Report: Broncos Hire Former HS Coach as Defensive Assistant

The Denver Broncos are adding a first-time NFL coach to the payroll, hiring former Tuscaloosa County High School head football man Brian Niedermeyer in a defensive "quality control-type role," The Denver Post's Parker Gabriel reported Wednesday.

The Broncos have yet to officially announce the hire, however the school did confirm in a statement that Niedermeyer resigned his position "to accept an opportunity at a higher level."

"Tuscaloosa County High School announces today that Brian Niedermeyer, Head Coach of the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats, has made the decision to step down from his position in order to accept an opportunity at a higher level," the statement read, via Tuscaloosa News.

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Niedermeyer, 36, has over a decade of college and high school (but no professional) coaching experience. Notably, he served as Tennessee's tight ends coach from 2018-2020 and spent two seasons (2022-2023) as the defensive coordinator for IMG Academy, a Florida preparatory powerhouse.

In December, Niedermeyer was named head football coach at Tuscaloosa County (Ala.) after originally joining the program last year to be its defensive boss.

Niedermeyer is the second addition to the Broncos' staff this offseason, following new special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi. Among others, the club is still working to replace fired linebackers coaches Greg Manusky and Michael Wilhoite, and TEs coach Declan Doyle, passing game coordinator John Morton, and special teams assistant Chris Banjo — all of whom accepted NFL promotions elsewhere.

"We try to have a couple of young coaches on each side of the ball and maybe one in the kicking game that are in entry-level positions," Broncos HC Sean Payton said on Feb. 25 at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. "Then it gets back to… Obviously, coaching ability is important, passion is important and compatibility is important. All of those traits, as you are building a team, you are counting on from your coaches. I would say to some degree, it hasn’t changed much. I think I have certainly changed relative to how I look at the process. Some of the mistakes from years past from when I was younger may have been those mistakes where I was in a hurry or felt like I needed to be in a hurry. There are a lot of young, talented coaches at a number of different levels. We have taken our time. At some point here, we will announce the completion of our staff. We are not there yet, but you just have to be careful that it is not too many.”

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