Tag: Coach

Sean Payton comments on risks of evaluating QBs in the NFL draft

Sean Payton said measuring how quickly a prospect can process information is a big factor when evaluating QBs ahead of the NFL draft.

Speaking at the NFL combine earlier this offseason, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton was asked about common mistakes teams can make when evaluating quarterbacks entering the NFL draft.

NFL teams can either hit on a top draft pick (C.J. Stroud) hit on a sleeper pick (Patrick Mahomes) or completely miss (Trey Lance). Payton detailed the risks in evaluating and drafting the right quarterback.

“I think there’s risk, obviously,” Payton said on Feb. 27. “There’s no certainty or else we’d be fantastic with the draft. There are certain risks. I think how quickly they can process the information. For some when you get them in rookie minicamp, you realize, ‘Ah, I’ve been with a rookie before and just feel like this is not how I wanted it to go.’ He’s having trouble spitting out the plays and maybe it takes a while. Maybe that’s something that you realize is going to be a hindrance or set him back.

“I think we shouldn’t miss on accuracy because we get to see it. We shouldn’t miss on stature because we get to feel it and look at it and measure it. We shouldn’t miss on athleticism. All of those traits should be easier to be correct on, but the more difficult ones — leadership we shouldn’t miss on because we should feel that and be able to research that. It’s that other element and it’s really the difference of just that. For some, it’s two thumb thick and for others it’s one. You just hope it’s one.”

There are some things that are hard to measure, like a QB’s ability to digest information and get in and out of the huddle quickly. That’s why the Broncos give QBs an overload of information to study for their pre-draft visits to see how the prospects handle it. That can help Denver make an informed evaluation of a QB.

No process is perfect, though, and there’s always risk involved with drafting a QB. Payton will aim to get it right when the Broncos go on the clock later this month. Denver currently holds the 12th overall pick in the first round.

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Sean Payton sees a high ceiling for Broncos’ new DBs coach Jim Leonhard

“I think that he’s extremely bright … he’s got one of these high ceilings,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of Jim Leonhard.

After losing Christian Parker to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Denver Broncos replaced him with new defensive backs coach Jim Leonhard.

Leonhard is a former NFL safety who had brief stops with the Broncos and with the New Orleans Saints during his playing days. He transitioned to coaching in 2016 and he has quickly risen up the coaching ranks.

“Jim was someone that I had spoken with last offseason,” Denver coach Sean Payton said at the NFL combine on Feb. 27. “He actually played for us briefly. I know he [also] played for Denver for a year. He had hip replacement surgery last year, so he was going to be in a position where he couldn’t commit to a full-time job. He helped out Illinois.

“I think that he’s extremely bright and he was as a player. He solved all the problems as a player. He was in Buffalo, with the Jets, Baltimore and Denver. He played for 10 years and I think he’s got one of these high ceilings that we see with some young coaches. I say young, but it’s kind of all relative. I think a lot of him, and we spent a lot of time on that process.”

Leonhard, 41, served as a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin from 2017-2021 before being promoted to interim head coach in 2022. Before joining the Broncos this offseason, he previously interviewed for two defensive coordinator openings in the NFL.

Leonhard might one day be a DC candidate in Denver. For now, though, he’s an overqualified DBs coach set to replace Parker in 2024.

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Broncos wish Christian Parker well as he exits team

Broncos coach Sean Payton and GM George Paton gave Christian Parker glowing reviews when he left the club to reunite with Vic Fangio.

Before what ended up being his final season with the Denver Broncos, Vic Fangio hired Christian Parker as the club’s defensive backs coach in 2021.

Fangio was fired after that season and the team’s next coach, Nathaniel Hackett, kept Parker on his staff in 2022. Hackett lasted less than a full season before he was also fired. The club’s next coach, Sean Payton, also kept Parker on his staff in 2023, and he also attempted to bring Fangio back as a coordinator.

