On Friday morning, Broncos special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica was fired.

It’s a move that makes little sense for Denver, who made the postseason thanks to much-improved special teams play.

So, why did Sean Payton fire Kotwica?

Broncos special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica fired in head-scratching move

The Denver Broncos were awful during their eight-year playoff drought. That was probably most easily evidenced by their offense regularly being in the bottom-quarter of the league. The defense wasn’t terrible, but also wasn’t great most of those years. And Denver had a negative point differential in six-of-eight missed postseason years.

But smart football fans know great teams win in all three phases. You can’t just improve on offense and defense, special teams is crucial, too.

In fact, when two great teams go head-to-head, special teams often determines the outcome.

That’s why it makes no sense that Broncos special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica was fired today.

During most of their NFL franchise-long playoff drought, Denver had one of the worst special teams units in the league.

But since Payton took over, there’s been a noticeable upswing on special teams.

In 2024 the Broncos were:

  • No. 1 in punt return average (15.7 yards)
  • No. 4 in total punt return yards (408)
  • No. 12 in net punt average (42.2 yards)
  • No. 7 in punts downed within the 20 (33)
  • No. 15 in kick return average (28 yards)
  • No. 6 in field goal percentage (91.2%)

And in 2023 the Broncos were:

  • No. 1 in punt return average (16.3 yards)
  • No. 11 in total punt return yards (326)
  • T-13 in net punt average (42.3 yards)
  • No. 14 in punts downed within the 20 (27)
  • No. 8 in kick return average (24.9 yards)
  • No. 13 in field goal percentage (88.2%)

Go back one more year, the season before Sean Payton in 2022, and Denver was dead last in kickoff return average, punted the most in the league, and 20th in punt return average (8.4).

Even their field goal percentage was 28th.

So, why was Kotwica fired?

Our Cody Roark, by way of Ian Rapoport, that Payton may be looking to hire his former special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, who is the current Saints interim head coach.

Sean Payton has made weird moves but they’ve mainly worked out

Before the 2023 season, Payton cut ties with longtime Broncos kicker Brandon McManus and brought in his former Saints kicker Will Lutz.

It looked like a move to just bring in someone familiar, but Lutz has been incredibly accurate the last two years. He made 89.7 percent of field goals, many of which have helped Denver win close games.

In the 2024 NFL Draft, Payton and George Paton went after and landed Bo Nix. He even played the Raiders while getting Nix.

After drafting him, reports came out that they had Nix as the No. 3 QB behind Drake Maye and Caleb Daniels, which seemed coachspeak. But Nix just enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons for a quarterback in NFL history.

And then last offseason, Payton and Paton cut ties with veterans Justin Simmons and Tim Patrick. Each looked like bad moves for their own reasons.

Simmons was the leader of the defense and a fantastic member of the Denver community. Patrick was finally healthy after two injury-ended seasons, and the Broncos were thin at receiver.

And yet, the Broncos defense flourished while the young receivers gained valuable experience this year.

In Sean Payton we trust?

Not yet. But he should probably be given the benefit of the doubt on this move, even if the Broncos had a top-10 special teams unit in 2024.