ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Mike McCoy won't say it, not a word, won't even reveal if he's thinking it.
He won't offer, like many coaches who have been fired in a league in which that is such a common outcome, that he would like to show his former team he has got the coaching goods and can handle his business.
With McCoy in his second stint as the team's offensive coordinator, the Denver Broncos will open the season against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night. The Chargers hired McCoy to be their head coach in 2013 -- and fired him four seasons later, in 2016.
McCoy takes an even-keel, close-to-the-vest approach to most questions in the public domain. And this week was no different.
"I've got all the respect in the world for everyone in the organization," McCoy said. "I can't thank the Spanos family [enough] for everything, the opportunity they gave me back in 2013 to lead the organization."
A few moments later, McCoy added: "I've got a lot of respect for all those players. You've got a lot of great people, not just players, but the way every coach, every player, through some tough times, fought their tails off every day. There were no excuses. Unfortunately, we just didn't win enough games."
McCoy was one of Vance Joseph's first hires this past January as Joseph assembled his staff with the Broncos. President of football operations/general manager John Elway has heartily endorsed McCoy’s return to the team because of its potential benefits to quarterback Trevor Siemian and the offense in general.
McCoy was hired as Josh McDaniels' offensive coordinator in 2009 and was retained in 2011 when John Fox was hired to replace McDaniels, who had been fired with four games remaining in the 2010 season. McCoy stayed with the Broncos until after the 2012 season -- Peyton Manning's first with team -- when he was hired by the Chargers.
But injuries, the franchise's prospective move to Los Angeles and consistent struggles to close out close games resulted in McCoy's firing after the Chargers went 27-37 in his tenure. The Broncos have just two players left on offense from McCoy's previous time in Denver: wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and tight end Virgil Green.
And Thomas, for one, believes no matter what has been said this week, McCoy wouldn't be sad if the Broncos' offense made a case for him.
"Absolutely," Thomas said with a smile. "If you were the head coach for the Chargers and you got fired, you play them on Monday night, what would you want to do? I'd try to put 100 up if I could. I don't know if that's possible, but I'd try."
The game Monday will be the first real look at how much McCoy's latest version of the playbook resembles the one he and the Broncos staff put together for Manning in 2012. The Broncos were more than a little vanilla, as expected, in the preseason, but McCoy was given some specific orders from Joseph before the offseason program began.
Joseph wanted the Broncos to run the ball better (they were 27th in the league last season), protect the quarterback better (Siemien had shoulder surgery in the offseason from the punishment he took) and score more consistently. The Broncos were 22nd in scoring, one of 11 teams that did not average at least 21 points a game.
"[McCoy is] smart, he's super-duper smart," running back C.J. Anderson said. "Definitely put us in the right position to be successful and to make plays. That's something that we haven't had over here in a while. We're definitely excited about that. If I had to pick one thing from him, it would definitely be being smart and having that swag and sass about it."