Fangio did not want to return to Denver, so Payton ended up hiring Vance Joseph instead. Parker stuck around for one season under Joseph before asking to leave this spring to reunite with Fangio, who now coaches with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Broncos could have blocked Parker’s lateral move — he’s now a “passing game coordinator,” a title Denver easily could have given him — but Payton let the coach exit.

“Christian was with us and he got promoted,” Payton said at the NFL combine on Feb. 27. “[The Eagles are] getting a bright young coach. Obviously, Vic knows him because he’s work with him before. Christian’s really sharp. I’d say his degree, if you will, in defensive football is in that scheme.

“He was a pleasure to work with. I’m excited that he has that opportunity. Vic and I talked at length about Christian. He was one of the coaches that we kept from last year’s staff.”

Broncos general manager George Paton was also full of praise when asked about Parker at the combine.

“Christian is outstanding,” Paton said. “He’s young, poised beyond his years. Very good teacher. I don’t know how old he is but he came in here to coach Justin Simmons, Pat Surtain and Kareem Jackson. I would just say he’s a really good teacher.

“In regard to me, he’s a very good evaluator and when we got involved in the draft process, free agent process, he was outstanding as an evaluator. I feel like [the Eagles] really got a star in Christian Parker.”

To replace Parker, Denver hired Jim Leonhard as their new DBs coach.

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Broncos expected to make Jamar Cain their new DL coach

After losing Marcus Dixon to the Vikings, the Broncos are expected to make Jamar Cain their new defensive line coach.

The Denver Broncos lost two members of their coaching staff this offseason. Both of the positions vacated by those departures have now been filled.

First, the Broncos lost defensive backs coach Christian Parker, who left the club to join the Philadelphia Eagles and reunite with Vic Fangio. Denver replaced Parker with Jim Leonhard, an overqualified DBs coach who might one day become a defensive coordinator.

After losing Parker, the Broncos also lost defensive line coach Marcus Dixon, who left the team in a lateral move to join the Minnesota Vikings. It sounds like Denver will now replace Dixon with an in-house candidate.

The Broncos are expected to promote pass rush specialist Jamar Cain to defensive line coach, according to The Athletic‘s Bruce Feldman. Cain previously coached defensive linemen at four college programs before joining Denver’s staff in 2023.

The Broncos could fill Cain’s old rule with a new pass rush specialist, but they don’t necessarily need to. Denver already has an outside linebackers coach (Michael Wilhoite), so promoting Cain does not leave them without a position coach.

If the Broncos do bring in another assistant in a pass rush role, Rob Ninkovich could be a name to watch after he served as a part-time guest coach last season.

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The youngest coach is going viral and he’s adorable

4-year-old Christopher “Coach CB” Bess is going viral for his coaching styles of Tarboro High School boys basketball in North Carolina.

Many youngsters dream of being on the hardwood. To score game-winning baskets. To carry teammates to a championship. To be elected into the Hall of Fame.

This young child looks like he has a different sort of plan for his basketball career.

Over the weekend, 4-year-old Christopher Bess went viral for a video serving as a coach on the sidelines of a Tarboro High School game in North Carolina. The son of head coach Reggie Bess, little “Coach CB” has all the right moves as he paces the sideline,  tosses a drink to a player on the bench, and takes a knee just like his father. Take a look:

 

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A post shared by Gabby Sartori (@gabbysartori)

The elder Bess told WNCT that he first noticed last year when who he called his mother-in-love showed him a picture of CB kneeling behind him in a similar pose. Bess said now when he’s watching game film, he’ll be “captivated by him walking up and down the sidelines.”

Other cute things Coach CB does, according to Bess and WNCT:

  • When college basketball is on at home, he’ll get his coaching board and draw up Xs and Os.
  • He gave a riveting locker room speech with a quote along the lines of “‘I’m gonna coach my whole butt off — you’re gonna play y’all gonna play your whole butt off.”
  • Received warnings from referees at the games to stay in his own coaching box.

