:36:01","slug":"broncos-coach-vic-fangio-treating-bears-game-like-any-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/broncos-coach-vic-fangio-treating-bears-game-like-any-other\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos coach Vic Fangio treating Bears game like any other"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio listens to questions during a news conference at the end of an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. Oakland won the game 24-16. (AP Photo\/D. Ross Cameron)<\/strong>
AP | FR39290<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. \u2014 Vic Fangio isn\u2019t treating Sunday\u2019s game against his ex as anything other than a chance for the Denver Broncos to get their first win and to prevent the Chicago Bears from doing the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really is just another game, especially coming off\u201d a season-opening 24-16 loss to Oakland, Fangio said Wednesday. \u201cWe need to go out there and play a little bit better no matter who we\u2019re playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not that the gridiron grinder who\u2019s both ruffled in his appearance and unruffled in his demeanor will blow off his buddies from Chicago, who are coming off a 10-3 loss to the Packers at home to kick off the NFL\u2019s 100th season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a little different once I see all those guys in pregame and whatnot,\u201d Fangio said. \u201cBut after they kick it off, it will be another NFL football game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fangio constructed a top-notch defense in Chicago from 2015-18 after working his magic with the 49ers, Texans, Colts and Panthers.<\/p>\n

The Bears led the league last year in scoring defense, rushing defense, yards per play, takeaways, interceptions and three-and-outs while on their way to a 12-4 record and their first playoff appearance since 2010.<\/p>\n

It was the capstone of a four-decade-long audition for his first NFL head coaching job, which he finally landed by winning over John Elway with his \u201cdeath-by-inches mantra\u201d based on his aversion to cutting corners.<\/p>\n

Fangio quickly won over the locker room, too, with his low-key style that\u2019s both newfangled and old-fashioned. Von Miller, whom Fangio had called out on Day 1, suggesting Denver\u2019s best player could be even better, presented him with a gray sweatshirt for his 61st birthday .<\/p>\n

Fangio immediately began emptying his mental notebook of things he wanted to do if he ever got a head coaching job. He ditched the loose practice jerseys lest players get lulled into bad habits and holding calls. He got rid of the blaring music at practice so he didn\u2019t have to yell over the noise, and he banned hazing haircuts for rookies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s probably long overdue that he got his shot. I\u2019ve long respected his style,\u201d said 49ers general manager John Lynch, who got to know Fangio while broadcasting NFL games after his playing career ended.<\/p>\n

One particular production meeting in San Francisco in 2011 stuck with Lynch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember saying, \u2018Hey, you just came from Stanford. I know you\u2019ve been in the league, you\u2019ve got Pat Willis and you\u2019ve got Navarro Bowman,\u2019 and he\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, they\u2019re all right,\u2019\u201d Lynch said. \u201cBut his point was there\u2019s a few great players and if we use \u2018great\u2019 all the time\u201d it\u2019s unfair to the truly transcendent stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the way he looks at things. He doesn\u2019t get too blown away. But he believes in sound football and his teams play that way. I think he deserves this opportunity. I\u2019m thrilled to see him have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So is 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, who played for Fangio at Stanford in 2010 when Fangio worked for Jim Harbaugh and the Cardinal went 12-1 with three Pac-12 shutouts and an Orange Bowl win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he should have been a head coach a long time ago,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cI think this is the right fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bears coach Matt Nagy said when he got his first head coaching job last year, he leaned heavily on Fangio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always reference Coach (Andy) Reid as a beautiful mind on offense, and I think you could easily say on defense that Vic has a beautiful mind,\u201d Nagy said. \u201cHe is a guy that is very, very, very intelligent football-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fangio was Peyton Manning\u2019s defensive coordinator in Indianapolis from 1999-2011, and Manning said Fangio\u2019s arrival in Indy \u201chad a lot to do with\u201d the Colts\u2019 turnaround from 3-13 his rookie year in 1998 to 13-3 in \u201899.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s super competitive and he wanted to win every practice against the offense. I think it helped me a lot,\u201d Manning said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy for him getting his opportunity to be a head coach. He has certainly paid his dues. He is all football. He is grinder. And I think he\u2019ll do a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio listens to questions during a news conference at the end of an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. Oakland won the game 24-16. (AP Photo\/D. Ross Cameron)AP | FR39290 ENGLEWOOD, Colo. \u2014 Vic Fangio isn\u2019t treating Sunday\u2019s game against his ex […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 07:47:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}