The Broncos have fired special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica, a source told The Denver Post on Friday.
Kotwica was hired by Denver in 2023 and has been credited with transforming the special teams unit to one of the best in the league. This season, the Broncos ranked first in punt return yards (15.7), 15th in kick return yards (28.0) and sixth in field goal percentage (91.2%).
Denver was also seventh in punt attempts pinned inside the 20-yard line with 33.
Despite the special teams success, the blocked field goal attempt in Week 10’s loss to the Chiefs left a major stain. Kansas City linebacker Leo Chenal stormed through the left side of Denver’s line as part of an overload rush and deflected Wil Lutz’s attempt in the closing seconds of a crushing 16-14 loss.
The Broncos’ special teams unit also didn’t have the cleanest performance in the wild-card loss to the Bills last week. Denver perfectly executed a fake punt when punter Riley Dixon threw a 15-yard pass to Marvin Mims Jr. on fourth down in the second quarter. But kicker Wil Lutz missed a 50-yard field goal attempt while the punt unit gave up 59 yards on two attempts from Ty Johnson.
Before joining the Broncos, Kotwica was a special teams coordinator for the Jets, Commanders and Falcons. He served as an assistant special teams coach for Minnesota in 2022.
This story will be updated.
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