Denver Broncos Head Coach John Fox on Thursday announced two more additions to his coaching staff for the 2011 season, appointing Jeff Rodgers as special teams coordinator and Adam Gase as quarterbacks coach.
Jeff Rodgers (Special Teams Coordinator): Rodgers enters his eighth NFL season after working for Fox in Carolina for two years, including serving as the Panthers' special teams coach in 2010. Under Rodgers in 2010, Carolina's special teams posted improvements in nearly every statistical category from the previous season, including punt return average (9.6), kickoff return average (21.9) and opponent starting field position after kickoffs (25.0). He also spent five seasons coaching special teams with San Francisco (2003-07) before a one-year post as special teams coordinator at Kansas State University in 2008. Rodgers started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Arizona from 2000-01. His older brother, Jay, is entering his third season on the Broncos' coaching staff and will serve as a defensive quality control coach in 2011.
Adam Gase (Quarterbacks): Gase, who enters his seventh NFL season and third with the Broncos, will coach the quarterbacks after two years instructing the team's wide receivers. Gase, who coached a Pro Bowl receiver in each of his two seasons with the club, including Brandon Lloyd who led the NFL with 1,448 receiving yards in 2010, came to Denver after one season as an offensive assistant at San Francisco. He spent his first three NFL seasons with Detroit, including a year as the Lions' quarterbacks coach in 2007, helping Jon Kitna total the sixth-most passing yards (4,068) in the NFL while becoming only the ninth player in NFL history to post consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons. Gase started his coaching career at Louisiana State University, where he spent three years under Head Coach Nick Saban.