The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver, Colorado. They are members of the West Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team began playing in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL merger. The team has played their home games at Empower Field at Mile High since 2001. [1]
There have been 20 head coaches for the Broncos franchise as of 2023. The franchise's first head coach was Frank Filchock, who coached until 1961. [2] Mike Shanahan is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season games coached (208), the most regular season game wins (130), and the most playoff game wins (8). [3] Shanahan and Dan Reeves, are tied for the most playoff games coached (13). [3] [4] Shanahan was the first Broncos head coach to win a Super Bowl following the 1997 season, and repeated the feat following the 1998 season. The Broncos next Super Bowl victory was for Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season under the leadership of coach Gary Kubiak who had previously played for Denver and served as an assistant coach. Jack Faulkner, John Ralston, Red Miller, and Reeves have been named the United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year, at least once with the Broncos. [5] Filchock, Faulkner, Mac Speedie, Jerry Smith, Ralston, and Miller spent their entire coaching careers with the Broncos. [2] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Speedie, Ray Malavasi, Miller, Shanahan, and Kubiak had been assistant coaches with the Broncos before they became head coaches with the Broncos. [11] The most recent head coach of the Broncos was Sean Payton, who was hired on January 31, 2023.
# | Number of coaches [N 1] |
Yrs | Years coached |
First | First season coached |
Last | Last season coached |
GC | Games Coached |
W | Wins |
L | Loses |
T | Ties |
Win% | Win – Loss percentage |
* | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Broncos |
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquartered in Dove Valley, Colorado.
Michael Edward Shanahan is an American football coach serving as an offensive consultant to the New York Jets, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led the team to two consecutive Super Bowl victories in XXXII and XXXIII; along with being the first Super Bowl championships in team history, they were the seventh team to win consecutive Super Bowls in NFL history. His head coaching career spanned a total of twenty seasons and also included stints with the Los Angeles Raiders and Washington Redskins. He is the father of San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Daniel Edward Reeves was an American professional football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third most for an individual. He was a head coach for 23 seasons, a position he held with the Denver Broncos from 1981 to 1992, the New York Giants from 1993 to 1996, and the Atlanta Falcons from 1997 to 2003. As a player, he spent his eight-season career with the Dallas Cowboys, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1965.
John Fox is an American football coach and former player who previously was a senior defensive assistant for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach of the Carolina Panthers (2002–2010), Denver Broncos (2011–2014) and Chicago Bears (2015–2017) of the National Football League (NFL). He coached the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII and the Broncos to Super Bowl XLVIII.
Gary Wayne Kubiak is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a quarterback for the Denver Broncos before coaching, serving as head coach for the Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013 and the Broncos from 2015 to 2016 before stepping down from the position on January 1, 2017, citing health reasons.
Kyle Michael Shanahan is an American football coach who is the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, whose offense in 2016 led the league in points scored and helped the team reach Super Bowl LI. Shanahan became the head coach of the 49ers the following season, whom he has led to three division titles, four postseason appearances, four NFC Championship Game appearances, and two Super Bowl appearances.
Mac Curtis Speedie was an American professional football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL) for seven years before joining the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Canada. He later served for two years as head coach of the American Football League's Denver Broncos. A tall and quick runner whose awkward gait helped him deceive defenders and get open, Speedie led his league in receptions four times during his career and was selected as a first-team All-Pro six times. His career average of 800 yards per season was not surpassed until two decades after his retirement, and his per-game average of 50 yards went unequalled for 20 years after he left the game.
The history of the Denver Broncos American football club began when the team was chartered a member of the American Football League in 1960. The Broncos have played in the city of Denver, Colorado throughout their entire history. The Broncos did not win any titles as members of the AFL. Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the Broncos have won 15 division titles, and played in eight Super Bowls, following the 1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, and 2015 seasons. They won Super Bowl XXXII, Super Bowl XXXIII and Super Bowl 50. Their most famous player is former quarterback John Elway, starting quarterback in five Super Bowls and holder of many NFL records. The Broncos currently play in the National Football League's AFC West division.