The Broncos have hired longtime NFL assistant Jerry Rosburg to help direct the team’s game management, a source familiar with the hire confirmed to The Athletic, a move that comes in the wake of two weeks of well-publicized operational mishaps by first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
One day after a 16-9 win over the Texans last week that included two delay-of-game penalties, fourth-down uncertainty and a handful of general communication breakdowns, Hackett vowed to correct the mistakes that were leading to the sideline mishaps.
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“We have to make sure the communication is clear and concise,” Hackett said Monday. “I need to do better at making decisions faster and quicker and getting that information to the quarterback and being on the same page with him. That’s stuff that we talked about this morning, and all the way to this evening. It has to improve.”
That same day, according to a source, Hackett began the process of looking for a veteran presence to help him with game management. Rosburg arrived in Denver on Wednesday and observed the team’s next three practices before agreeing to a role and contract Friday afternoon. He will be in a coaching booth when the Broncos host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.
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Rosburg, 66, began his NFL coaching career as the special teams coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. He was most recently with the Baltimore Ravens, where he served as the team’s special teams coordinator for 11 seasons before retiring in 2019. He will work with Hackett on game-management throughout the week and will communicate with the head coach in a similar matter on game-day, a move the Broncos believe will help streamline a communication process in critical moments that was significantly lacking in the season’s first two weeks.
Hackett acknowledged on Thursday that the dual tasks of being an efficient play-caller while also managing the game and staying one step ahead of various decisions that needed to be made “has been a transition.”
“I think that (when) you have always been a coordinator, you have always been from the standpoint that you want to score touchdowns,” Hackett said. “That’s always your initial gut reaction. As I am learning more, you have to remove that emotion as an offensive play caller. You have to look at it from a head coach standpoint. What is best for the team at that time? As I continually reflect on what has happened and continually learn from it, that will make me more efficient and utilizing as many people as I can so that it’s not about just trying to be aggressive all the time, but be aggressive in the right situation.”
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The Broncos entered the season with one of the youngest coaching staffs in the NFL. In addition to Hackett (42 years old) and Ejiro Evero (41), the Broncos also have a first-time offensive coordinator in Justin Outten (38). Many of the team’s lead position coaches are also in their respective roles for the first time at the NFL level.
In Rosburg, the Broncos have added a coach with nearly 20 years of NFL experience.
Rosburg had many roles during his decade-plus run in Baltimore, including a hand in helping head coach John Harbaugh develop the team’s practice schedule. He was labeled as the team’s associate head coach while also annually directing one of the league’s top special teams units.
The Chicago Bears tried to interview Rosburg for their head coaching vacancy after the 2012 regular season, but he declined in order to focus on a playoff run with the Ravens that ultimately resulted in a Super Bowl championship.
“He’s been the best associate head coach and the best friend that a head coach can have,” John Harbaugh said after Rosburg retired. “Without Jerry Rosburg here, there’s no way we would have had the success that we’ve had.”
(Photo: Patrick Semansky / AP Photo)
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