Broncos Hire Evero as Def. Coordinator, Stukes as Special Tms. Coordinator

The Broncos have officially hired 2 Super Bowl Champion Coaches to Coordinate their Defense and Special Teams. Thursday Ejiro Evero was named Defensive Coordinator, and Dwayne Stukes Special Teams Coordinator. Both Coaches have long relationships with Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett. Evero was his teammate at UC Davis, and both Coaches worked early in their NFL careers together in Tampa Bay, and Stukes, who won a Super Bowl as a member of the Bucs in 2002, also coached with both them as well in 2007.

Evero has been with the Rams since 2017 as their Secondary Coach and Passing Game Coordinator. But he’s learned at the hands of some of the best Defensive Coaches in the history of football including Vic Fangio, Wade Phillips, Monte Kiffin Dom Capers as well as Chargers

Last week before Super Bowl 56, Evero was asked about working with both Fangio and Staley: “Vic obviously has meant a lot to me, taught me a lot of football, learned a lot from seeing how he went about it, not only the Xs and Os but also the work ethic, the attention to detail, all the things that go on behind the scenes in terms of getting ready to do it.

Brandon meant a lot as well, when we transitioned from Wade to him, it was going back to a lot of what I had known, but hadn’t done in a while, kind of making that thing fresh, kind of that new perspective, kind of being the college flavor that he had been exposed to, to it.

Philosophically, the way we play now is what I believe in. But, at the end of the day, it’s all about your players. You gotta try to do the best you can with the players you have and put them in the spot that they can be their best self. Learning from the Vic Fangio, to the Wade Phillips, to the Dom Capers, Monte Kiffin, Brandon Staley, every good Coach I’ve been with that’s what they do. It’s not about so much about your playbook, it’s about what your players do best.”

Stukes broke into coaching with Tampa after retiring from football in 2006. He’s worked his way up, and in 2011 served as the Special Teams Coordinator with the Bucs, before bouncing from the Cowboys to the Bears, to the Giants, the Jaguars and then catching on with the Rams this past season, all in various assistant roles.

Joe DeCamillis was the Broncos Special Teams Coordinator when they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 50, and the son-in-law of the late Dan Reeves, just won the Super Bowl for the second time on Sunday. He's coached, then worked with Stukes for a long time. After cutting him in Atlanta, he admired Stukes' career as a player, and then he brought him to Dallas where he fulfilled the expectations DeCamillis had, impressing the Cowboys staff under Jason Garrett. He followed DeCamillis to Chicago, later Jacksonville, and then L.A. DeCamillis, reached by phone Thursday could not be more enthusiastic about the type of Coach the Broncos are getting to coordinate their special teams "for Nate" as DeCamillis put it.

"I just think he’s one of the bright young coaches…he communicates great with the players, and he was a big part of things, and you guys got a had coach. Obviously, I’m very close with Nate, when I had a chance to make a recommendation almost a year ago, I knew he'd be a great fit."

Evero was also asked last week about his former teammate, and said this about Hackett: “He is a dear friend, he’s a helluva football Coach," he said. "Denver should be excited for him because he’s gonna bring a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. He’s a relentless worker, he’s extremely detailed, extremely innovative, always thinking ahead, thinking forward, thinking of new ways to do things. They should be excited. He’s also gonna bring accountability. People are gonna see the energy, the goofiness at times, but I think a lot of players that have played for him, will attest to how he’s very direct, how he takes things head on. He doesn’t shy away from anything. They’re gonna get a really complete football Coach, so I’m really excited for him and his family."