The Denver Broncos have made various staff changes as new head coach Sean Payton begins the process of building out his own. Which coaches from the previous Broncos regime are departing and who is coming aboard?
Denver Broncos, Sean Payton begin to make staff changes
Since Sean Payton has officially taken over as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, he’s initiated the process of meeting with various coaches from Nathaniel Hackett’s previous staff to determine whether or not he’ll retain any at certain positions. He’s already made several decisions — moving on from tight ends coach Jake Moreland, assistant offensive line coach Ben Steele, linebacker coach Peter Hansen, and outside linebacker coach Bert Watts.
Moreland, Steele, Hansen, and Watts were in their first season with the Broncos last year under Hackett. Dom Capers, Watts, and Hansen followed former defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero to Carolina for jobs with the Panthers.
Joining those coaches in departing is offensive quality control coach Ramon Chinyoung, who accepted a job with the Dallas Cowboys as their assistant offensive line coach. Former offensive coordinator Justin Outten accepted a job with the Tennessee Titans as their running backs coach and run game coordinator.
Klint Kubiak, who served as the Broncos’ passing game coordinator and quarterback coach last season took a job with the San Francisco 49ers — taking on the same role as passing game coordinator under Kyle Shanahan after Bobby Slowik took the Houston Texans offensive coordinator job.
Tyrone Wheatley accepted a head coaching job at Division II college program Wayne State, leaving the Broncos running back job vacant.
Wide receiver coach Zach Azzanni has been on staff for Denver through three previous coaching staffs. He has the opportunity to return under Sean Payton, but the Broncos newest head coach is allowing him to interview for other jobs.
This past week, Azzanni interviewed with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets for their vacant wide receiver coaching positions. If Azzanni were to leave for the Jets, he’d reunite with former Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett who is now the offensive coordinator under Robert Saleh.
Marcus Dixon and Christian Parker are the only two remaining coaches from last year’s staff who Payton has not made a decision on yet.
Sean Payton staff slowly filling out
As Sean Payton prepares for his first season with the Broncos, he’s invested in building a staff he trusts to help turn things around in Denver. He’s already hired a special teams coordinator and assistant head coach along with several other coaching moves.
Payton entrusts former captain with offensive line
One of the most important jobs Payton needed to fill for the Broncos coaching staff was on the offensive line. Zach Strief will assume the responsibility of impacting how the offensive line plays this upcoming season. Strief was previously an assistant offensive line coach for the Saints in 2022 and will now be the main guy in Denver.
The former NFL-veteran offensive lineman spent 12 years in the league as a member of the New Orleans Saints, under Sean Payton when he was hired in 2006. He played under Payton his entire career from 2006-2017.
It’s evident that Payton is building a staff of people he trusts to get the job done. Strief’s experience as a player and captain for Payton and the Saints comes in handy because he possesses the leadership traits necessary to teach Payton’s system effectively. The Broncos didn’t possess that dynamic from Butch Barry who took over for veteran Mike Munchak last year.
Declan Doyle joins staff, Dan Dalrymple expected to join Payton
Joining Strief on staff is Declan Doyle who replaces Jake Moreland as the team’s tight end coach. Doyle served as a member of the Saints coaching staff for the past four seasons and will now assume the responsibility of furthering the development of rookie standout Greg Dulcich and Albert Okwuegbunam.
After moving on from previous strength and conditioning coach Loren Landow this offseason, Dan Dalrymple is expected to step into that role here in Denver. Dalrymple has previous experience with Sean Payton, having been on his staff for over 16 seasons.
Logan Kilgore expected to join Payton as offensive quality control coach
Logan Kilgore is expected to join the Denver Broncos staff as an offensive quality control coach — working primarily with the passing game and quarterback Russell Wilson. Previously, Kilgore served as the offensive coordinator at Isidore Newman School — working with Peyton and Eli Manning’s nephew and Texas commit Arch Manning.
He’ll work side by side with Payton who will be calling the offensive plays for the Broncos.
On Friday, Payton named long-time coach Mike Westhoff as his assistant head coach while tabbing Ben Kotwica to be the Broncos next special teams coordinator. Once Payton hires an offensive and defensive coordinator, it’s expected that various assistant coaching positions will fill up quickly.
