Sean Payton's mission to dramatically improve the Denver Broncos has seen him double down on aspects of the team that have been recurring problems.
Several years of dismal special teams in Denver had to be addressed, but by tempting third-phase guru Mike Westhoff out of retirement to fill an assistant head coach role, Payton showed his determination to make meaningful change.
Westhoff pretty much wrote the book on coaching special teams in a career that started way back in 1974. Experience certainly helps, but he also has formidable energy and remarkable levels of swag for a man who is now 75 years old.
Payton hasn't been afraid to assemble strong personalities on his first coaching staff in Denver, and in Westhoff, he perhaps has one of the sassiest and most confident wingmen in the entire league.
“My job is so different from the job I believe I helped create,” Westhoff said via 9NEWS' Mike Klis. “Special teams coordinator. You know me, I’m a little cocky, I think I did create it. You say that and all the other special teams coaches will all be mad. Which is good, I like when they’re all mad at me."
Westoff's impact is already being felt among Payton's hand-picked coaches to turn things around on special teams. Ben Kotwica has the official title of special teams coordinator, so getting to work with an expert like Westhoff is working out well so far.
"It's been a great dynamic," Kotwica said last week. "For background there, Mike and I worked together and had a lot of success together during our days in New York with the Jets. He's been doing it for such a long time, and he's been a great mentor and friend.”
Coaching special teams means creatively working the bottom of the roster to find unselfish players who are willing to put their bodies on the line. Payton's work remains ongoing as he fleshes out the top end of the roster, while, over on special teams, Westhoff believes he has the makings of a decent talent pool already.
"Of course, we drafted a couple guys, [and] we signed two free agents that I love," Westhoff told Klis. "We got a punter. We have some ingredients. It's [the job of] Ben and I and Chris [Banjo] to put it together. We're not far off. We're getting close."
If the Broncos are going to close the gap in the powerful AFC West, a clean brand of special teams will be paramount. Westhoff knows all too well that he must eliminate the mistakes which have dogged the unit, and ultimately cost a succession of assistant coaches their jobs in Denver.
While it will provide an essential starting point, when asked about how he defines success on special teams, Westoff didn't waver and set out some pretty ambitious targets at the same time.
“That we finish first in the league,’’ Westhoff told Klis. “That’s it. That’s what I care about. I don’t want to have penalties. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to make big plays."
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