Sean Payton finalized his Denver Broncos coaching staff last month with a final round of hires that included new senior defensive assistant Joe Vitt, a 68-year-old coach who came out of retirement to assist defensive coordinator Vance Joseph this season.
Vitt’s coaching career started with the then-Baltimore Colts as a quality control coach in 1979. He went on to coach with eight more NFL teams, primarily working with safeties and linebackers as a position coach.
When Payton was hired by the New Orleans Saints in 2006, he brought Vitt in as an assistant head coach and linebackers coach.
“He’s a tremendous communicator with players, probably the most important hire I made in New Orleans back in ‘06,” Payton said of Vitt at the NFL owners’ meetings on March 27. “He’ll be a good asset for our team.”
Vitt coached with the Saints from 2006-2016, serving as an interim coach during the 2012 season while Payton was suspended. After that, he later coached with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
Vitt last coached in the NFL in 2020. He will now reunite with Payton in Denver.
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