Assistant head coach/quarterbacks Mike Heimerdinger is headed back to Tennessee.
The Titans hired Heimerdinger as their offensive coordinator on Thursday, one day after Head Coach Mike Shanahan gave Heimerdinger permission to interview with the Titans for the staff vacancy created by their dismissal of Norm Chow.
When Heimerdinger signed on as assistant head coach for the Broncos in February 2006, it marked a reunion as he had worked as wide receivers coach in Denver from 1995-99. His move to Tennessee is another reunion, as he worked as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2000-04 before spending a year with the New York Jets.
“Mike was at the top of my list and we are fortunate he was available to come back,” Titans Head Coach Jeff Fisher said. “We know each other very well and he is without a doubt the right person to help the offense take the next step.”
Heimerdinger’s departure is another jolt of change to the Broncos’ staff, which nine days earlier saw assistant head coach/defense Jim Bates step aside after he declined a move to linebackers coach after he oversaw the defense in 2007.
Good luck ‘Dinger’, I know Young needs someone to guide him out there. Shanny will probably promote from within again to replace the qb’s coach, or maybe he’ll decide to wear another hat. I hope Shanny takes the job on himself, he did a fantastic job with Young and Elway. You can leave braindead Billick out there floating for all I care. ANYONE that wants him in Denver needs to check themselves into a mental clenic. The guy didn’t exactly make great strides with his 300 qb’s in Baltimore he had now did he?
Peace Out Dinger. I hate to see him go in some ways, but I think in the long run it will be best for the team. I also feel the NFL should have the season be done for every team before it allows teams to make moves like this. Seems like it would be a little more fair. I thought it was BS that teams were contacting Dallas prior to the season ending (Miami I think).
Do we get anything out of this?
I don’t believe you get anything for coaches, only players.
C-Ya Dinger. This will not be difficult to overcome. He wasn’t really part of the game plan anyway. How about Elway coming back. Now that he is done coaching Jack he has the time. That would be amazing. What do you all think about bringing Bill Cowers next season? I hear he will be available.
Shanny can go upstairs with Ted and get back to evaluating,drafting, & signing long term talent. The offence will be fine but the defence with his plan would be awesome. The Dolts are not changing with alot of the starters under contract till 09. We need to get bigger on the lines. The changes in scheme would be great for us. I live in So. Cal. so please fix our team…..I can’t stand losing to them twice a year. Broncs4Ever
i dont think we will get anything for him cuz there probably wasnt much left on his contract, but draft choices have been awarded to teams whos head coaches departed before their contracts were up. when gruden went to the buccs oakland got two firsts and two seconds for him from tampa.
Best of luck Dinger…
I say Good Riddance. Our offensive play calling was the worst I can remember. The closest thing I saw to a Bronco’s offence this year was when we played Houston. The predictability was unbelievable, get into the red zone, then run 2 or 3 plays right up the middle. Then, kick a field goal (thank god for Elam) or throw a fade to the corner of the end zone and get zero points. I had a thought on John Linch, I hate to see him retire, but, if he does, make him the defensive coordinator. He knows the game and is a great leader. I think that would be the answer to the defensive problems. What ever happens though, I’ll bleed orange and blue forever.
Shanny has enough to do, for God sakes do not give him another hat to wear.
I will re-iterate, Bill Musgrave knows our offense frontwards, backwards, and sideways. He knows how Shanny thinks, he knows how Shanny likes to attack, it would be just like having Kubes back.
Give Rod Smith the ability to be on the sidelines and give the upstairs booth input on what the offensive players are seeing, a field co-ordinator with a headset.
Bates is presumed to be the new qb coach, no, not the old d man but his son. From what I read he’s an up and coming coach that Shanny thinks of very highly. I just hope he understand more than his old man, God KNOWS that defense was swiss cheese. “Should we blitz?” “Do you know who I am, that’s not what I do!”
Bates will be new OC and Dorrell will return as WR coach. We should get some kind of compensation seeing how this is not a Promotion in title and he was still under contract to us, right Mason?
GO BRONCOS!
