On Monday, Vance Joseph announced that Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy has been let go. In a corresponding move, Joseph has promoted Quarterbacks Coach Bill Musgrave to offensive coordinator. Musgrave was a Broncos quarterback from ‘95-’96 and has about twenty years of coaching experience, with about half that term as a quarterbacks coach and half as an OC. The best part? He was the Offensive Coordinator for the Raiders last year during their 12-4 season in which their offense was 6th overall. Without him, their offense has now plummeted to 21st, indicating that their success was a result of Musgrave. With recent success like that, why would the Broncos not go with Musgrave from the beginning?
Should Bill Musgrave Have Been Denver’s OC All Along?
Well, when looking at years before last, Musgrave’s offenses have fluctuated from 12th to 24th in terms of total yards.
On the other hand, Mike McCoy’s resume is quite the opposite. He has struggled for about the last three years as Head Coach of the San Diego Chargers. However, if you look back farther, his time as an offensive coordinator was his bright spot.
He was the architect behind Tim Tebow’s brief success in the NFL and was on staff during the first season of the Peyton Manning era. Although, when looking at the whole picture, McCoy is trending down.
After taking the Chargers to the playoffs in 2013, the records of his teams have been trending in the wrong direction ever since. In 2014, the Chargers just missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record. The Chargers fell to 4-12 and 5-11 in the following two seasons and this year the Broncos are 3-7. It is understandable why the Broncos brought McCoy on board. He was very successful the last time he was part of the Broncos coaching staff. However, there was a hot hand in Bill Musgrave at the same time. When compared, McCoy’s history with the organization should be recognized above Musgrave’s recent success at the position.
The fact that the Broncos hired both of them shows that they were suspicious of McCoy’s ability to produce and wanted a strong backup plan if it did not work out. It was really smart of the Broncos to give McCoy a chance but also have a Plan B. Should the Broncos have gone with Musgrave from the beginning? Not necessarily, given McCoy’s historical success but it was smart to have him on the staff just in case.