The Broncos have made a change to head coach Sean Payton’s staff.
NFL Media reports that they have fired special teams coach Ben Kotwica days after their season ended with a loss to the Bills. Kotwica spent the last two seasons with the Broncos.
Marvin Mims was voted a first-team All-Pro as a punt returner and they converted a fake punt in that loss in Buffalo, but the move suggests that the Broncos weren’t happy with the overall performance of their special teams units during Kotwica’s tenure.
Darren Rizzi was the special teams coach during Payton’s final three seasons with the Saints. Rizzi closed out the 2024 season as the interim head coach in New Orleans and has interviewed for the Jets’ head coaching job, but could wind up in Denver if he doesn’t land that job or the permanent gig with the Saints.
The Broncos’ lease at their current stadium expires after 2030. The next step is unclear.
Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner addressed the situation with reporters on Wednesday.
“With the stadium, I’m sure you all have seen some rumors recently,” Penner said. “We are continuing to do our due diligence. It is a complex question and decision of what we decide to do. We haven’t ruled out anything at this point. We are still looking at options on the current site, around Denver, and we’ve visited other places like Lone Tree. We still have more steps to take there.”
One big factor will be the best deal the team can get. Taxpayer money and other government-provided perks will be part of the package the team seeks.
And while the chances of relocation out of Denver are very remote, the goal will be to find as many local options as possible, and to pit them against each other.
Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is set for his second head coaching interview of the week on Thursday.
According to multiple reports, Joseph is going to interview with the Raiders. Joseph interviewed for the Jets’ opening on Wednesday and those are the only two teams who have requested meetings with him thus far.
Joseph oversaw a major leap forward for the Broncos defense in his second season on Sean Payton’s staff and that has moved him back into the pool of head coaching candidates. Joseph was the head coach of the Broncos in 2017 and 2018 as well, but he was fired after going 11-21 and coached in Arizona before returning to the AFC West club.
There has been chatter that the Raiders’ search is focused on Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, but no deal can be consummated at this point so Joseph and others will still have a chance to sway things in Las Vegas.
The Broncos ended a long playoff drought by securing the final wild card berth in the AFC tournament this season, but they aren’t interested in repeating that in 2025.
In a Wednesday press conference, Broncos owner Greg Penner said that he thinks this year’s experience “will be critical for the future” because “we have our sights set really high” when it comes to future accomplishments. The first one in the crosshairs is winning the AFC West.
The Chiefs have won nine straight division titles, but Penner said that the team has their eyes on keeping them from making it a perfect 10 in 2025.
“Our absolute goal next year is to win our division,” Penner said, via the team’s website.
The Broncos feel they have their quarterback in Bo Nix and that will make other areas of the team the focus of their offseason machinations. If they can hit on those moves in the same way they did with Nix, there could be a tussle at the top of the division next year.
The Broncos fell well short of a victory in last Sunday’s playoff game in Buffalo, but there were a few minutes where it looked like they might pull off an upset and advance to the divisional round.
Such thoughts started when quarterback Bo Nix hit wide receiver Troy Franklin for a 43-yard touchdown pass that gave the Broncos a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. The lead evaporated, but the hope for success that Nix has provided since joining the team as a first-round pick last April has not been extinguished.
Nix is one of five rookies in league history to throw for at least 3,500 yards and at least 25 touchdowns, which is part of the reason why head coach Sean Payton feels that the Broncos have the guy they need running the show for years to come.
“I think it’s all in front of him,” Payton said, via the team’s website. “And I said this before, I think we found that player that can lead us and be what we need, relative to having the success we’re used to having. I think we found it.”
Broncos owner Greg Penner and General Manager George Paton echoed Payton’s feelings during press conferences of their own on Wednesday. The Broncos still have work to do to challenge for the division title and catch the top teams in the AFC, but that work will be a bit easier now that they have filled the most important position on the field.
