Before what ended up being his final season with the Denver Broncos, Vic Fangio hired Christian Parker as the club’s defensive backs coach in 2021.
Fangio was fired after that season and the team’s next coach, Nathaniel Hackett, kept Parker on his staff in 2022. Hackett lasted less than a full season before he was also fired. The club’s next coach, Sean Payton, also kept Parker on his staff in 2023, and he also attempted to bring Fangio back as a coordinator.
Fangio did not want to return to Denver, so Payton ended up hiring Vance Joseph instead. Parker stuck around for one season under Joseph before asking to leave this spring to reunite with Fangio, who now coaches with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Broncos could have blocked Parker’s lateral move — he’s now a “passing game coordinator,” a title Denver easily could have given him — but Payton let the coach exit.
“Christian was with us and he got promoted,” Payton said at the NFL combine on Feb. 27. “[The Eagles are] getting a bright young coach. Obviously, Vic knows him because he’s work with him before. Christian’s really sharp. I’d say his degree, if you will, in defensive football is in that scheme.
“He was a pleasure to work with. I’m excited that he has that opportunity. Vic and I talked at length about Christian. He was one of the coaches that we kept from last year’s staff.”
Broncos general manager George Paton was also full of praise when asked about Parker at the combine.
“Christian is outstanding,” Paton said. “He’s young, poised beyond his years. Very good teacher. I don’t know how old he is but he came in here to coach Justin Simmons, Pat Surtain and Kareem Jackson. I would just say he’s a really good teacher.
“In regard to me, he’s a very good evaluator and when we got involved in the draft process, free agent process, he was outstanding as an evaluator. I feel like [the Eagles] really got a star in Christian Parker.”
To replace Parker, Denver hired Jim Leonhard as their new DBs coach.
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