For the second time in two years, a Denver Broncos assistant has been named a division rival's head coach.
Mike McCoy, who was Denver's offensive coordinator for the last four seasons, has agreed in principle to become the San Diego Chargers next head coach it was announced by many members of the media Tuesday morning.
McCoy also coached for the Carolina Panthers from 2000-2008 in multiple different roles with their offense.
Under McCoy, Denver's offense enjoyed somewhat mixed results, but the 40-year old proved he could work with multiple different quarterbacks and styles.
With Kyle Orton, McCoy utilized lots of screen passes, which helped Orton find a rhythm and kept him from committing too many turnovers. Last year, with Tim Tebow as the starter for the final 11 games, McCoy adapted his offense and made it run-first. Tebow used the zone-read option offense in 2011, throwing the ball very seldom most games, and Denver became the No. 1 rushing team in the NFL despite their eighth-lowest 19.3 points per game.
This season, the Broncos offense took on a third different style in as many years with legendary Peyton Manning behind center. With Manning, Denver could jump into the no-huddle – something rarely seen with Orton or Tebow at QB – which disallowed opposing defenses to substitute personnel. With the pass-first attack implemented once again, the Broncos became the second-highest scoring team in the league (30.1 PPG), while being third in first downs, touchdowns thrown (37) and fifth in passing yards.
It's somewhat difficult to say how much credit is due to McCoy for this season because Manning so often would call audibles on the fly, just as he's done his entire career.
Still, San Diego saw something special in Mike McCoy, and he becomes the franchise's 15th head coach. McCoy replaces Norv Turner, who was the head man for the Chargers from 2007-2012, going 56-40 during his tenure.
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Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist. You can follow Rich on twitter or facebook for all your Denver Broncos news and opinion.
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