I like a safety like Kenny in the 1st, a DT in the scond, dump Javon ASAP (20 games played in the last 50 and still whning for more), re-negotiate Travis, forget about Al Wilson- keep DJ in the middle, and draft an OLB, draft Ol depth late as they should be fine there in 2008. They need a #2 WR out of free agency as Stokley is a great #3. Good riddance to dinger who moves around alot. Maybe bring in Karl Dorrell if you can get him. Musgrave is not a bad idea. Bring back Quincy Morgan as returner, and run Mark Kisla out of town. Who doesnt he want fired? Shanny took Jake and the Browncos to the AFC Championship just two years ago and beat NE three times. Jim Armstrong should step away from the buffet line and quit writing his columns on coocktail napkins. And has Foxworth ever made a play? Always a second too late. Maybe 2009 is our year with Indy and SD fading. Thanks for allowing me to rant.
Actually, it is a promotion, he wasn’t our O coordinator. He was an assistant head coach/qb coach. I read Bates will be in charge of calling the offensive plays, but of course all of this has to go through the “mastermind” before it hits the field. I also read that Tony, Brandon and Jay C are headed to Atlanta for conditioning…..I see…. a bad moon rising…. I see…trouble on the way……. Maybe Mr. Romo would like to talk to Cutler about what being a pro really means. The season doesn’t end until AFTER THE PRO BOWL PECKERWOOD! B R O N C O S BRONCOS BRONCOS BRONCOS!
This really isn’t much of a surprise… on one hand I’m happy and then on the other hand I’m wondering if this was the right choice. There’s nothing we can do and the deal is done but I’m always going to wonder about this. I’m not quite sure what to say to this other than we better get someone that can do one heck of a job better than what we had going on this past season. Our young players are getting used to this but the coach also makes the difference and I just hope we can get a QB coach that knows what he’s doing. He’ll have the QB any coach could want to coach, with so mcuh potential, talent & leadership… we just need a coach that, again, knows what he’s doing. This ought to be another interesting off season… can’t wait to see the end product out of all this.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!
Seems like everyone is leaving Denver…… Go Lakers!! and Broncos
Norm Chow is a heck of an offensive coach…any shot they could bring him in? Seriously, he’s fantastic
Again, why bring in a guy that didn’t exactly do much in the NFL? You guys are asking about Billick and Norm, 2 guys with offenses in the 20′s. Get a grip people.
I’m missing something here and I’d really like to learn about it. If Shanny called the plays and wrote up game plans, what exactly did ‘Dinger do? I AM NOT saying he didn’t do anything, but I don’t understand what his role was. QB coach? Does that mean he’s the one that was supposed to be helping Cutler with accuracy and footwork? If so, I think he was doing a decent job of helping…Cutler did see a 4.5% improvement in completion percentage, but his overall QB rating dropped by .4. I’m just not sure there’s anything fans can attribute to Heimerdinger’s tenure, but I’m not sure that’s his fault either. Shanny keeps a pretty tight leash on the offensive strategy and I’m pretty sure he’s not letting that go until he hands head coaching over to Kyle in the next 3-4 years.
I’m a homer too, but I don’t like the idea of Elway as a QB coach. What Elway had was the ability to win no matter what. I don’t think that’s coachable. His QB rating, completion percentage, turnover rate weren’t nearly as magical as his willpower with 2 minutes left in the game.
There isn’t near enough statistical data on coaches. Since so many personnel changes occur, and the great majority of them seem transparent, I don’t think there is any real benefit to one Assistant Head Coach/QB over another…as long as they are philisophically prepared to ride on the Shanahan Express.
All that being said, and I really have used a lot of word to say very little, Mike should see if Kyle wants to come back to Denver. Lord knows he out-strategized his dad’s coaching staff this year. God Bless the NFl for being so nepotism friendly!
The way it worked was Dinger called the passing plays and Dennis called the ground game, but of course this all went through Shanny. Now Bates will be calling the passing plays and Dennis continues with the run calling. Bates will also be appointed as the qb’s coach. Lil Shanny just gor promoted to offensive coordinator out there so he’s not going anywhere. Dinger did a decent job with Cutler, but again I stress it’s up to the man to make himself.
I would first of all like to say we NEED NEW UNIFORMS!!!!!
