Tag: Coach

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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Broncos announce Sean Payton’s two additions to coaching staff

The Broncos have hired Pete Carmichael (senior offensive assistant) and Jim Leonhard (defensive pass game coordinator/DBs coach).

The Denver Broncos confirmed two expected hires on Wednesday.

First, the Broncos brought in Pete Carmichael as a senior offensive assistant, a move that was previously reported. After that, the team added Jim Leonhard as defensive pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach, another previously reported hire.

Carmichael, 52, worked with Denver head coach Sean Payton with the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2021. He served as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2009 through last season before being fired.

Leonhard, 41, played safety for 10 seasons in the NFL, including one year with the Broncos (2012) and one summer with Payton’s Saints (2013). He will replace Christian Parker as the team’s new DBs coach. Landing him as a position coach is a big hire for Denver.

Leonhard previously served as a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, his alma mater, from 2017-2021 before being promoted to interim head coach in 2022. Leonhard then left the Badgers and spent one season as a senior football analyst with Illinois in 2023.

The Green Bay Packers offered Leonhard their defensive coordinator job in 2021 but he turned them down. Leonhard also interviewed for the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator opening in 2023. Leonhard will likely land a DC job at some point down the road. For now, the Broncos will have him coaching their defensive backs.

Those are two good hires for Payton’s staff.

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Sean Payton has brought 22 ex-Saints to the Broncos (view them all)

Broncos coach Sean Payton has brought 22 former Saints to Denver. Here’s the full list of players, coaches and executives.

Just call them the Denver Saints.

Since taking over as the Denver Broncos’ head coach last year, Sean Payton has hired 22 former New Orleans Saints. Payton, who won a Super Bowl with the Saints in 2009, has brought in 12 coaches (including a strength coach), two executives and eight players (but two of those players joined New Orleans after Payton left).

The most recent addition is new defensive backs coach Jim Leonhard, who spent training camp and preseason with the Saints as a safety in 2013. Several other coaches also played under Payton in New Orleans, including special teams assistant Chris Banjo, offensive line coach Zach Strief and offensive quality control coach Logan Kilgore.

The most notable former Saints players who now play for the Broncos are kicker Wil Lutz and tight end Adam Trautman, who are both scheduled to become free agents if they are not re-signed before March 13.

Here’s a quick list of all 22 ex-Saints who have joined Payton’s Broncos.

Former Broncos assistant coach joins Commanders’ staff

John Pagano coached OLBs for the Broncos from 2020-2021. After Vic Fangio was fired, Pagano took a two-year break from coaching.

Another former Denver Broncos assistant coach has found a new NFL home.

John Pagano, 56, will join the Washington Commanders as a senior defensive assistant, KOA Radio’s Benjamin Allbright first reported on Monday.

Pagano spent the last two seasons away from football. Before that, he served as an outside linebackers coach with the Broncos from 2020-2021. Pagano did not return after Denver fired former head coach Vic Fangio in 2022.

The Commanders will be Pagano’s seventh NFL team. He was a senior defensive assistant and outside linebackers coach with the Houston Texans from 2018-2019 before joining the Broncos. He coached with the Oakland Raiders in 2017 and had a long stint with the San Diego Chargers (2002-2016) before that.

After coaching at five college programs, Pagano broke into the NFL with the New Orleans Saints (1996-1997) before later joining the Indianapolis Colts (1998-2001). Prior to taking a break from 2022-’23, Pagano coached for 32 years, beginning his career as an assistant at Mesa State in 1989.

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No coaches remain with Broncos from Nathaniel Hackett’s old staff

Entering their second offseason without Nathaniel Hackett, the Broncos no longer employ any members of Hackett’s old coaching staff.

Now entering their second season without Nathaniel Hackett, the Denver Broncos no longer employ any members of his 2022 coaching staff.

Some coaches were fired, some were out of contract and not renewed, and some — like Ejiro Evero — wanted to leave. Now no coaches remain from that 2022 staff that went 5-12.

After new head coach Sean Payton took over early last year, the club parted ways with all but two coaches from Hackett’s staff: defensive backs coach Christian Parker and defensive line coach Marcus Dixon.

Parker and Dixon both left the team in lateral moves this offseason. Parker joined the Philadelphia Eagles as their new passing game coordinator and Dixon joined the Minnesota Vikings as their new defensive line coach.

The Broncos will replace Parker with Jim Leonhard. Dixon’s replacement is still to-be-determined.

Plenty of players remain from the Hackett era, but the coaching staff is all new. Considering how disastrous the 2022 season was, a revamped coaching staff is probably a good thing for Denver’s long-term outlook.

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Former Broncos assistant coach expected to join Saints’ staff

The Saints are expected to hire Klint Kubiak as their new offensive coordinator. He coached with the Broncos from 2016-2018 and again in 2022.

The New Orleans Saints are expected to hire Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator following Sunday’s Super Bowl, according to multiple reports.

Kubiak, 36, is the son of Gary Kubiak, who won three Super Bowls as an assistant coach and a fourth Super Bowl as head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2015. Klint worked for the Broncos from 2016-2018 as an offensive assistant and then again in 2022 as Denver’s passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Klint currently serves as the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive passing game coordinator, a job he landed after the Broncos fired most of Nathaniel Hackett’s staff early in 2023. Before his second stint in Denver, Klint coached with the Minnesota Vikings from 2019-2021 (including one season as an offensive coordinator).

