ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Mike Westhoff had retired twice before as an NFL coach and he was about to call it good for a third time.
He had honored his one-year commitment to Sean Payton to help establish the Broncos’ special teams program for the 2023 season. And it was a good year. Broncos’ special teams improved from 25th in 2022, as graded out by veteran NFL reporter Rick Gosselin, to No. 7, the league’s second-greatest leap.
Overall, the Broncos finished 8-9 but that was a three-win improvement from the previous year. Westhoff had just finished his 33rd season as an NFL coach, mostly as a special teams coordinator, and after the final game was played, he was hours away from his 76th birthday.
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He would return to his Fort Myers, Florida home, spend his time with catch-and-release fishing hobby, and enjoy his Golden Years with the satisfaction of a job well-done.
Life was good for Westhoff, but there was still unfinished business. He wanted to help re-establish the Broncos’ winning tradition, and on a personal note, capture the one thing that has eluded him during his decorated career: A Super Bowl.
“I was getting ready to go home and Sean said, ‘Mike, we don’t want you to go,’’’ Westhoff said Tuesday in a sit-down interview with 9NEWS. “He said, ‘Stay one more year. Help us one more time.’
“So he brought me in and showed me some (special teams statistics) and he said, ‘Why would we want you to go for?’’’
With the NFL adopting a new kickoff rule that is such a drastic departure from a normal football play, Westhoff’s return became Westhoff to the rescue.
Outside of Broncos headquarters, not much is expected of this Denver team. National observers believe the $53 million dead cap hit from the release of quarterback Russell Wilson cratered the Broncos’ overall roster talent.
Some media analysts have even pegged the Broncos’ roster as the worst in the NFL.
But Payton and Westhoff see an opportunity with the new kickoff rule. The 53 years of combined coaching experience from Westhoff, Ben Kotwica and Chris Banjo, along with the return skills of Marvin Mims Jr., who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, have inspired hope the new kickoff rule will help the Broncos steal a game or two.
“We’re going to give it a shot,’’ Westhoff said. “This will add, I estimate, about 130 more special teams plays than we had last year. By the new rule.’’
Indeed, the ease of kickers reaching the end zone had made the touchback the norm, especially during Broncos’ home games at Mile High altitude.
“Everything was a touchback,’’ Westhoff said. “I could have covered last year. There was nothing to it. So it brings (the kickoff return) back.
“How it will work, I think I have a pretty good idea. There’s a lot of moving parts. There’s a lot of things you have to put together. … Last year we were ranked first the whole year and then we had the (muff) against New England. Best blocked return of the year by the way. I’d put money on that. But (Mims) led the league in punt returns. I want us to lead in both (kickoff and punt returns).
“Well if you could do that now what difference what that make? I think it might make a difference.”
Games coached, not age, is the Westhoff factor
The deal Payton made was Westhoff could stay at his Florida home through the offseason. They had a similar arrangement in 2018 with the New Orleans Saints. Let Kotwica and Banjo run the Broncos’ special teams units during Phases I, II and the OTA portion of the offseason. Then bring Westhoff back to lord over the units for the start of training camp.
The new kickoff rule, though, brought Westhoff – who has the job title of assistant head coach -- back Monday for the final week of OTAs and next week’s mandatory minicamp.
“He sits in the front cafeteria seat there waiting to talk,’’ Payton said. “When I walked in, he had 15 ideas on this new kickoff. I think it’s going to be pretty important, and I think it’s going to be significant, especially in the first five weeks of this season.’’
Even without the new kickoff rule, though, Westhoff was coming back. The NFL is otherwise going with younger coaches. Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick are no longer coaching at 72, leaving 66-year-old Andy Reid as the league’s oldest head coach. College coaches, tired of NIL demands and the transfer portal, have begun to migrate to the pros.
Almost all of Westhoff former colleagues have retired to the fruits of their labor. And yet he’s still coaching at 76.
“I am. I’ll give you one number that I keep track of. I’ve got 677 games,’’ Westhoff said. That includes preseason. “I count ‘em all. If we do it right, I can get to 700 and then that would be good for me. You’ve got to have 23 (three in preseason, 17 in regular season, three in postseason with a first-round bye).
“I like the challenge of it. I like the guys,’’ he said. “I have most of the guys back, most of the players. And there’s always a couple guys who are new and exciting. It gives you something to look forward to so I said I’m not going to do it forever, I know that. But I felt good about it. I felt comfortable.
