Looking at Broncos’ coaching changes ahead of Week 17 game against Chiefs

A quick rundown of the #Broncos’ coaching changes so far ahead of their Week 17 game against the #Chiefs.

The Denver Broncos are going through some coaching changes ahead of their Week 17 matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.

First and foremost, the Broncos relieved Nathaniel Hackett of his duties after just 15 games as head coach of the team. He finished his tenure in Denver with just a 4-11 record with no wins against any teams in the AFC West division. The Broncos ownership group initially offered the interim head-coaching job to defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero according to an NFL Network report, but he declined.

The team would later officially name senior assistant coach Jerry Rosburg as the team’s interim head coach. Hackett hired Rosburg during the 2022 NFL season to aid him in clock management after some clear gaffes early in the season.

Rosburg is a coach that several members of the Chiefs’ staff have familiarity with. Both Steve Spagnuolo and Joe Cullen spent time with him on the Baltimore Ravens’ staff, where he served as special teams coordinator from 2008-2018.

That’s not the only big change for Denver this week, though. In addition to Hackett’s firing, the Broncos also dismissed special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes and offensive line coach Butch Barry according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Assistant special teams coach Mike Mallory will take over for Stukes and assistant offensive line coach Ben Steele will coach the offensive line. Mallory previously served as special teams coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-2016. Steele, a former tight end, has only been coaching the offensive line position group for the past two seasons.

There could even be some more changes for the Broncos’ coaching staff on the way ahead of the first practice of the week on Wednesday. Whether those changes will make much of a difference in the final two games of the regular season remains to be seen.

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The Broncos replaced Nathaniel Hackett with the assistant he hired to help with clock management, and NFL fans had a lot of jokes

Jerry Rosburg will succeed Hackett after he was brought in as an assistant mid-season.

One of the shortest coaching tenures in NFL history came to an end on Monday as Denver Broncos fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett after just 15 games following Sunday’s ugly, 51-14 loss to the 5-10 Los Angeles Rams, which dropped his squad to just 4-11 on the year.

Hackett is a veteran NFL playcaller who was previously the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers from 2019-21. Senior assistant Jerry Rosburg will take over as interim coach for the final two games of the season, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It’s a strange choice, to say the least. The 67-year-old retired from coaching in 2019 after spending a decade as the special teams coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. He also held the same role with the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns.

Rosburg came out of retirement earlier this season to join Hackett’s staff as an assistant, specifically to work on clock management situations. Ironically, the staffer Hackett hoped would help deliver better results on the field will now replace him as the head coach for the remainder of the season.

That irony was not lost on NFL fans, who had a lot of jokes about the move.

Broncos’ new assistant Jerry Rosburg was ‘spectacular’ in debut

“He was spectacular,” Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said of new assistant Jerry Rosburg’s debut.

Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett struggled to handle play-calling and game-management duties through his first two games in the NFL.

Hackett was often late to get plays in to quarterback Russell Wilson, which led to multiple delay-of-game penalties. Hackett’s indecision on fourth down was clearly a problem, and he knew it.

So the coach brought in some help.

Last week, Denver hired Jerry Rosburg as a senior assistant to help Hackett with game-day decisions. The hire allows Hackett to focus on play-calling while Rosburg helps with other game-management scenarios.

Rosburg made his debut in the booth on Sunday and the Broncos defeated the San Francisco 49ers 11-10. After the game, Hackett made it clear that the new assistant was a big help.

“Yeah, Jerry was great,” Hackett said. “We had been evaluating everything on how we had been managing things up to that point. I wanted to be sure that I was able to be an efficient play caller for Russell and the offense. So we were able to bring Jerry in and for the quick time, turn around and getting him here. I thought he was spectacular. He was out there supporting me whenever we potentially had fourth downs.

“Again, he’s there because I typically want to be a little more aggressive and he kind of held me back, especially that fourth-and-inches. I was very tempted to want to go for that, but he was just talking about it and our defense was playing so well. We were able to punt it, Corliss [Waitman] did an amazing job and made a drive down the field, and we got the ball back and then had that winning score. So, I think it’s just about gaining the knowledge from everybody on the staff. I think we have a great group, and I’m getting the right information, and that’s all I can ask for, and very happy that he’s here.”

Hackett was not too proud to admit his shortcomings and he’s humble enough to lean on others to help him be a better head coach. Sunday certainly wasn’t perfect, but the team’s game-management was better and the offense did not look discombobulated like it did in the first two games.

With Rosburg now in the booth, Hackett’s operation should run more smoothly going forward.

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Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett hires Jerry Rosburg to help with game decisions

Nathaniel Hackett has admitted his mistakes. Now he’s taking steps to fix them.

Denver Broncos rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett has struggled to manage both play calling and game management through his first two games with the Broncos.

Hackett has admitted his mistakes. Now he’s taking action to help fix them.

Hackett has hired Jerry Rosburg as a senior assistant, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Rosburg will “help him with gameday decisions,” Schefter tweeted on Saturday.

Before joining the Broncos, the 66-year-old Rosburg spent time with three other NFL teams, most recently with the Baltimore Ravens (2008–2018). He was an assistant head coach and special teams coordinator in Baltimore.

Before breaking into the NFL as special teams coordinator, Rosburg coached at Notre Dame and Boston College.

Rosburg will make his Denver debut when the Broncos host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football this evening. He will be in the team’s coaches’ booth and will be available to assist Hackett on a headset.

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Broncos hire former Ravens coach to help with game day decisions

The Broncos hired a former Baltimore Ravens coach to help with game day decisions

The Baltimore Ravens have been known as a coaching factory over the course of their franchise history. They mold young coaches over the course of many years, and organizations throughout the NFL then hire them away for other roles. However, even veteran coaches who have been on the Baltimore staff have allure to teams, and the Denver Broncos are the most recent team to bring a former Ravens coach on board.

On Saturday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Denver is bringing in former Baltimore assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg as a senior assistant to help with game day decisions. This comes after new Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett has been under fire for some of the decisions that he’s made over the first two weeks of the 2022 season.

Rosburg was with the Ravens from 2008-2018, and was extremely well-liked and well-respected within the Baltimore locker room and throughout the league. He retired following the 2018 season, but now finds himself in Denver with the Broncos.

Ravens make coaching changes on defense, special teams

The Baltimore Ravens altered titles for a handful of their coaches on defense and special teams, helping to refocus some on specific roles

The Baltimore Ravens aren’t just focusing on the 2020 NFL Draft and free agency, they’re looking within to improve. While the NFL combine kicks off, the Ravens changed around some of their coach’s titles.

Per the team’s website, they’ve changed the titles given to six coaches, both on defense and special teams.

  • Chris Horton – special teams coordinator (formerly special teams coach)
  • Randy Brown – special teams coach (formerly assistant special teams coach)
  • Chris Hewitt – pass defense coordinator (formerly defensive backs coach)
  • Sterling Lucas – defensive assistant/defensive line (formerly defensive assistant/linebackers)
  • Jesse Minter – defensive backs coach (formerly assistant defense backs coach)
  • Drew Wilkins – outside linebackers coach (formerly assistant defensive line & OLBs coach)

For Horton and Brown, it doesn’t seem to be changing their actual roles, just consolidating the hierarchy on special teams after former coordinator Jerry Rosburg retired prior to last season.

However, on defense, there appears to be some refining in the roles under defensive coordinator Don Martindale following his new contract. Wilkins is now in charge of the outside linebackers solely. Minter gets a bump up to defensive backs coach, the role vacated by Hewitt, who will now be in charge of the entire pass defense. Lucas will switch his focus from linebackers to the defensive line.

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