ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — During his first interview with Paton’s Platoon at a Green Bay hotel in mid-January, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett promised a diverse staff if hired as the Broncos’ new head coach.
George Paton and his head coach search committee liked what they were hearing as greater diversity is something the Broncos needed with their coaching staff.
Hackett became Paton’s choice 12 days later and since then has delivered on his promise. When Mateo Kambui and AC Carter were recently hired as assistants, Hackett’s 22-person staff now includes 10 Black coaches, including two coordinators. That’s 2 ½ times more than the four Black coaches, none of whom were coordinators, on Vic Fangio's staff in 2021.
The Black assistant coaches include defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes, plus position coaches Tyrone Wheatley (running backs), Jake Moreland (tight ends), Chris Parker (defensive backs), Marcus Dixon (defensive line) and Ola Adams (assistant defensive backs), plus Ramon Chinyoung (offensive quality control), Carter (defensive quality control) and Kambui (assistant).
Hackett’s assistant coaching group, while questioned for its relative inexperience, has also drawn praise for its young, fresh idea approach that now boasts one of the league’s most diverse staffs. The inclusive hiring comes at a time when fair or not, the Broncos have been in the middle of the NFL’s latest racial diversity hiring issue.
Brian Flores, who is Black, filed a racial hiring discrimination lawsuit last month against the NFL that also specifically named the Broncos, New York Giants and Miami Dolphins. The Broncos and specifically then general manager John Elway were accused of conducting a “sham interview” of Flores during the team’s head coaching search in 2019 that resulted in the hiring of Fangio.
Flores was hired a few days after his Broncos’ interview by the Miami Dolphins, who fired him as head coach last month despite posting back-to-back winning records. The Broncos and then Elway each issued statements that blasted Flores’ characterization of their January 2019 interview in a Providence, R.I. hotel conference room. Flores was just hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebackers and senior defensive assistant coach.
The Broncos are also in the midst of selling their team via auction, a process that caused NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to the state during his Super Bowl press conference 10 days ago that he’d like to see the team wind up with minority ownership. The only investor who has so far publicly stated an intention to bid on the Broncos is Byron Allen, a Black media mogul who recently told 9NEWS two weeks ago he has a “Who’s Who” of investors to aid his proposal.
Fangio assistants find jobs elsewhere
Not including the Loren Landow-led strength and conditioning department, Hackett’s new coaching staff includes just three holdover assistants from Fangio’s staff – Parker, receivers coach Zach Azzanni and Bill Kollar, who is moving from defensive line coach to a consultant role.
The majority of Fangio’s fired assistants, however, have found jobs elsewhere. The latest where Chris Beake, Chris Gould and Justin Rascati. Beake had been a Broncos’ assistant since the start of the 2013 season and most recently served as defensive pass game coordinator. He is now linebackers coach for the Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams.
Gould had been the Broncos’ assistant special teams coordinator the previous five seasons. He now holds the same position with the AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers.
Rascati, the Broncos’ offensive quality control coach the previous three years, is now the assistant offensive line coach under Chris Kuper for the Minnesota Vikings. Kuper had been the Broncos’ assistant line coach under Mike Munchak, but Kuper is now in charge of Vikings’ blockers as part of new head coach Kevin O’Connell’s staff.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports