Ron Chenoy- USA TODAY Sports
Why bring in an outsider to do an insider’s job?
That was the Denver Broncos‘ mindset as they announced the promotion of quarterback coach Adam Gase to offensive coordinator on Thursday. Gase was promoted after Mike McCoy left for the head coaching job for the San Diego Chargers but his promotion says more about Denver’s direction moving forward.
Instead of bringing in a well known name to take over for McCoy, like Ken Whisenhunt for example, the Broncos went with someone who is familiar with QB Peyton Manning and his continuing rehab after multiple neck surgeries. Nobody may know Manning better right now than his position coach and the Broncos felt comfortable placing him in a position with more say in their offense.
Denver’s plan now with Gase moving forward is for him to collaborate with Manning to further improve their already impressive offense. Manning can practically run the entire offense himself but having a coach that knows his strengths and his weaknesses will only help in his play-calling abilities.
Gase will be able to put Manning in the best situation possible but Manning will still have the freedom to direct the offense at the line of scrimmage, like he normally does. Gase told the Broncos’ official team website that Manning wants to be coached but he can also solve the defense himself.
“He does a great job of, when you give him a play, if it needs to be better, he does a great job of putting you in that play” Gase said. “It’s the best situation possible for a guy calling plays, if you call something and it’s not good, he fixes it and puts you in a better play.”
Manning and the Broncos offense will only get better this offseason and that’s a scary thought for the rest of the NFL. The offensive line, wide receivers, tight ends and running backs will all have more time to get acclimated to Manning’s intricacies and his calls at the line of scrimmage. After just one season the Broncos offense was one of the league’s best, imagine just how potent they will be next season with a whole offseason under their belts.
Gase and Manning made a good team in 2012 and it earned him the promotion to offensive coordinator. If they have another season like the one they just had a much bigger promotion is in his near future.
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David LaRose is one of the featured College Football writers for Rant Sports covering the Pac 12 and the University of Colorado. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.
