ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There once was a story about a Chicago baseball writer named Jerome Holtzman.
The story goes that Holtzman’s editor called him about the frequent use of his baseball clichés.
Third sacker. The Hot Corner. Backstop. Toe the bump. The keystone combo.
The editor suggested Holtzman no longer use these clichés.
What do you mean? Holtzman responded. Those are my words. I came up with those terms.
Holtzman, who did come up with the “save” statistic and definition that is still used today, had been a ball writer for so long that he invented the terms that were so widely used until they eventually became clichés.
Mike Westhoff is the Jerome Holtzman of NFL special teams.
“My job is so different from the job I believe I helped create,’’ Westhoff said Wednesday following a Broncos’ minicamp practice.
Job you helped create?
“Special teams coordinator,’’ Westhoff said. “You know me, I’m a little cocky, I think I did create it. You say that and all the other special teams coaches will all be mad. Which is good, I like when they’re all mad at me.’’
For the second time in ten years, the 75-year-old Westhoff has come out of retirement as an NFL coach to help run a team’s special teams units. Not just any team. Sean Payton’s teams. Westhoff was an NFL special teams coach for 30 years when he retired after the 2012 season with the New York Jets. Five years later, midway through the 2017 season, he got a call from Payton, who was then head coach of the New Orleans Saints who were sitting 7-2 with a seven-game winning streak.
“I knew who he was of course but I’d never met him,’’ Westhoff said. “To tell you the truth the only name I knew on the whole team was Drew Brees. I didn’t know anybody. Sean said he thought they were really good and he was disappointed in their special teams and he wanted me to come in and do it. So I did it. We didn’t fire anyone. But I took it over. And it worked. And I had a ball. I liked Sean. I liked the way he does things. I liked our football team. We should have gone to two Super Bowls because we were damn good. We were good. And it was fun. I went in there they were 31st and when I left we were first so I’m proud of that.”
He was with the Saints a year-and-a-half when he retired again after New Orleans lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Rams in the 2018-season NFC Championship Game. This time, Westhoff is four years out from last coaching. Payton carried on with the Saints until after the 2021 season, when he stepped away. Payton returned for the 2023 season, this time to lead the once-proud, but recently struggling Denver Broncos. Westhoff was hired almost as soon as Payton was.
Only instead of carrying the title he created, Westhoff is listed as Assistant Head Coach, albeit under the special teams department.
“After he left he said one day he might want to go back and he said look if I come back I want you to come with me,’’ Westhoff said. “I’m thinking, are you serious? And then he called. And I said, ‘OK, I’m going to do it.’ Because I had so much respect for him and what he did, and then my role with him to help him out, to get some things going, to get Ben Kotwica here, Chris Banjo who had played for me. So it’s kind of like a reunion for me. I wouldn’t have done it for anyone else but for Sean. I said I’ll give him a year. And it’s fun, I enjoy it.’’
Kotwica, a special teams assistant for Westhoff with the Jets, has the Broncos’ special teams coordinator title. Banjo, who retired earlier this year as an NFL player, is the Broncos’ assistant special teams coach. Westhoff scoffed at the suggestion he has joined the Broncos as a special teams “fixer.’’
“No I’m not,’’ Westhoff said. “I only agreed to come for a year. After a year they’d be probably be happy to get me the hell out of here. But no, I want to be an integral part of this team and this program.
“I’ll give you a good statistic for me. In my last six years in the National Football League as a coach – now I’m going to count the one game, you might not count it this way, when we lost to Minnesota, but I’ve been in four championship games in six years. So I’m used to being with a good football team … and trust me, Sean Payton knows how to build one. So I’m here to help.”
Westhoff refers to the Jets reaching the AFC Championship Game under Rex Ryan in 2011-12, the Saints losing the “Minnesota Miracle” divisional playoff game in 2017, and then New Orleans losing to the Rams in the NFC Championship Game in 2018. Westhoff has never coached in a Super Bowl, so you can figure out how those postseason games finished.
Speaking of figuring it out, Westhoff wrote an autobiography called “Figure It Out, My 32-year Journey while Revolutionizing Pro Football’s Special Teams.” Published last year, it’s 432 pages long. Between special teams diagrams and his rich life story, there was much to tell.
Westhoff was the Baltimore Colts’ special teams coordinator – it wasn’t called coordinator, then, as Westhoff was one of Frank Kush’s assistants who coached the offensive line, tight ends and special teams -- at a time when the Colts drafted quarterback John Elway with the No. 1 overall draft pick. Elway forced a trade to the Broncos with Westhoff stating in the book he thought the team should have instead drafted Dan Marino.
In 1988, while in the midst of working for Don Shula with the Miami Dolphins, Westhoff nearly lost his left leg to cancer and a surgical mishap. In 2007, a cracked bone in his left femur resulted in Westhoff having a titanium rod inserted to replace the femur. He walks and fast shuffles through the Broncos’ special teams’ coverage drills with a bit of a hitch as he barks instructions, but otherwise he gets around better than many people 15-20 years younger.
“I’m doing fine. I’m doing great,’’ Westhoff said, rubbing his tanned left leg. “I’m not ready to run up and down the place but I’m doing fine. Thank you for asking.”
Westhoff deferred to Payton and general manager George Paton the question about last month’s release of veteran kicker Brandon McManus. The Broncos have since signed Elliott Fry as their kicker with Randy Bullock getting a minicamp tryout this week.
“I like who’s here,’’ Westhoff said. “That’s who I care about. I’m going to work with who’s here. And if they’re not good enough, we’re going to try and get someone a little bit better.’’
Westhoff said the Broncos’ special teams units – which have struggled mightily in recent years – are better than he expected. Third-round draft picks Drew Sanders and Riley Moss will help, as will free-agent signings Mike Burton, Tremon Smith, Samaje Perine and Chris Manhertz. So what is Westhoff’s goal for the Broncos’ special teams this year?
“That we finish first in the league,’’ he said. “That’s it. That’s what I care about. I don’t want to have penalties. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to make big plays. You don’t have as many opportunities today as you did. I’ll give you the number. My first 30 years as a coordinator in the National Football League, not counting PATs and field goals, I averaged 22 plays a game. 22. Punts, kickoffs.
“When I went to the Saints (in 2017-18)? Seven. But the Saints kicked off indoors and we didn’t punt too much. But the point is the number of opportunities is reduced. So I have to take every opportunity to see if we can’t make the best of it. That’s my goal."
“Do I have as many chances as I used to? No, I don’t. But so what. I want to do everything. We do a lot. You watch us we do a helluva lot of things. I’m not afraid to run fakes. We try things. We’re going to work at it. I have a real high bar. I don’t want to spend the rest of my retirement years when I’m ranked freakin’ 23rd or some crap."
It’s not hard to figure out. Even if he wasn’t the creator of the special teams coordinator position, Westhoff is a one-of-a-kind.
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