One of Klint’s brothers — Klay — is an assistant quarterbacks coach for the 49ers and his other brother — Klein — is a scout for the Dallas Cowboys. Klein also worked for the Broncos from 2014-2019.

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Broncos expected to hire Jim Leonhard as DBs coach

After losing Christian Parker to the Eagles, the Broncos are expected to hire Jim Leonhard as their new defensive backs coach.

After losing defensive backs coach Christian Parker to the Philadelphia Eagles in a lateral move, the Denver Broncos are poised to replace him with a former NFL safety.

The Broncos are expected to hire Jim Leonhard as their new defensive backs coach, ESPN’s Dan Graziano first reported on Sunday. Leonhard, 41, played in the NFL from 2005-2014. He spent time with six teams, including one season with the Denver Broncos in 2012.

Leonhard hung up his cleats following the 2014 season with 428 career tackles, 14 interceptions and 4.5 sacks in 142 games (73 starts). He transitioned to coaching in 2016 when he returned to Wisconsin — his alma mater — as a defensive backs coach.

Leonhard was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2017 and he later served as the Badgers’ interim head coach in 2022. After leaving Wisconsin in 2023, Leonhard served as a senior football analyst at Illinois last fall. He’s now returning to the NFL as a coach as a member of defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s staff.

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Broncos lose DL coach Marcus Dixon to Vikings

After losing Christian Parker to the Eagles, the Broncos have now lost Marcus Dixon to the Vikings.

When Sean Payton took over as the Denver Broncos’ new head coach last year, he kept just two coaches from Nathaniel Hackett’s staff: defensive backs coach Christian Parker and defensive line coach Marcus Dixon.

Both coaches are now gone.

Parker left the team earlier this week to join the Philadelphia Eagles, reuniting with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The Broncos could have blocked the lateral move but Payton allowed Parker to go.

Now Dixon is leaving Denver to join the Minnesota Vikings in a lateral move, ESPN’s Dan Graziano first reported on Friday. Dixon will become Minnesota’s new defensive line coach, working under defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

The Broncos will have to find two new coaches for defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s defensive staff, and there are now no coaches remaining from Hackett’s old staff. Parker and Dixon are bright young coaches, but it seems that Payton did not want to block them from opportunities they wanted to pursue.

Denver has not fired any coaches this spring, but they did bring in former New Orleans Saints Pete Carmichael as a senior assistant. At least two more coaches will be added in the coming weeks to replace Parker and Dixon.

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Saints lose assistant coach D.J. Williams to the Falcons

The Saints are losing assistant coach D.J. Williams to the Falcons. He was a big supporter of Jake Haener, having coached the QB at last year’s Senior Bowl:

Good luck out there D.J. Williams — you’ll need it on the Atlanta Falcons. Rod Walker first reported for the Times-Picayune | Advocate that Williams, the longtime New Orleans Saints offensive assistant coach, will be leaving to join the Falcons under head coach Raheem Morris. He’ll take over as as their new assistant quarterbacks coach after initially being offered a different role on staff in New Orleans.

A standout college quarterback himself at Grambling State, Williams worked closely with the passers and was someone Derek Carr spoke of highly last season. He had been with the Saints since the 2017 season. He also represented the Saints at the 2023 Senior Bowl coaching quarterbacks on the National Team roster; a group which included Jake Haener, who the Saints traded up to draft in the fourth round last offseason. With Williams leaving town, Haener is losing a big supporter.

So why let him go? Incoming offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is expected to sign his contract and be formally introduced by the Saints after his San Francisco 49ers are finished competing in Super Bowl LVIII, and he must have someone else in mind for the job as an offensive assistant working with the quarterbacks. That’s the job his brother Klay has held with the 49ers but it’s unclear whether they would block a move to join the Saints as an assistant. We’ll get a better idea of who Kubiak wants on his staff after he’s officially hired next week.

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Rex Ryan ‘nearly’ got Broncos’ defensive coordinator job in 2023

Rex Ryan “nearly” got the Broncos’ defensive coordinator job in 2023, according to NFL Network.

In passing along a report about Rex Ryan’s 2024 job prospects in a tweet on Wednesday., NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport described him as a coach candidate who “was nearly the #Broncos DC last year.”

This is the first time we’ve seen a reporter — national or local — indicate that Ryan was close to getting Denver’s defensive coordinator job in 2023. The Broncos eventually hired Vance Joseph and Ryan later implied on ESPN that Denver did not meet his contract demands.

Joseph’s defense struggled early in the season and Ryan blasted the unit on ESPN multiple times before the Broncos turned things around. ESPN’s Pat McAfee even reported that Denver was considering an in-season DC switch to Ryan, but such a change never happened.

At the time of publication, the Broncos have not fired any of their coaches from the 2023 staff (at least not that we’re aware of), and it appears that Joseph is set to return as DC in 2024.

Ryan, meanwhile, is now a candidate for the Dallas Cowboys’ DC job.

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