Sean Payton's Broncos Coaching Staff Poached Again by Vikings
The Denver Broncos may have finished 8-9 last season, missing the playoffs for the eighth straight year, but the NFL must love the coaching job of Sean Payton and his staff. That would seem to be the case on the defensive side of the ball, as Payton has now lost two assistants with the news of defensive line coach Marcus Dixon defecting to the Minnesota Vikings hitting the wire on Friday.
The Dixon departure follows hot on the heels of the Broncos allowing secondary coach Christian Parker to join ex-head coach Vic Fangio in Philadelphia. Parker was a young coach coveted by outside teams, as evidenced by the two defensive coordinator positions he interviewed for in this hiring cycle.
Perhaps the Broncos weren't as covetous of Parker's skill set, but he did leave a sterling resume behind in Denver. Patrick Surtain II developed into an All-Pro on his watch, while last season, two defensive backs emerged as playmaking starters in safety P.J. Locke and nickel Ja'Quan McMillian.
Dixon's unit has nowhere near the track record of Parker's. But it's not necessarily all Dixon's fault.
Dixon and Parker were the only two position coaches that Payton retained on the defensive side last year. But Payton didn't hire either. That's got to have something to do with the Broncos' willingness to let them hit the bricks.
Dixon's defensive line vastly underperformed in 2023, although the unit suffered greatly from a lack of talent and depth. Troublingly, highly-paid defensive tackle D.J. Jones took a big step back in 2023, while the Broncos oddly opted to go with Jonathan Harris as a starter.
Zach Allen was the unit's only success story, and even that is stretching it. Allen had some great stretches but wasn't exactly a high-impact playmaker up front. However, he was consistent and helped add an interior pass-rushing presence.
The defensive line was also a big reason for the Broncos' woes in stopping the run. Denver finished ranked No. 30 against the run last year, relinquishing a whopping 137.1 yards per game on the ground.
It's easy to see why Payton didn't feel the need to retain Dixon. The Parker thing, though, is a different matter.
After the Broncos invested in Parker's development as a coach through the NFL Accelerator Program, to just let him go because Fangio came calling it head-scratching. I can only assume that Payton wanted to get his own hand-picked guy in there.
But I doubt Surtain, Justin Simmons, or any of the guys in the Broncos' secondary lauded Payton's decision to let Parker walk. Dixon? I mean, how much worse can a defensive line perform?
The Broncos have nowhere to go but up by hiring a new coach to run the D-line. Still, happy trails to Dixon, who originally joined the Broncos in 2022 under then-DC Ejiro Evero. A former pro defensive lineman, Dixon takes three years of NFL coaching with him to Minnesota.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
