Getty Denver Broncos general manager George Paton at a press conference.
Hours after the Denver Broncos fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett with a 4-11 record, two more coaches were shown the door as well.
According to Mike Klis of 9News in Denver, special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes and offensive line coach Butch Barry were also relieved of their duties on Monday, December 26.
Coaching firings at Broncos headquarters continues. Per source, coaches have been informed special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes and offensive line coach Butch Barry have also been dismissed. #9sports
The team announced that special teams assistant Mike Mallory will take over as the special teams coordinator while assistant offensive line coach Ben Steele will take over on the offensive line.
Mallory is near the end of his 36th coaching season and 14th in the NFL. Over the past eight seasons, Mallory was with the Jacksonville Jaguars while they ranked near the top of special team rankings year in and year out.
This is Steele’s ninth season coaching in the NFL. Most recently he coached with the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons.
Broncos’ Special Teams Struggles in 2022
Stukes was brought in to be part of Hackett’s staff and had a bigger influence on the roster than people realized.
Entering training camp, the Broncos brought in punter Corliss Waitman to compete with veteran punter Sam Martin who had been with the team for the previous two seasons. Stukes ultimately made the final decision to keep Waitman over Martin.
This season, Waitman ranks 22nd in gross average punt yards at 46.2 while Martin ranks 13th at 48.1 yards.
The field goal kicking has also been horrific for Denver.
Kicker Brandon McManus is having the worst season of his career by missing a total of 10 kicks and has made just 76.5% of his field goals this season.
In his second year as a special teams coordinator, Stukes’ return game has not been effective either. Denver ranked dead last in the NFL in kickoff return average of just 17.4 yards per return with their longest return being the NFL’s second-lowest 29 yards.
The Broncos punt return game has not been well either. Denver has averaged just 8.5 yards per punt return.
Broncos’ Offensive Line Issues
In 2021, the Broncos had Hall-of-Fame offensive lineman Mike Munchak on their coaching staff and is considered one of the best offensive line coaches in football.
Instead, Hackett decided that he wanted to move on from the guy who turned around left tackle Garett Bolles‘ career and turned him into an All-Pro tackle.
Hackett went ahead and hired Barry as the offensive line coach with Barry having served just two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers as an assistant offensive line coach and four more seasons as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Last season, Denver’s quarterbacks were sacked 40 times and this season, the Broncos’ offensive line has given up an NFL-worst 57.0 sacks with two games left in the season. Those 57.0 sacks are just 6.0 sacks away from tying a franchise record for most sacks given up in a single season dating back to 1963.
The rushing attack for the Broncos has not been special this season either. Averaging 107.5 yards per game ranks Denver 23rd in the NFL.
The Broncos also own the seventh-worst yards per carry average in the NFL with just 4.2 yards.
Sources have also told me that Barry turned a lot of heads the wrong way in the locker room and that players have had plenty of issues with him.
It’s fair to say that hiring Barry was the most questionable hire that Hackett made after being hired back in January.
With just two weeks left in the season, there will likely be more changes coming to the Denver organization.