Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton hired Mike Westhoff last month to serve as the team’s assistant head coach, with an emphasis on special teams.
Westhoff has served as a special teams coach with four other teams in the NFL, but the Broncos have Ben Kotwica set to serve as their special teams coordinator this year. The 75-year-old Westhoff will be available as a resource, not just on special teams but across the board in Denver.
“I consider him one of the best coaches that I have been around,” Payton said on Feb. 28. “I can remember introducing him to our team [when he was hired by the New Orleans Saints]. If not all of you, but some of you have covered this league long enough that would remember him — if you didn’t, you can’t vote, but if you did, I’ll let you vote — but he would be someone that would be right up there at the top, from a coordinator standpoint. A Hall-of-Fame-type coordinator. He’s got a unique personality.
“He’s a great teacher and he thinks outside of the box. I like those traits. For him, he’s fishing on the gulf coast of Florida, and I give him a call. It’s the same call I gave him a few years ago. ‘I wouldn’t do this for everybody, but all right. When does it start?’ He enjoys coaching and it will bring — for me, I always enjoy the veteran teachers. The guys that I consider to be real special. He will serve in a number of roles as we put in not only our special teams, but we put in our program. I think he’s got a great background, and he’s a great teacher.”
The Broncos’ special teams units have ranked near the bottom of the NFL in recent seasons. The arrivals of Kotwica and Westhoff should help fix that.