Just four days after posting the first video, Coach CB’s Instagram account reached 50,000 followers.

Raiders hire ex-Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello

The Raiders hired former Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello as their new QBs coach. He worked with Caleb Williams this spring.

The Las Vegas Raiders have hired Rich Scangarello as their new quarterbacks coach, according to NFL Network (via Raiders Wire).

Scangarello, 51, served as the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator in 2019. The Broncos averaged 17.6 points per game that season (fifth-worst in the NFL), but that number was slightly higher (19.4) in the five games that then-rookie quarterback Drew Lock started to close out the season.

Denver fired Scangarello following the 2019 campaign and some Broncos fans still believe that damaged Lock’s career. Scangarello went on to have one-year stints with the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and the University of Kentucky from 2020-2022.

After taking a break from coaching in 2023, Scangarello worked with Caleb Williams this spring as the USC quarterback began preparing for the NFL draft. The Raiders hold pick No. 13 in the draft, so if they want to land Williams, they will have to trade up.

The Broncos are set to pick one spot above Las Vegas. Denver holds six picks (including No. 12) and the team would like to acquire more through trades. The 2024 NFL draft will be held in Detroit from April 25-27.

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2 former Broncos coaches are returning to the NFL

Rick Dennison and Ronnie Bradford both played and coached for the Broncos. Now they’re set to return to the NFL in 2024.

The NFL’s coaching carousel keeps turning as assistant jobs start to fill up across the league, and two more former Denver Broncos coaches have landed positions with new clubs.

Rick Dennison — who spent his entire playing career with the Broncos from 1982-1990 and then coached in Denver from 1995-2009 and again from 2015-2016 — has joined the New Orleans Saints as their new run game coordinator.

Dennison won three Super Bowls as an assistant with the Broncos (1997, 1998, 2015) and most recently worked as a senior offensive advisor with the Minnesota Vikings in 2021. He now returns to the NFL to join the Saints.

Elsewhere on the coaching front, another former Denver player-turned-coach has landed a new gig. Ronnie Bradford played for the Broncos from 1993-1995 and started his coaching career in Denver in 2003. He spent six years coaching with the Broncos then coached two years with the Kansas City Chiefs before working at the college level.

Bradford is now joining the Miami Dolphins as a senior special teams assistant. He most recently served as a defensive coordinator and safeties coach for the University of Montana in 2023. In Miami, Bradford will reunite with coach Mike McDaniel, who was a coach intern in Denver in 2005 when Bradford was serving as the team’s special teams coordinator.

As for the Broncos’ 2024 staff, Sean Payton has lost two coaches and made two additions to the staff so far this offseason.

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Broncos might have a future defensive coordinator in Jim Leonhard

Either with the Broncos or another team, Jim Leonhard seems to be on track to eventually get a defensive coordinator job in the NFL.

The Denver Broncos made two additions to their coaching staff on Wednesday, officially hiring Pete Carmichael as senior offensive assistant and Jim Leonhard as defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach.

Leonhard, 41, is a huge hire for a positional coach.

The former NFL safety spent 2016-2022 coaching at his alma mater, Wisconsin. After starting out as a defensive backs coach, he was quickly promoted to defensive coordinator before later becoming the team’s interim head coach.

Leonhard spent last fall as a senior football analyst at Illinois. Before that, he interviewed for two defensive coordinator openings in the NFL (as our friend Joey Richards of “Let’s Talk Broncos” pointed out on Twitter/X).

Leonhard interviewed for — and was offered — the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator job in 2021, but he turned them down, opting to remain with the Badgers. Two years later, Leonhard interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator opening, but they hired Sean Desai instead.

The fact that Leonhard has already interviewed for DC jobs in the NFL suggests that he will likely land a DC role at some point in the future, either with the Broncos or another team.

We know that current DC Vance Joseph would like to become a head coach again. Perhaps if Denver’s defense has a standout year in 2024, Joseph might be considered for head coach openings next January. If Joseph does leave the Broncos at some point (by his own choice or otherwise), Leonhard will be an obvious candidate to replace him.

Leonhard is overqualified for a defensive backs coach position (despite “pass game coordinator” being in the name). He will likely get a promotion before long, the only question is if that will happen in Denver or elsewhere.

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Saints adding another former Gary Kubiak assistant to 2024 coaching staff

The Saints are adding another former Gary Kubiak assistant to their coaching staff, who has also worked with Klint Kubiak before:

The New Orleans Saints are putting an emphasis on getting their run game right in 2024, which means bringing in new coaches — and there’s going to be a lot of synergy between some of their most important new additions. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has already picked John Benton as his offensive line coach, and Nola.com’s Matthew Paras reports that Rick Dennison is being added to the coaching staff in a yet-to-be-determined role.

Dennison, 65, has worked with Kubiak before on the Minnesota Vikings as a senior advisor, offensive line coach, and run game coordinator. But before that, he worked under Gary Kubiak on the Houston Texans as their offensive coordinator. At that same time, Benton was the Texans offensive line coach.

They both played a key part in developing a strong Houston offensive line and dominant rushing attack led by Arian Foster, who averaged 98.5 yards per game and scored 47 touchdown runs in 54 games when they were both on staff from 2010 to 2013 (including the playoffs). The Saints are hoping to get similar production out of Kendre Miller and Alvin Kamara by installing a similar one-cut rushing scheme.

So while Dennison’s exact role is yet unknown, we should expect him to be working with the offensive line and run game in some capacity given it’s his area of expertise. And the Saints could use the help. They haven’t gotten enough out of young draft picks in that phase like Miller and offensive linemen Trevor Penning, Cesar Ruiz, and Nick Saldiveri. Upgrading the rushing attack should help take pressure off of Derek Carr and buy more time for the defense to rest up until their numbers are called to go into the game. We can see from these moves that the Saints are taking a well thought-out approach by hiring coaches who have found success together before. Hopefully it pays off.

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This is what Sean Payton wants Broncos to improve in 2024

“Our tight red zone was awful,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of the team’s struggles inside the 10-yard line. “It wasn’t good enough.”

The Denver Broncos went 8-9 in Sean Payton’s first season and missed the playoffs. Payton will look to build on that record in 2024, but it’s not as simple as saying the team will attempt to reach the playoffs. How will the Broncos get it done? What areas can the team improve to ensure they will have more success in Payton’s second season?

“There are a couple things,” Payton said during his end-of-season press conference last month. “Our tight red zone was awful. I have to look closely at my sequencing and what I’m doing and calling. What I mean by that is goal-to-go. Our red zone numbers are past the 20. How many touchdowns, percentages, etc. Our opportunities, I think, were decent. I think we were 50-something [percent], and that measured ninth or tenth.

“Inside the ten, first and goal-to-go, that wasn’t good enough. Third down — there were a handful of things … we, collectively — starting with me — it wasn’t good enough. We didn’t take advantage of enough field position opportunities in games. I want to get my eyes fixed, so I call the right play and I don’t mess up and call the wrong play on a play that happened one time this year. That was embarrassing.”

The Broncos were 50.85% in the red zone last season, making them a bottom-13 team in that category. It was the team’s struggles inside the opponent’s 10-yard line that especially bothered Payton.

“The 10-yard line and in sticks out — that’s unusual,” Payton said. “That bothered me a lot. Those are four-point swings, really, if you kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown. I’m sure as we go through this process, there are going to be a number of other things, but I think that I’m comfortable and far enough along doing this, that I can easily be swayed or moved. Even coaches. It’s one thing to be somewhere where everyone tells you what you want to hear, but the value of a coach that tells me sometimes what I need to hear, I appreciate.”

There’s always room for improvement in the NFL, even for a Super Bowl-winning coach. Payton will have to make adjustments in 2024, and he knows it. Fans will get a first look at those adjustments when training camp begins this summer.

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