2013 Denver Broncos Training Camp Preview: Coaching Staff

The 2013 Denver Broncos coaching staff is a group that brings a wide variety of experience to the Broncos. Their NFL experience ranges from relative newcomers Brian Callahan, Sam Garnes and Luke Richesson -- who are all entering their fourth season as NFL coaches -- to head coach John Fox with twenty-five seasons of NFL experience to linebackers coach Richard Smith who can boast an astounding twenty-six NFL seasons. On the other hand, no-one on the coaching staff has been with the franchise for more than five seasons -- Jay Rodgers and Adam Gase are each entering their fifth season as a Broncos coach. In fact, only five of the current coaching staff (Gase, Rodgers, Callahan, Clancy Barone and Eric Studesville) predate the arrival of head coach John Fox in 2011. Nevertheless, given the improvement that fans have seen in their favorite team from 2011 to 2012, it can be said that this staff knows how to get a high level of performance from their players. Let's meet the 2013 Denver Broncos coaching staff:

Fox started as a college assistant coach in 1978. He worked his way up through the ranks, earning a position as an NFL assistant in 1989. He earned his first chance as an NFL Defensive Coordinator in 1994, working for the Raiders. He served in the same capacity for the St. Louis Rams in 1996 and for the New York Giants from 1997-2001. His first tenure as a head coach came with the Carolina Panthers (2002-10). He became the Broncos' fourteenth head coach on January 13, 2011.

In his nine seasons as the Panthers' head coach, Fox posted a 73-71 record and went 5-3 in the postseason. His Panthers won the NFC South division title three times (2003, 2005, 2008). They won the NFC Championship following the 2003 season but lost to the New England Patriots 32-29 in Super Bowl XXXVIII. In 2005, he led Carolina to the NFC Championship game, but the Panthers lost that matchup 34-14 to the Seattle Seahawks.

In his two seasons as Denver's head coach, Fox has led the Broncos to a 21-11 regular season record and a 1-2 postseason record. He stunned the NFL world by having Tim Tebow lead the Broncos to their first postseason win since 2005 when the Broncos defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-23 on the first play of the overtime period of their divisional matchup. Fox helped the Broncos acquire quarterback Peyton Manning for the 2012 campaign and guided Manning and the Broncos to a 13-3-0 regular season record that included an incredible eleven-game winning streak.

Fox stands as just one of the six currently active NFL head coaches who have 100 or more wins in their career. As a head coach and/or a defensive coordinator, Fox has participated in two Super Bowls and three conference championship games.

Fox has coached thirty players who have made a combined total of fifty-seven Pro Bowl appearances. The players he has coached to this distinction include such players as Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson, Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins, Peyton Manning, Julius Peppers and Michael Strahan.

In 2012, Fox became just the 10th head coach in the history of the NFL to guide a team to its divisional title in each of his first two years as that team's head coach. He also holds the distinction of being just the third head coach to inherit two different teams with losing records and go on to lead them divisional crowns the following season.

2013 will be Gase's first season as an Offensive Coordinator, after spending two seasons serving as the Broncos' wide receivers coach followed by two seasons as Denver's quarterbacks coach. Prior to joining the Broncos, Gase had spent three seasons as an offensive assistant coach with the Detroit Lions and one season with the San Francisco 49ers.

Gase assisted the Broncos' 2012 offense rank 4th in yards per game (397.9) and score an average of 30.1 points per game. That offense scored thirty or more points in eleven out of their sixteen regular season games. Gase helped Peyton Manning break every team single-season passing record during Manning's first season in the orange and blue. Gase assisted Manning in earning NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Associated Press 1st-team All-Pro, and Pro Bowl starter honors.

Gase was also a part of the success of quarterback Tim Tebow during Tebow's eleven starts in the 2011 regular season and the two postseason matchups. Under Gase's tutelage, Tebow threw twelve touchdowns and only six interceptions in the regular season.

As the Broncos' wide receivers coach (2009-10), Gase guided Brandon Lloyd to become the first Bronco to lead the NFL in receiving yards (2011 - 1,448) and helped Brandon Marshall earn a 2009 Pro Bowl appearance.

