ENGLEWOOD, Colo. —As Head Coach Vic Fangio spoke at his introductory press conference in late January, outside linebacker Von Miller sat near the back of the room and formed his initial impressions of his new leader.
On Tuesday morning, as the Broncos reported for their voluntary offseason program, Fangio addressed his team rather than the media. Miller's intuitions about his coach were proved correct.
"I was here for the press conference, and same guy that everybody saw in the press conference was the same guy that we saw this morning," Miller said Tuesday. "That's a compliment. You don't want this guy to be in the press conference, then he gets in front of the team and is this guy, then when you're one on one with him he's this guy. It's not the case with Coach Vic, and I knew that from all the players that he's coached that I'm familiar with. I knew he was that type of guy, and he was definitely that today."
Miller said Fangio stressed keeping "everything simple" during the team's first meeting of the offseason program. If Miller and the Broncos can do that, they should find success in Fangio's system.
"Coach Fangio, he's all about technique, assignment, intensity and effort, and I like that," Miller said. "He's an outside linebacker guru, and he's up next with me."
Fangio will seek to get the most out of Miller, who said he doesn't anticipate that being an issue.
"I feel like I'm a coach's dream," Miller said. "Whatever you ask me to do, I'm going to do it. Whoever's coaching me, whether that's my position coach, the head coach or whoever, I try to make their job easier than what it is."
If Miller can improve in 2019, he could make Fangio's job as a first-time head coach a lot easier.
But what does better even mean for a player of Miller's caliber?
After all, he already owns three first-team All-Pro selections and Super Bowl 50 MVP honors. And it's not like Miller has slipped. In 2018, he posted the second-highest season sack total of his career.
There's more to achieve, though.
"I guess more sacks, more tackles, more plays and being able to be dominant in more games," Miller said. "That's better. If we're able to do that, then we'll be better."
Miller will aim to add 10 pounds to his frame to help achieve those goals. Though he said he played Super Bowl 50 at 236 pounds, he wants to get up to 245 pounds to better take on offensive lineman.
And while 10 pounds may not seem like much, "it's a totally different game" for a player like Miller after adding that amount of weight.
"I feel like for me, the difference between 235 and 245 is not really get-off, it's not really speed, it's not really getting hurt or getting injured, it's not really agility or anything like that, or my moves," Miller said. "It's when you get locked up with an offensive lineman and where you're able to go with that. [At] 235, you can go a certain direction with that when you're locked in with an offensive lineman. [At] 245, you can go just a little bit further with that — 245 is where I want to be at. It's still not much. It's only 10 pounds. It's not a lot, but I need that 10 pounds."
Miller added more than a few pounds in the offseason. When he turned 30 last week, his family surprised him with a Lamborghini.
"The Lamborghini is my dream car," he said.
Just don't worry about Miller being on the wrong side of 30. Combine his workout plan with Fangio's scheme, and it's easy to imagine Miller thriving for many more years.
Besides, Miller said there's an easy method to tell if a player is still in his prime.
"Whenever you see a pass rusher just play third down or pass-rush situations, then it starts to be downhill," Miller said.
"I'm still playing every down. I've still got a long way to go."
