Broncos announce the hiring of Darren Rizzi to be their Special Teams Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach

The Broncos got their guy! Darren Rizzi reunities with Sean Payton in Denver as his special teams coordinator.

According to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, the Denver Broncos have hired former Saints special teams and interim head coach Darren Rizzi to be their special teams coordinator.

Update: The Broncos have made this hiring official and included that Rizzi has also been given the Assistant Head Coach title as well.

Rizzi has long been rumored to be the favorite to be the Broncos special teams coach but he was holding out hope that he could get the Saints head coaching job. After the Super Bowl, the Saints hired Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore to be their head coach which allowed Rizzi to join Payton’s staff in Denver.

He is a 54-year-old coach who started his NFL coaching career with the Miami Dolphins back in 2009 as their assistant special teams coach. He coached in the college ranks from 1993 to 2008, but his NFL coaching career started with the Dolphins. He would become the Dolphins special teams coach in 2010 and held the job through 2018. He would add the associate head coach title for the 2017 and 2018 seasons with the Dolphins. In 2019, he would Sean Payton in New Orleans as their special teams coordinator and hold that job through the 2024 season. He would once again receive the assistant head coach title in 2022 and hold it through the 2024 season. After the team fired head coach Dennis Allen, he was named the interim head coach and won over his players during his time there.

The Broncos were in the market for a special teams coordinator after their surprisingly fired Ben Kotwica after their wildcard loss to the Bills. Now, they replaced him with Rizzi who is considered one of the better special team coaches in the league and someone who won over the Saints players during his stint as interim head coach. He’ll hopefully bring improved special teams play along with more leadership and experience to Sean Payton’s coaching staff.

With special teams coordinator now filled, we’ll see if Rizzi’s longtime assistant Phil Galiano follows him to Denver as 9NEWS Denver’s Mike Klis mentioned a few weeks back. They also have vacancies at linebacker’s coach, pass game coordinator, and tight end coach. I would expect all three positions to be filled sooner rather than later and likely before the start of the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine.