The Denver Broncos are making moves to help fill out the rest of Sean Payton’s coaching staff, with them getting one of the biggest hires at a coordinator position this offseason. Darren Rizzi will now be Payton’s special teams coordinator this upcoming season.
Denver Broncos hire Darren Rizzi as special teams coordinator
Earlier this offseason, Broncos head coach Sean Payton made the decision to move on from previous special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica after Denver’s special teams unit had a very good season. With the departure of Kotwica, key special teams assistant Chris Banjo left the team to become the New York Jets special teams coordinator under Aaron Glenn.
The Broncos special teams unit played well this season, but it wasn’t good enough to head into 2025 under the status quo. Now, Payton is bringing in somebody he has familiarity with, and that’s Darren Rizzi, who was the special teams coordinator under Payton in New Orleans back in 2019.
Rizzi became the interim head coach for the Saints last season after they moved on from Dennis Allen, and his promotion to the interim status was a popular move inside the Saints’ locker room, with many players like Cam Jordan and Alvin Kamara publicly proclaiming their desire for Rizzi to become the next head coach.
With the Saints hiring Kellen Moore, the door for Rizzi to Denver opened up quickly. He’ll now oversee the design and implementation of the Broncos special teams unit this upcoming season.