Seriously new uniforms give a new attitude give new life to the team, look at the CHARGERS. anyway.
“Dinger” is a loss but we can do better. Shanny is a mastermind and we all have to have faith in him to make the right decision. We are on the outside looking in. I would however like to see a young fresh offensive mind like a GARRETT as our O Cordinator. I read that someone said we need to get an OL in the draft. Long from Michigan would be perfect. I think as a team we our getting younger and I like what the future holds for us. Personally I think we Need to let Walker go and get a great reciever in Free Agency. I know I will get a lot of flack for this but CHAD JOHNSON needs a new home. that would be awesome MARSHALL JOHNSON AND STOKLEY our new 3 Amigos. wishful thinking. but Rod Smith needs to be apart of our offensive coaching in some capacity I do belive that. oh yeah and last but not least lets say goodbye to Henry he didnt do what we needed. lets save that salary and share the carries with Young and Hall and see what we can draft or pick up in FA.
just my 2cents
I just want to see Rod Smith as a recievers coach. I dont think it gets any better than that! Also, I wish that we could have brought back Alex Gibbs as the O-line coach. After all he was the one who made the “Denver Broncos running game” what it was. I see that he is coaching in Houston now with Kubiak and the younger Shanahan. Seems like the Texans are turning into the old (good) broncos (coaching anyway). See Ya “Dinger”
we need cam cameron for oc im sick of losing to chargers we also need to trade javon walker to tennesee for albert haynesworth what an upgrade to d line that would be
I do agree that Denver needs to worry about their o-line. However, this is what I believe needs to happen over the off season (or non-playing season as Rich Eisen would say), because, as Denver’s offense might need some help, they were a lot more productive this year than the defense was. In the 1st round, draft a MLB (or bring back Al Wilson!…). This, in my opinion, is critical. They need someone who can come in and be a star automatically and run this defense. Someone like A.J. Hawk or somebody. Then move D.J. back out to OLB where he will be even better (I know he is developing as a good MLB, but that is not what they drafted him for and I believe he is even better as an OLB). And keep Gold on the other side. Also, make sure that they have a great 4th LB (maybe Winborn or Webster) because I think that they need to start mixing it up a little bit as far as the defense goes. Switch it up between 4-3 and 3-4 (kind of like the Patriots have done for a while now). In the 2nd round, I think they need to draft a Safety. Someone who can also come in and start right away and learn from the likes of John Lynch (hopefully he doesn’t retire this year). In the third round, this can go either way. This could be where I think they could draft an OL. But if they lose both Walker and Smith at WR, then I think they should maybe opt for a WR. Also, if Walker wants out, trade him for someone (not something) good (if not great). Maybe get a great, experienced DT for him to help out Thomas this next year. So that could go either way. I don’t think Denver should draft a DL this year. Maybe just trade or find one already out there. Then, there is this new issue (I think) at RB. What do you do. I don’t know if Henry is the answer. He looked great at first, but he got hurt and then he didn’t look so great. Maybe he can get back to normal again, who knows. I really liked both Young and Hall this year, but Shanahan doesn’t seem to think either one of them can carry the load themselves. And as much as I like the idea of a RB tandem, I like the idea of a single guy doing a lot of the work even better. So maybe they can find a gem later in the draft, kind of like TD was for them so very long ago…
[...] Andrew wrote a fantastic post today on “Heimerdinger Leaves for Titans”Here’s ONLY a quick extract… a reunion as he had worked as wide receivers coach in Denver from 1995-99. His move to Tennessee is another reunion, as he worked as the team’s offensive coordinator from 2000-04 before spending a year with the New York Jets. (more…) [...]
we need a great offensive mind that Cutler is good with….walker for haynesworth..as much as i want that to happen it never would…its a bad trade for them…a guy with bad knees for a top tier dlineman….we honestly need to get these guys hired quickly so there ready for the draft cuz all that changes daily with different coaches needs.
Norm Chow would be an excellent choice as a “O” coordinator or a QB coach. Most people probably don’t know who much about him. He started at BYU under Lavell Edwards where they won the National Title in 1984. BYU was known for great quarterbacks while he was at BYU. He coached Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, and Ty Detmer. All were succesful at the NCAA level, but two of those QB’s won Super Bowls (Young and McMahon). I think he would be great for “The Kid” personally. At USC he also coached Matt Leinart at USC. He has a pretty impressive resume.