“Obviously, you’ve got a guy like Ben Kotwica who is the coordinator. He’s done it, so it’s in good hands. And Chris Banjo played for me so I know when I’m gone, they’re right there doing it.’’
Another reason why Westhoff returned is he believes the Broncos can be a much better team than many believe. The oddsmakers have the Broncos’ over/under win total at 5.5. Depressing considering there are 17 games. Game by game, the Broncos are favored in only two of 17.
“We’re not by any means perfect but it was headed in the right direction,’’ Westhoff said. “It’s a good group of young kids. When you look at the team you can look at it different ways. I’m in Florida and I read every day. I read all your articles. So I’m reading about all the prognostications, what they think. Nobody has us at the top. But then I look at it and you say why would you want to go back? Well, we beat some good teams.
“I believe that team can make some changes and move forward. And I want to try to help.”
The kickoff rule personified
Fans will need a while to grasp the new kickoff rule. The kickoff will come from the kicking team’s own 35 yards line, like before. But the 10 other players on the kickoff team will line up on the receiving team’s 40. Nine players on the receiving team will line up across from them at the 40.
Those players can’t move until the booted kickoff either hits the ground or is touched by the returner.
Two returners will be placed between the goal line and 20. If the kicker doesn’t kick the ball to the return zone, the offense gets the ball at the 40. If the kicker boots a touchback, the ball comes out to the 30.
The disadvantages created from not allowing a return logically figure to increase the number of returns.
“You’re going to see, I call it Dirty Ball,’’ Westhoff said. “The kickoff is going to be a line drive. If you pick it up clean, I think you’ve got a chance. If you’re back there trying to pick up the ball, it goes to the coverage.’’
The “tag up” rule for the players at the 40 will no doubt result in penalties from a player or two leaving too early.
“I agree,’’ Westhoff said. “We’ve really worked hard – and I’m big on penalties. We don’t get many. If we get penalties I’m tough on the guys. So we study it. It’s a little bit like tagging up on a fly ball, Sean’s used that analogy. There is some timing involved.’’
Payton is counting on Westhoff to figure out the new kickoff play sooner than others. After all, under the old rules, Westhoff’s New York Jets returned 16 kickoffs for touchdowns from 2001-2012, most in the NFL during that span.
“I used to have a sign in my office,’’ Westhoff said. “Every special teams coach should have it: ‘You can’t win with the players you don’t have.’ So quit complaining. We didn’t have Devin Hester. But we had nine guys that led the league in returns with the Jets. We had one last year here (in Mims). We’re going to figure a way to make it work. It’s a great challenge, and it’s still fun.”
There’s no reason for concern Westhoff is so old-school he can't adjust to change. To the contrary, the new kickoff rule reinforces Westhoff was well ahead of his time.
“Way back when I started this, I started a kickoff coverage drill – I realized pretty quickly that I had to shrink the field,’’ Westhoff said. “When you practice kickoff coverage, you can’t have them run 50 yards every play. You can’t do it, you don’t have the time.
“So we would kick off from the 40 in practice, our blockers were on the 20 and we’d use the hash to the sideline and we’d do it every single week.
“We did it last year. Come on, we had the second-best punt coverage and one of the best kickoff coverage. So in some ways, this play is my drill personified. So I think in some ways it’s a little bit of an advantage because this is what we do. We did it last year every single week. Every Thursday we’d run that drill.”
The ultimate goal
So what is Westhoff’s goal if 2024 should be his last hurrah? First off, it may or may not be his last hurrah.
“I don’t know if it is or not. I’ve said that so many times,’’ he said. “Everybody tells me, ‘Yeah you always say that.’ I want to be – see, I take tremendous ownership. I want to be a contributing factor in a win. Every week. I don’t care if it’s one play. It might be a field goal. If you have a kick you have to make it. You make a tackle, you do something. You’re a positive contributing factor.
“The teams that I’ve been on that were pretty good… We always contributed. I had a good group of guys that helped.
“Were they perfect? No. But they helped. And so that’s my goal to be that kind of contributing factor. If it goes the other way I’m the most miserable son of a gun ever. Somebody said, ‘Boy they’re really happy to have you back.’ I said, ‘Not everybody.’ Because I’m not afraid to be a little critical.
“But I like this group of kids. They seem enthusiastic. all those things add up to be a little excited.”
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