Knapp comes to the Broncos with a wide range of experience in terms of teams served, having worked for the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, and Houston Texans. He served as the offensive coordinator for the majority of those postings but did work as the quarterbacks coach for both the 49ers and the Texans.

During his coaching years, he has coached a total of twelve Pro Bowl players, including Steve Young, Jeff Garcia and Michael Vick. He was also instrumental in developing the skills of Matt Hasselback, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub and T. J. Yates.

Studesville has spent thirteen of his first sixteen seasons as a running backs coach. He worked with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Buffalo Bills prior to joining the Broncos' coaching staff. He served as Denver's Interim Head Coach following the firing of Josh McDaniels (Weeks 14-17 of the 2010 season).

His work with the Broncos' running backs in 2012 helped the Denver rushing attack rank 4th in the NFL for the season. The year before, Studesville helped guide the Broncos to the 1st-ranked NFL rushing attack.

As a running backs coach, Studesville has guided four running backs to a combined eight seasons of 1000+ yards. Denver/Baltimore/Buffalo running back Willis McGahee accomplished this three times -- under Studesville's tutelage -- New York Giants running back Tiki Barber accomplished this twice, Buffalo/Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch accomplished it twice and Buffalo running back Fred Jackson accomplished it once.

Tolbert joined the Broncos after spending time with the Arizona Cardinals, the Buffalo Bills and the Carolina Panthers. His work with the Broncos helped the team rank 5th in passing in the 2012 NFL season, as well as being a part of an offense that posted 30+ points in eleven out of sixteen regular season games. His work with receivers Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas was a contributing factor to their becoming the youngest tandem of wide receivers in NFL history to record 1000+ yards and 10+ touchdowns each in a single season.

Barone brought experienced gained through tenures with the Atlanta Falcons and the San Diego Chargers when he joined the Broncos in 2009. During those early years, he coached Atlanta's Alge Crumpler and San Diego's Antonio Gates to Pro Bowl appearances.

As a tight ends coach and a stint as Denver's offensive line coach, Barone has been instrumental in assisting Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen become the tight end duo with the fourth most receptions in franchise history as well as accounting for nearly 25% of the team's receptions in 2012. His work with improving the blocking skills of the tight ends in 2011 was a critical contribution to the team's league-leading rushing attack. During that same 2011 season, Barone was instrumental in developing center J. D. Walton and G/T Zane Beadles. Walton started all sixteen games as a rookie. Beadles, as a rookie, had at least six starts at each of two different offensive line positions with eight starts at left guard and six at right tackle.

Magazu worked with John Fox at Carolina and was recruited to join the Broncos by Fox following Fox's signing as the Broncos' head coach.

He inherited an offensive line that was the second-youngest in the NFL with an average age of 24.8 years but was able to mold them into a unit that was widely acknowledged among the NFL teams as being one of the best in the league by season's end -- they were a contributing factor to the Broncos' top-ranked (164.5 yards per game) rushing attack in 2011.

His work with Orlando Franklin led to Franklin starting all sixteen games of his first two seasons in the NFL -- and allowing just 3.5 sacks over those two seasons. Magazu's 2012 offensive line was tied for the second-fewest sacks in the NFL (with just two) and saw two of its players selected to the the Pro Bowl (Zane Beadles and Ryan Clady).

Callahan was recruited in 2010 to be a coaching assistant by then-head coach Josh McDaniels. He was given responsibility for offensive quality control during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He will be a general offensive assistant in 2013.

Callahan was part of the offensive successes of 2011 and 2012 mention above in other coachs' profiles. He served a brief stint as the Broncos' running backs coach when then-running back coach Eric Studesville was promoted to interim head coach for the final three weeks of the 2010 season.

A "offensive assistant" or "quality control assistant for offense/defense" is the NFL's equivalent to a college graduate assistantship. It is the NFL's "entry-level" coaching position. This type of assistant would spend some time working with a position coach to gain experience and are often given some on-field jobs during team practices. The majority of the job, however, falls in the realm of game preparation doing such things as statistical analysis, video study of opponents, breaking down the opposing defense (or if a defensive assistant the opposing offense), charting down-and-distance situations, charting field position situations and substitutions. Those analyses are then given to the offensive staff for game preparation. This is often a position that determines whether or not a given person will be able to make it as an NFL coach.

