The Denver Broncos have a rising star within the coaching ranks on their staff.
Defensive backs coach Christian Parker was selected to participate in the NFL Coach Accelerator Program as announced by an official press release by the NFL on Wednesday.
The Accelerator Program will take place at the NFL’s Spring League Meeting on May 21-23 in Minneapolis, Minnesota where Parker will be in attendance.
The Coach Accelerator Program “aims to increase exposure between owners, executives, and diverse coaching talent, providing ample opportunity to develop and build upon their relationships. In a change to the nomination process this year, clubs were able to nominate those from outside of their organization.”
Parker’s reputation is already high across the league amongst various league executives and is viewed as a young coach who will soon be on the radar for defensive coordinator jobs as soon as the 2023 season concludes. Another reason Parker was chosen for this program is that he has been identified as a coaching candidate who could become a head coach in the future.
If you’ve had the chance to sit down or interact with Parker, you can easily see why he has league-wide respect from other coaches and more importantly, the players he coaches.
His X’s and O’s knowledge of the game is extensive, but his ability to connect with other coaches and players is worthy of recognition.
The 31-year-old position coach came to the Broncos in 2021 after former head coach Vic Fangio and former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell drew interest in him.
Under his direction, the Broncos’ secondary has improved generating takeaways through the air, and player development has made significant progress. In his first season with the Broncos, he worked with first-round rookie cornerback Patrick Surtain who snagged four interceptions that season and defended 14 passes.
All-Pro safety Justin Simmons snagged five interceptions in 2021 and followed it up with a league-high six interceptions in 2022.
Another mark of success regarding player development comes with the emergence of fourth-round 2022 rookie draft pick Damarri Mathis.
Mathis worked his way through the depth chart during training camp and the preseason and eventually stepped into a starting role for 11 games in 2022 while appearing in 16 games total.
The fact that Parker has been on the Denver Broncos coaching staff despite three different head coaches speaks volumes about how well respected he is — and the belief in the type of coach he can become.
He and Marcus Dixon were the only two coaches from the previous regime who were retained by Sean Payton heading into this season.