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Heimerdinger to be Bronco's offensive coordinator
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
January 28, 2006
Former New York Jets offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, a longtime friend of Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and a former Denver wide receivers coach, will be in town Monday and will sign on the dotted line to be the team's offensive coordinator.
He will replace Gary Kubiak, who formally was introduced as Houston Texans coach Thursday, and accompany the Broncos coaching staff to Hawaii to coach the AFC team in the Pro Bowl.
Shanahan could not be reached for comment, but he had consistently said he was searching for continuity in the team's offense in -Kubiak's replacement.
Heimerdinger was released from his contract by the Jets on Wednesday. After head coach Herman Edwards left the Jets to take the head coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs, Heimerdinger had offered to forgo the final two years of the deal, leaving just more than $2 million on the table if the Jets would allow him to leave.
The Jets originally had said they were going to retain Heimer-dinger, who was hired by Edwards before the 2005 season. That was despite Heimerdinger's reluctance to stay after Edwards moved on to Kansas City and the fact newly hired coach Eric Mangini already had informally talked to others around the league about the position.
"That's going to be a good fit in Denver," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said from Mobile, Ala., where he is coaching the North team in the Senior Bowl.
Fisher hired Heimerdinger as the Titans offensive coordinator, and Heimerdinger served in that role from 2000 to 2004.
Heimerdinger, who was Shanahan's roommate at Eastern Illinois University, was the Broncos wide receivers coach from 1995 to 1999. His son Brian is a wide receiver at Colorado State.
Kubiak spent the past two decades as either a player or assistant coach with the Broncos. He was the only offensive coordinator Shanahan has had in his tenure as Denver's head coach.
Heimerdinger was calling plays in the Titans offense when Steve McNair shared the league's MVP award with Peyton Manning in 2003. Derrick Mason, who signed with Baltimore before the '05 season as a free agent, had four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons playing for Heimerdinger.
The Titans also were in the league's top five in time of possession in each of Heimerdinger's five seasons as coordinator.
And in 2004, a season during which McNair missed eight games because of a sternum injury for the 5-11 Titans, the team still had a 1,000-yard rusher (former University of Colorado running back Chris Brown) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Mason and Drew Bennett).
This past season the Jets, because of injuries, used four different quarterbacks on their way to a 4-12 record that led to Edwards' departure and Mangini's hiring as head coach.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_4423117,00.html
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
January 28, 2006
Former New York Jets offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, a longtime friend of Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and a former Denver wide receivers coach, will be in town Monday and will sign on the dotted line to be the team's offensive coordinator.
He will replace Gary Kubiak, who formally was introduced as Houston Texans coach Thursday, and accompany the Broncos coaching staff to Hawaii to coach the AFC team in the Pro Bowl.
Shanahan could not be reached for comment, but he had consistently said he was searching for continuity in the team's offense in -Kubiak's replacement.
Heimerdinger was released from his contract by the Jets on Wednesday. After head coach Herman Edwards left the Jets to take the head coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs, Heimerdinger had offered to forgo the final two years of the deal, leaving just more than $2 million on the table if the Jets would allow him to leave.
The Jets originally had said they were going to retain Heimer-dinger, who was hired by Edwards before the 2005 season. That was despite Heimerdinger's reluctance to stay after Edwards moved on to Kansas City and the fact newly hired coach Eric Mangini already had informally talked to others around the league about the position.
"That's going to be a good fit in Denver," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said from Mobile, Ala., where he is coaching the North team in the Senior Bowl.
Fisher hired Heimerdinger as the Titans offensive coordinator, and Heimerdinger served in that role from 2000 to 2004.
Heimerdinger, who was Shanahan's roommate at Eastern Illinois University, was the Broncos wide receivers coach from 1995 to 1999. His son Brian is a wide receiver at Colorado State.
Kubiak spent the past two decades as either a player or assistant coach with the Broncos. He was the only offensive coordinator Shanahan has had in his tenure as Denver's head coach.
Heimerdinger was calling plays in the Titans offense when Steve McNair shared the league's MVP award with Peyton Manning in 2003. Derrick Mason, who signed with Baltimore before the '05 season as a free agent, had four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons playing for Heimerdinger.
The Titans also were in the league's top five in time of possession in each of Heimerdinger's five seasons as coordinator.
And in 2004, a season during which McNair missed eight games because of a sternum injury for the 5-11 Titans, the team still had a 1,000-yard rusher (former University of Colorado running back Chris Brown) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Mason and Drew Bennett).
This past season the Jets, because of injuries, used four different quarterbacks on their way to a 4-12 record that led to Edwards' departure and Mangini's hiring as head coach.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_4423117,00.html