Broncos fire Vic Fangio after three seasons as head coach

The Denver Broncos fired Vic Fangio as head coach Sunday morning, one day after the team finished the season 7-10 and missed the playoffs for the sixth straight year.

"This morning, George [Paton] and I informed Vic of the decision to part ways with him as head coach of the Denver Broncos," team president and CEO Joe Ellis said in a statement. "For the last three seasons, Vic put his heart and soul into coaching the Broncos. I want to thank Coach Fangio for giving his maximum effort to our organization since the day he was hired."

Paton, who was hired as the Broncos general manager in January 2021, "will have full authority to select the next head coach," according to Ellis.

Fangio, 63, was hired in 2019 and led the team to a 19-30 record in his three years at the helm. The Broncos struggled with instability at quarterback through his tenure with seven different signal-callers (Joe Flacco, Drew Lock, Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypien, Teddy Bridgewater, Kendall Hinton) making starts in the last three seasons.

Prior to getting hired by the Broncos, Fangio spent more than three decades as a defensive assistant for multiple NFL teams, including five separate stints as a defensive coordinator.