When the Denver Broncos’ offense was struggling mid-season, then-head coach Nathaniel Hackett handed over offensive play-calling duties to quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak.
Hackett chose Kubiak over offensive coordinator Justin Outten. The results were not immediately apparent after Hackett gave up the role, but the offense did seem to improve a bit a few weeks later.
After Hackett was fired last week, interim coach Jerry Rosburg made another change at play caller, handing the job over to Outten.
After a 27-24 loss to the Chiefs, Rosburg explained his decision.
“I made the decision to move Justin in the box because I wanted Klint on the sideline with Russell Wilson,” Rosburg said. “That is a relationship, a quarterback coach and a quarterback. It is different. It is not that anything else is bad, but it is different. They see the game differently. I wanted Klint with Russell. I don’t want the plays called from the sideline.
“That is why I had so much confidence in Justin to put him up in the box and call the plays. I said this earlier, this is an example of what a team looks like where two men Justin and Klint, can sit in a room with me and everyone can put their egos aside. They are not worried about their resumes or how it looks on the outside and the social media world. Nobody is trying to enhance their resumes. They are just trying to win a football game and that is what those two men did. I have the utmost respect for how they handled it this week, and I would say the players they coach.”
Denver scoring 24 points against Kansas City marked just the third time the Broncos have scored that many points in a single game this season, so the switch was seemingly backed up with a positive result.
Rosburg has one more week in charge as the interim head coach, but if he continues to make smart decisions, he might just make himself a candidate for the full-time job.
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