The Denver Broncos have hired a new receivers coach, Ronald Curry, to replace Keary Colbert, who was fired after Denver’s 10-7 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, with the news reported by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk.
Colbert’s firing was part of a coaching purge that saw two other coaches join Curry in the unemployment line. The others were offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch.
Lombardi has been replaced with the promotion of former quarterbacks coach Davis Webb to offensive coordinatory, while Lynch was also replaced with the hiring of defensive backs coach Doug Belk earlier this week.
It’s a lot of turnover for a very successful team that came within a field goal of a Super Bowl berth, and it appeared to be the result of what Lombardi called “one of [Payton’s] moves” afer coaching for over a decade with Payton in New Orleans.
The receivers change seemed to be the result of several key drops against New England, despite the fact that wind made conditions difficult in the first half and a snow storm made the conditions close to unplayable for the offense.
Curry, meanwhile, also has a history that goes back to Payton’s New Orleans days. He’s been the quarterbacks coach for the Buffalo Bills for the last two seasons, but before that he was Payton in multiple coaching roles.
Curry was an offensive assistant (2016-17), the wide receivers coach (2018-20), the quarterbacks coach (2021) and the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator (2022-23). The 46-year old started his NFL coaching career as an offensive assistant with the San Francisco 49ers from 2014-15.
The receivers group is a source of some controversy going into this offseason. The group performed well, and Payton consistently talked up his young receivers during the season. Troy Franklin took a jump up after his rookie season, and rookie receiver Pat Bryant basically duplicated Franklin’s initial numbers and could also make a significant jump this season. Marvin Mims Jr. had some big plays as a receiver as well, but much of Mims’ value is as a return man.
The group does lack playmakers, though, which is where Payton may get restless given that primary receiver Courtland Sutton is basically a possession receiver with some downfield speed as well as the size to be a red zone threat. The Broncos also re-signed receiver Michael Bandy, who is basically a depth piece, although Bandy did have some significant catches in a limited number of snaps.