ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy has had quite the busy offseason.
When the Broncos signed free agent quarterback Peyton Manning, McCoy's offense got an entirely new look.
A suddenly-changed offense is nothing new for McCoy to handle, as he proved last season when the Broncos switched starting quarterbacks after Week 5 and modified the offense to fit the strengths of Tim Tebow.
Now, McCoy and his staff have been working to again modify the offense to fit what the team's new personnel do best.
"Our job as coaches is to do what your players do best," McCoy said.
McCoy took time to talk to DenverBroncos.com about working with Peyton Manning, adjusting the playbook and his offseason head coaching interview.
What is the main goal of OTAs and minicamps as far as the offense?
"The main goal with all the young players is to make sure that they learn the system and have a chance to compete when training camp comes. The biggest part is the mental aspect of OTAs. It's a new system to a lot of people, all the rookies or free agents that you sign have no idea what's going on. Without a doubt, with the time that you have, you have to make the most of every minute out there. We have plenty of individual time on a daily basis where you can work on those little things."
What has it been like having Peyton Manning as the team's quarterback?
"From the first day he got here, he was very open and he wanted to learn a bunch of new things. We've had this happy medium of running some things that he's done in the past. He wanted to learn our system when he got here, which has been great. He's been around a long time. There's nothing like experience in this league, especially at that position. It's not easy. You have to know what everybody's doing on every play. He's a student of the game and a true professional. He does it the way it's supposed to be done."
Why is it so important to have a balanced offensive attack?
"Whether it's a two or a four-minute drill at the end of the game, whatever that is, if you've got balance and you can do both, you have a good chance. But if you're lopsided one way or the other, when you get in those end-of-game situations and you can't do one of those things, you're kind of handicapping yourself."
What did you learn about the players last year with their ability to be flexible with the changes on offense?"When we made the quarterback change, everyone bought into it, players included. Especially wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, it was unbelievable what they did. They never complained. Everybody, all the skill guys, they showed up every day and worked their tails off. All they wanted to do was win."
What did you learn about the offensive coaches last season?
"The coaches did an outstanding job of really just adjusting to what we were going to do. It wasn't as complicated as everyone though it was. We made some minor adjustments and it just looked different to everybody. They did an outstanding job of coaching the zone-read and some of the option football that we were running because it wasn't something that any of us had done at this level before."
What was your experience like interviewing for a head coaching job this offseason?
"It was a great experience. I was very fortunate to have a couple different teams that were interested. The one interview I did take was down in Miami, which I was very thankful for that. They were open and up front with me from the very first time they called me. It was a great opportunity and a good learning experience. I learned a lot from it and we'll see what happens down the road."