Cooter comes to the Broncos with experienced gained through working for the Indianapolis Colts and the Kansas City Chiefs. While with the Colts, he would have had the opportunity to work with quarterback Peyton Manning. During the 2010 season, Cooter helped Manning and the Colts lead the league in passing with 288.1 yards per game. In 2012, he was a part of the Chiefs AFC-leading rushing attack (149.7 yards per game).

Del Rio was John Fox's defensive coordinator during Fox's rookie head coaching season that saw the 2002 Panthers improve from a 1-15-0 record in 2001 to 7-9-0 and saw Carolina's defense improve from 31st in yards and 28th in points to 2nd in yards and 5th in points. The strength of that defensive turn-around led the Jacksonville Jaguars to select Del Rio as their head coach, a position that he served from 2003 to 2011. He rejoined Fox as Denver's defensive coordinator in 2012.

In his fifteen seasons as either a position coach, a defensive coordinator or a head coach, Del Rio's defenses have ranked in the NFL's Top-5 in yards five times and in the Top-5 in points six times. His 2012 Broncos defense finished 2nd in the league in yards per game, 3rd in passing yards per game, 3rd in rushing yards per game, tied for the league's lead in sacks (52) and gave up the lowest percentage of third down conversions among the thirty-two teams. The 2012 defense also dropped the points allowed from a 2011 average of 24.4 to 18.0 -- an improvement of almost one less touchdown per game surrendered to opposing teams.

Del Rio has coached fourteen players to a combined total of twenty-two Pro Bowl appearances. These players include Peter Boulware, Ray Lewis, Von Miller, John Henderson, Kris Jenkins, Marcus Stroud, Champ Bailey and Rashean Mathis.

Rodgers' defensive line contributed to the Broncos league-lead tying fifty-two sacks in the 2012 season. He guided Derek Wolfe in becoming just the second Broncos' rookie to start all sixteen games of his rookie season and record six sacks. Rodgers was a key contributor in helping the 2011 defense post improvements over the 2010 defense in nearly every statistical category. His work also contributed to the 2011 Broncos tying the San Francisco 49ers for the most defensive players selected for the 2011 Pro Bowl (Elvis Dumervil, Champ Bailey, Brian Dawkins and Von Miller).

Fun Trivia Fact: Jay is the older brother of Denver Special Teams Coordinator, Jeff Rodgers.

This current tenure with the Broncos represents Smith's second stint on the Denver coaching staff -- he worked with the Broncos special teams and linebackers from 1993 to 1996. During his years as an NFL coach, Smith has worked with the Houston Oilers, the San Francisco 49ers, the Detroit Lions, the Miami Dolphins, the Houston Texans and the Carolina Panthers.

As the Broncos linebackers coach, Smith helped Von Miller become the runner-up for the 2012 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, receive Associated Press' 1st-team All Pro honors and become the first Bronco ever to earn a Pro Bowl appearance in each of his first two seasons. He guided Miller to a performance that included 18.5 quarterback take downs and a finish that put Miller in the NFL's Top-5 in sacks, quarterback knock downs, quarterback hurries, tackles for a loss, run stuffs and forced fumbles.

Smith also helped linebacker Wesley Woodyard become the first player since 2007 to record 100+ tackles plus 5 sacks and 3 interceptions in a single season. Smith's linebacking corp was crucial in helping Denver's defense to trim almost a touchdown per game from opponents' scores.

Undlin came to Denver via the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent three years working for Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville. His work helped the Denver defense rank third against both the run and the pass in 2012. It also assisted the Broncos in being represented in the 2012 Pro Bowl with a player from each of the defensive units (Champ Bailey for the defensive backs, Von Miller for the linebackers and Elvis Dumervil for the defensive line). Undlin's secondary helped the Denver defense be the only NFL defense to not allow a 300-yard passer during the regular season.

