DENVER — Welcome to the Broncos Trivia Coaches Edition.
There’s been so much coaching news. Vic Fangio is out and Nathaniel Hackett is in. Hackett is replacing most of Fangio’s assistant coaches. Former head coaching candidate Brian Flores took time during his 58-page racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and its 32 teams to issue a disparaging paragraph about the Broncos’ interview techniques.
Here are 9 questions to test your knowledge of Broncos’ coaches as the team just finished its 62nd season.
As always, we grade on a curve.
- 5 correct answers: You’ve followed this team through thick and thin.
- 4 correct: You love the Broncos but you wonder whether Dan Quinn should have been the hire.
- 3 correct: You have been there since the Orange Crush defense of ‘77.
- 2 correct: Broncos history began with Elway.
- 1 or none: All that matters is which dip to bring to the Super Bowl party.
QUESTIONS
1. Who had the most combined seasons as a player and coach with the Broncos?
A. Gary Kubiak
B. Barney Chavous
C. Rick Dennison
D. Rich Tuten
E. John Elway
2. Who wound up with the most seasons as a position coach in Broncos history?
A. Mike Shanahan
B. Stan Jones
C. Joe Collier
D. Rich Tuten
E. Ed Donatell
3. Who has served as a Broncos player, coordinator and head coach?
A. Gary Kubiak
B. Kubiak, Red Miller and Dan Reeves
C. Kubiak and Mac Speedie
D. Kubiak, Wade Phillips and Vance Joseph
E. Speedie and Miller
4. Who was the first black coach, assistant or head, in Broncos history?
A. Charlie Lee
B. Charlie West
C. Rubin Carter
D. Maurice Forte
E. Barney Chavous
5. The coaching staff of the undefeated 1959 Western Illinois Leathernecks was led by Lou Saban and what two assistants who became future standout Broncos coaches?
A. Frank Filchock and Jack Faulkner
B. John Ralston and Red Miller
C. Mac Speedie and Red Miller
D. Red Miller and Joe Collier
E. Wade Phillips and John Ralston
6. Who are the only two Broncos coaches who have been named Coach of the Year?
A. Mike Shanahan and Dan Reeves
B. Shanahan and Red Miller
C. Jack Faulkner and Miller
D. Gary Kubiak and Dan Reeves
E. Mike Shanahan and John Fox
7. Who are the only former Broncos’ assistant coaches who later became a head coach in the Super Bowl with another team?
A. Raymond Barry and Jim Fassel
B. Ray Malavasi and Jim Fassel
C. Gary Kubiak and Jim Fassel
D. Dan Reeves and Jim Fassel
E. Dan Reeves and Gary Kubiak
8. How many losing seasons did Mike Shanahan have in his 14 seasons as Broncos head coach?
A. 7
B. 4
C. 5
D. 2
E. 1
9. Before hiring Vance Joseph as head coach and promoting Joe Woods to defensive coordinator in 2017, the Broncos had never had a black head coach (not including Eric Studesville, who was interim head coach for the final four games in 2010 after Josh McDaniels was fired) and had only three black coordinators in the first 57 years of their franchise history. Who were the team’s first three black coordinators?
A. Ray Rhodes, Keith Burns, Maurice Forte
B. Charlie West, Bobby Turner, Ray Rhodes
C. Barney Chavous, Frank Bush and Maurice Forte
D. Ray Rhodes, Vernon Banks, Eric Studesville
E. Ray Rhodes, Frank Bush, Ronnie Bradford
ANSWERS
1. C. Rick Dennison with 26 combined seasons with the Broncos, 9 as a player and 17 as a coach. Barney Chavous was next with 24 combined seasons, 13 as a standout defensive end. Then it was Gary Kubiak with 22 combined seasons, 9 seasons as a backup quarterback and 13 as a coach.
2. B. Stan Jones served 18 seasons with the Broncos as a defensive line coach from 1967-71 and again from 1976-88. He was a Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive guard and defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears from 1954-65. Tuten was next with 17 consecutive seasons as the Broncos’ strength and conditioning coach from 1995-2011.
3. A. Gary Kubiak. He was a backup QB to Elway for 9 years, an offensive coordinator under Shanahan for 11 years and head coach for two years. Kubiak was part of all three Super Bowl wins in team history, the first two in 1997-98 as offensive coordinator and 2015 as head coach. Kubiak was also part of three losing Super Bowls as a backup QB.
4. A. Charlie Lee. He made team history when he became running backs coach for first-year head coach Dan Reeves in 1981. He became the team’s director of public relations the next year, which made him the first black front-office executive in Broncos history. Charlie West was the second black coach in team history as he was Broncos’ defensive backs coach under Reeves from 1983-88. Rubin Carter, the Broncos’ great nose tackle, retired as a player following the 1986 season and became the team’s assistant defensive line coach in 1987.
5. D. Red Miller and Joe Collier. One of the best smaller college coaching staffs of all time, Western Illinois went 9-0 under Lou Saban, Miller and Collier. Miller was also a three-year starter for Western Illinois in the late 1940s. He became the Broncos’ head coach in 1977, leading them to their first Super Bowl appearance in his first year. Miller was 40-22 in his four years as Broncos head coach. Collier coached 20 years with the Broncos, primarily as their defensive coordinator.
6. C. Jack Faulkner and Red Miller. Faulkner was the UPI AFL Coach of the Year in 1962 when he led the Broncos to a 7-7 season – their only non-losing season through the first 13 years of the franchise. Miller is the Broncos’ only AP NFL Coach of the Year Award winner, an honor he received when he led the Orange Crush to their magical 12-2 record and Super Bowl appearance in 1977.
7. B. Ray Malavasi and Jim Fassel. Malavasi was a Broncos’ defensive line coach and briefly an interim head coach for the Broncos from 1963-66. He led the Los Angeles Rams to the 1979-season Super Bowl where they lost to the Steelers. Fassel was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator in 1993-94 who later took the Giants to the 2000-season Super Bowl, where they lost to the Ravens. Barry first took the Patriots to the 1985-season Super Bowl, then later became the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach in 1992. Reeves was never an assistant coach with the Broncos. Kubiak led the Broncos to the 2015-season Super Bowl but never took another team to the Big Game.
8. D. 2. In 1999, when Terrell Davis tore up his knee in Game 5 and the year after John Elway retired, the Broncos followed up their back-to-back Super Bowl championships with a 6-10 record. And in 2007, the Broncos went 7-9. Shanahan had 9 winning seasons in his 14 years as Broncos’ head coach and three seasons of 8-8.
9. E. Ray Rhodes, Frank Bush and Ronnie Bradford. Rhodes was the Broncos’ defensive coordinator in 2001-02. The “coordinator” distinction wasn’t given to the top special teams coach until 2007 with Scotty O’Brien. But before then, Bush was the Broncos top special teams coach from 2001-03 and Bradford from 2004-06.
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