After interviewing 10 head-coaching candidates, Denver Broncos GM George Paton and his committee settled on former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. While the quarterback position and the impending sale of the franchise this offseason remain the biggest unresolved storylines in Denver, the immediate ramifications of hiring Hackett boil down to which coaches will make up his staff and what schemes will the team be running.
While Denver did not find success under former head coach Vic Fangio, the team did accumulate a solid group of positional coaches with perhaps none being as revered as offensive line coach Mike Munchak. Unfortunately, 9NEWS' insider Mike Klis reported on Tuesday that Munchak is likely moving on to a new opportunity next season.
"Sources: Mike Munchak unlikely to return as Broncos OL coach. He has opportunities elsewhere and there's slight opportunity he returns back with Broncos. But new head coach Nathaniel Hackett looking at other OL coaches with more experience in his system," Klis tweeted.
Despite injuries across the Broncos’ offensive line in 2021, the unit was able to help the offense stay afloat and put out a fine product throughout last season as shown in the graphic below on the left:
While Munchak historically has implemented more gap-centric run-blocking schemes, he's had success with some zone concepts to date. However, with Hackett stating Denver would be shifting to a larger emphasis on outside-zone going forward, the fit with Munchak going forward started to raise questions.
Munchak is considered one of the best O-line coaches in the NFL so until it is known who is replacing him going forward, concern is a natural response from those in Broncos Country. Odds are, Denver isn't going to find better than Munchak. However, as Klis stated when he broke this news, Hackett could be looking for an O-line coach with more experience in his system.
Klis also reported that current offensive line assistant coach Chris Kuper would be given a chance at the gig. Kuper was drafted by Mike Shanahan to play guard in the outside-zone scheme for Denver and worked on the staff utilizing the scheme. Klis also linked San Francisco 49ers assistant O-line coach Butch Barry as a name to watch for the position.
The odds on favorite to replace Munchak at O-line coach is likely long-time offensive line coach Doug Marrone. Marrone has been a head coach in the NCAA at Syracuse as well as in the NFL twice in Buffalo and Jacksonville and was the head coach to Hackett’s offensive coordinator in Jacksonville.
Given that Hackett has worked on the staff in each of Marrone’s previous head-coaching stops, with Hackett as the offensive coordinator for him in Buffalo and Jacksonville, it would be not surprising if Denver's new head coach wants to bring in a guy he's familiar with and has worked with previously. While Marrone hasn’t worked out as an NFL head coach, he is a highly-regarded O-line coach in football.
Marrone is coming off of a year working for the Alabama Crimson Tide under Nick Saban as the team’s O- line coach. Unfortunately, this was a rather unspectacular Crimson Tide line this year (outside of Evan Neal) but how much of that can be directly attributed to Marrone who was in Tuscaloosa for one single season? It's hard to say.
A positive surrounding bringing in Marrone would be his previous head coaching experience. With Denver linked to Packers’ tight end coach Justin Outten for offensive coordinator and Rams’ secondary coach Ejiro Evero as the defensive coordinator, bringing in someone with previous experience as a head coach would likely be a prudent move for Hackett.
There still is a possibility that Munchak could be retained in Denver but the odds appear to be slim. Munchak never transformed the Broncos’ line into an elite unit, but he helped build off of former coaches Chris Strausser and Sean Kugler’s success and took the unit from a perennial bottom-5-10 unit to league average.
Munchak also helped 2017 first-rounder Garett Bolles forestall 'bust' stats and turn the corner as an upper-echelon left tackle. If Munchak moves on, who Denver brings in to replace him could be one of the most underrated moves for the team this offseason.
Fielding an elite offensive line doesn’t guarantee winning football games in today’s NFL, but a dreadful line almost surely guarantees losses.
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