It occurred on the 14th day of practice, lasted at most 30 seconds and was mostly forgotten through the completion of Broncos training camp. Yet one unsuspecting moment provided a perfect snapshot of the mantra for first-year coach Vic Fangio’s mission in Denver: There will be no “Death by Inches.”

The temperature at UCHealth Training Center crept into the 90s on Aug. 6 when an 11-on-11 scrimmage period got heated. Defensive lineman DeShawn Williams and offensive lineman Don Barclay began a pushing match with both reserve players eventually throwing blows. But the skirmish didn’t last long.

Williams, a stout 6-foot-1 and 292 pounds, suddenly felt his momentum moving backward.

“I looked down and I was like, ‘Oh, I can’t put hands on Coach Fangio,’” Williams said.

That’s no typo. The 60-year-old Fangio charged into the full-pads scuffle, took both hands to Williams’ chest plate and drove him backward almost 10 yards before letting go. Williams, several days after the skirmish, smiled and told The Denver Post: “(Fangio) was low, had leverage, hands inside, nice and tight with feet driving. It was like he was an offensive lineman out there.”

Coach appreciated the humor as well — “It must have been a favorable angle or I wouldn’t have done it,” Fangio quipped — but his intent was no laughing matter. Fangio strictly prohibited fighting through training camp and he was the first to shut it down when things got hot.

Translation: Don’t just talk about it. Be about it.

“Those inches add up, and when those inches add up, you’re in a losing program,” Broncos’ general manager John Elway said. “(Fangio) says, ‘I promise you, we will not kill ourselves by inches.’ And I thought that was the best thing that he said in the (job) interview.”

But the catchphrase “Death by Inches” has not been thrown around much at news conferences since Fangio was introduced as the head coach when he offered his philosophy. He’s now more concerned about the implementation of his methods. Study Fangio’s coaching habits and it’s clear that the message has sparked initial flames of a Broncos’ culture change.

SONG AND DANCE

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A typical Vance Joseph-led Broncos practice featured sideline loudspeakers pumping out player-approved music playlists. The players likely appreciated the energy and tempo as many Broncos would dance along in drill lines. The loud volume is also a decent substitute for crowd noise.

Fangio disagrees. He cut music entirely from training camp practices with the exception of a few songs during stretch lines and a NASCAR race sound during scrimmage periods that more accurately mimics an NFL game environment.

“Anybody who’s been a position coach or an assistant coach, they don’t like the music because it makes it hard to talk to your guys, so I don’t see the benefit of having music,” Fangio said. “I was an assistant coach and I don’t want to have to drum out the noise to talk to my players. There’s no music in games. … Noise by definition sounds annoying. Music sounds nice so if we have to deal with noise let’s deal with noise.”

Defensive end Derek Wolfe dismissed the notion that players are unable to focus with music blaring at practice but appreciated the clarity that silence provides. He said: “You can come to the sideline and you can talk to guys because without the music guys are locked in on what’s happening on the field. … You can get the advice that you need.”

The decision to ditch traditional practice jerseys, typically more loose-fitting than game uniforms, made too much sense to reject.

“The whole reason we do that is to cut down on the grabbing,” Fangio said. “When you wear the loose shirts, it’s very easy, almost unavoidable, for the players to grab each other when they’re going against each other. … It’s not easy to grab in the game because they’re tight. So we want to make it game-like as much as we can. That’s why we practice with them.” 2019 PREVIEW Broncos season preview

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ON-TIME IS LATE

Among the many reasons for of back-to-back losing seasons inside Broncos headquarters, if you ask some players, was a lack of punctuality for team meetings.

“Last year we had guys coming in two seconds before and they’re not even seated by the time of the meeting,” fullback Andy Janovich said. “But they’re there now. … We start five minutes early.”

Fangio leads a meeting every day in which he speaks to the entire group. While his message varies, the intent is consistent, with aggressive attention a key component.

Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb: “Every team meeting in the afternoon, we start off with situational; whether it be our offense, defense, four-minute, two-minute, end of half and stuff like that.”

Wide receiver Courtland Sutton: “We have times in practice where it’ll be something where coach (Fangio) will just throw 10 seconds on the clock and be like, ‘Hey, 10 seconds at the end of the half, what’s the situation?’ So that we can all know so that whenever we get in the game, it’s not like big-eyed and everybody’s like, ‘What are we supposed to do?’”

Fangio also uses meeting time to hold players accountable for their mistakes. Undrafted rookie or accomplished veteran, it doesn’t matter, as Fangio aims to make corrections in plain sight.

Wide receiver Juwann Winfree: “In the meetings, he points (mistakes) out: ‘This is your fault.’ ”

Defensive tackle Shelby Harris: “Last year, I felt like accountability was a word that was thrown out a lot and a lot of people felt like a lot of people weren’t being held accountable. This year, there is none of that.”

One facet of “Death by Inches” is capitalizing on the Broncos’ greatest strengths.

Case in point: Cornerback Chris Harris.

The four-time Pro Bowler enters his ninth NFL season accustomed to change. Harris has played for four head coaches (John Fox, Gary Kubiak, Vance Joseph and Fangio) and five defensive coordinators (Dennis Allen, Jack Del Rio, Wade Phillips, Joe Woods and Ed Donatell). Harris missed the initial portion of the offseason training program while restructuring the final year of his contract, but he jumped in open-minded to whatever role Fangio envisioned.

Nowadays Harris can’t stop smiling when asked to describe his relationship with Fangio.

“He’s telling me different routes I can steal once it comes game time and how he wants me to play this and different coverages,” Harris said. “He’s different than all my coaches I’ve ever had. I haven’t had a coach tell me, ‘When you see this, you’re going to be able to pick this,’ and (Fangio) told me that on like 10 plays. I’ve never had that.”

BAND OF BROTHERS

An often overlooked aspect of the player-coach relationship: A simple acceptance and understanding of personal differences and similarities which make NFL locker rooms a cultural melting pot.

That’s why Fangio recently played clips in a team meeting from the NFL Network documentary series “A Football Life” from a 2012 episode on the Fearsome Foursome; a nickname given to the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive line of the 1960s and 70s. Beyond their distinction as the “most dominant line in football history” by Pro Football Hall of Famer Dick Butkus, the unit featured white and black players during a racially charged era of American history. The documentary examines their legacy and enduring friendship long after their football careers ended.

Safety Will Parks called Fangio’s decision to share the film with Broncos players “one of the greatest things you can do as a coach.”

“Coach Vic put that tape on to create a brotherhood among each other,” Parks said. “We could be The Fearsome 53-men, you know? … I told all my teammates, I said, ‘Coach, what he did right there, that little thing right there, y’all don’t even know big that’s going to be for us down the road.’

“When we’re in a playoff game and when we win that game … I’m gonna look back and say, ‘Hey, man, remember when we watched that movie?’ We’re together now. We’ve got to be together through all this. And football, it teaches you so much. That’s one of the biggest little things that Coach Vic did so far.”