Meet the new boss: Broncos’ Jerry Rosburg wastes no time making his mark

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — One of Jerry Rosburg’s first actions as the Broncos’ interim head coach was to dismiss special-teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes.

His reason was simple: The unit was terrible.

And when you spent 18 seasons as an NFL special-teams coordinator, you know better than anyone else whether it’s good or bad, to paraphrase one of Jim Mora’s famous press-conference spiels.

“I know special teams. I’ve been coaching special teams for a long time. We weren’t good enough,” Rosburg said.

“We were 32nd in the league in one of the metrics that I follow, and, if I’m not mistaken, there’s 32 teams in this league.”

Jerry Rosburg, on firing Dwayne Stukes: “I know special teams. I've been coaching special teams for a long time. We weren't good enough. We were 32nd in the league in one of the metrics that I follow, and, if I'm not mistaken, there's 32 teams in this league. …” pic.twitter.com/mPitcccFWS

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 28, 2022

That metric is Football Outsiders’ DVOA rankings. Meanwhile, in those same rankings, the Ravens ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in nine of his 11 seasons as their special-teams coordinator. Eight times, Baltimore finished in the NFL’s top five.

And three times, the Ravens were No. 1. In his final seven seasons as a special-teams coordinator, Baltimore never finished outside of the top four.

Lousy special teams are something Rosburg just doesn’t do.

“So, that had to change,” he said. “And the only way it was going to change was for me to insert myself right in the middle of that thing.”

Which is why Rosburg was in the Broncos’ special-teams meeting Wednesday.

“He was in those meetings today, implementing what he thinks is going to make us better,” ILB Alex Singleton said.

Special-teams assistant Mike Mallory still ran the meeting. But Rosburg’s presence was palpable.

“Jerry definitely had some input,” Singleton said. “It was really both of them communicating together.”

Having Rosburg at the front of the room was a first for the Broncos on special-teams this year.

Three months earlier, Stukes said that he leaned on Mallory and his mentor, Rams special-teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis for advice — and not Rosburg, the man with boundless institutional knowledge and a track record of success who now set up shop right there on the second floor of UCHealth Training Center.

So, Rosburg focused on game management. There was plenty to keep him busy, anyhow.

“I was digging in on game management and trying to do math with a bunch of guys that scored a 1600 on their SATs,” he said of the Broncos’ analytics department. “I can assure you I did not, so I had a lot going on in my life.”

And that meant focusing more on the offense, since most game-management matters rest there.

“I fully immersed myself in the offense. I really tried to learn our offense. I tried to learn the vernacular of our offense. There are so many more special situations on offense. I really worked hard on that, and that was where our focus was.”

Meanwhile, the special teams foundered.

“[Rosburg] might have been in the back of the room or whatever,” Singleton said of whether Rosburg attended any special-teams meetings before this week. “But I never saw him.”

Wednesday morning, that changed.

But Rosburg did more than just insert himself into special teams.

At practice, Rosburg focused on tight ends during the period open to media. In particular, he spent extra time working on blocking with tight end Albert Okwuegbunam.

The third-year player has just 2 snaps to his name from Week 6 onward. But he could be vital Sunday if a hamstring injury shelves rookie starter Greg Dulcich.

So, Rosburg did what head coaches without play-calling responsibilities often do during practice. He walked to a position group that needed some extra assistance and went into teaching mode.

It was Day 3 for Rosburg as a head coach — but only Day 1 of practice and team-wide meetings — and he looked to be in firm control.

Meet the new boss. Definitely not the same as the old boss.

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