Garnes was a key assistant for Cory Undlin and helped Champ Bailey earn his 12th Pro Bowl selection. He helped safety Mike Adams set career highs in tackles (80) and passes defended (11). Garnes also helped cornerback Chris Harris become a solid starter to pair with Bailey. Harris ended the season tied for the team lead in interceptions with three -- two of those picks were returned for touchdowns.

Beake joined the Broncos after spending time with the San Francisco 49ers, the Atlanta Falcons, the Seattle Seahawks and the Cleveland Browns. During his NFL coaching career he has worked on both sides of the ball. His most notable achievement was in helping develop linebacker Keith Brooking when both were with the Falcons.

Fun trivia fact: Chris is the son of John Beake, who served as the Broncos' general manager from 1984 to 1998.

Rodgers came up through the ranks working for the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers before joining the Broncos for the 2011 season. His work with Denver's special teams unit resulted in significant improvement during the 2012 season by first leading that unit to show improvement in nearly every statistical category during the 2011 season.

In 2012, the special teams unit under Rodgers' guidance recorded one of the best performances by a special teams unit in franchise history. Placekicker Matt Prater made over 81% of his field goal attempts and set a franchise record for the most points scored by a kicker (133). Prater's 65 touchbacks on kickoffs was the best in the NFL in 2012.

Rodgers guided Britton Colquitt to a franchise record for net punting (42.1 yards per punt) -- the record which Colquitt broke had been set by Colquitt in 2011. Colquitt's 42.1 net yards per punt was the best in the AFC and ranked him 3rd in the NFL.

He also helped Trindon Holliday to become a special teams impact player. Holliday led the NFL in kickoff return average (32.5), ranked 5th in punt return average (10.8) and became just the third Bronco to return both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown during the regular season. Rodgers' guidance also helped Holliday set three NFL postseason single-game records: longest punt returned for a touchdown (90 yards), longest kickoff returned for a touchdown (104 yards) and first player to have multiple returns for a touchdown.

Swinton joined the Broncos after stints with the St. Louis Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs. His work in 2012, in Kansas City, helped Chiefs' punter Dustin Colquitt (older brother of Broncos' punter Britton Colquitt) earn his first Pro Bowl appearance and helped direct a Kansas City special teams unit that forced three fumbles, blocked one punt and scored a touchdown.

RIchesson worked with Jack Del Rio for three seasons before joining the Broncos along with Del Rio in 2012. Richesson built his reputation in physical training while working as the director of Athletes' Performance (from 2001 to 2008). Athletes' Performance in an Arizona-based training facility for elite and professional athletes which addresses physical training, nutrition and physical therapy.While at Athletes' Performance, Richesson worked with 52 players who were chosen in the first round of the NFL draft -- including four that were chosen with the first overall pick -- as well as over 250 players chosen in the NFL draft.

Richesson advocates the use of adaptive training regimens, mixed martial arts and other modern workout techniques in his program.

Eubanks is a certified corrective exercise specialist and a certified strength and conditioning specialist who worked with Luke Richesson for three seasons in Jacksonville.

The Broncos official website lists George as Richesson's "top assistant." Before joining Richesson on the Jacksonville coaching staff in 2009. Prior to that, George spent twelve years as a head strength and conditioning coach at the collegiate level.

Lomando worked with Luke Richesson at both Athletes' Performance and Jacksonville. While at Athletes' Performance, Lomando worked with the Qatar National and Olympic soccer teams to prepare them for World Cup and Olympic competition.

John Fox appears to have assembled an experienced, qualified coaching staff for the development, training and success of the Broncos. We saw some of the dividends from his investment in 2012. Here's to seeing an even greater payoff in 2013.

Go Broncos!!!!!

More from Mile High Report:

• 5 Things I Want To See During The Broncos Pre-Season, #4
• Denver Broncos News: Horse Tracks - 7/19/13
• Broncos Have Nearly $8 Million in Cap Space Following Clady Deal
• Denver Broncos Countdown to Kickoff: 49 Days
• 5 Things I Want To See During The Broncos Pre-Season, #3