That’s all we need. Haynesworth. Better watch out. No one will mess with our defense. If they do, they’ll get cleated on the face. But I do agree that IF Walker wants out for sure and they can’t convince him to come back (I don’t know why he wouldn’t want to, if he comes back, he’ll get used plenty) then trade him for someone great on defense.
If Walker can be traded the best option would be Washington, Tennessee is too smart to let a guy like Albert loose. He’s the clog in the middle and he was in a contract year, CONTRACT YEAR. Why does everyone keep asking for Norm Chow. What the hell did he do in the NFL that has impressed some of you so much? Great college coaches do not always make great NFL coaches, his offense struggled for 2 straight years and he got canned by Tenn. I don’t want another mans trash coaching the franchise of the future. You brought up Young, last time I checked Youngs career didn’t take off until Shanny took over the offense out there. The best bet is to draft one of those 6’5 330lbs. monsters and build from youth. Another RB would be great but I’d rather get a safety or an OLB in the 2nd round. The combine will show everyone the true size of the draft, college teams often inflate players numbers when it comes to size. I really like Adibi from VA Tech though if he comes in at 230lbs. The kid’s a ball hawk.
Because Norm Chow excells with a QB like Cutler. Not a run first QB.
i think its good he left i mean if your gonna clean house then do it
good ridance!!!!!! the play-calling sucked after the scripted plays by Mike and when he’d take over late in the game when we were behind….we need to find an old retired QB to call the plays the best of which would be John Elway but maybe a Drew Bledsoe or some1 like that we need a QB coach that has played in the pros and can relate to both Cutler and Mike. we should be able to find a good back in the 3rd round so the 1st should be a Saftey or DT the 2nd should be a LB
I do agree that Denver needs to worry about their o-line. However, this is what I believe needs to happen over the off season (or non-playing season as Rich Eisen would say), because, as Denver’s offense might need some help, they were a lot more productive this year than the defense was. In the 1st round, draft a MLB (or bring back Al Wilson!…). This, in my opinion, is critical. They need someone who can come in and be a star automatically and run this defense. Someone like A.J. Hawk or somebody. Then move D.J. back out to OLB where he will be even better (I know he is developing as a good MLB, but that is not what they drafted him for and I believe he is even better as an OLB). And keep Gold on the other side. Also, make sure that they have a great 4th LB (maybe Winborn or Webster) because I think that they need to start mixing it up a little bit as far as the defense goes. Switch it up between 4-3 and 3-4 (kind of like the Patriots have done for a while now). In the 2nd round, I think they need to draft a Safety. Someone who can also come in and start right away and learn from the likes of John Lynch (hopefully he doesn’t retire this year). In the third round, this can go either way. This could be where I think they could draft an OL. But if they lose both Walker and Smith at WR, then I think they should maybe opt for a WR. Also, if Walker wants out, trade him for someone (not something) good (if not great). Maybe get a great, experienced DT for him to help out Thomas this next year. So that could go either way. I don’t think Denver should draft a DL this year. Maybe just trade or find one already out there. Then, there is this new issue (I think) at RB. What do you do. I don’t know if Henry is the answer. He looked great at first, but he got hurt and then he didn’t look so great. Maybe he can get back to normal again, who knows. I really liked both Young and Hall this year, but Shanahan doesn’t seem to think either one of them can carry the load themselves. And as much as I like the idea of a RB tandem, I like the idea of a single guy doing a lot of the work even better. So maybe they can find a gem later in the draft, kind of like TD was for them so very long ago…
Reply With Quote
I don’t know why my last post says “Reply With Quote” on it…
THE PLAY CALLING WAS BAD! SO LETS GET A FRESH START IN 08 LET MIKE CALL THE PLAYS. TRADE WALKER FOR HAYNESWORTH DITCH HENRY FOR A 3RD PICK IN DRAFT GET MIKE TUNNER THE BURNNER FROM SD. AND WHAT DENVER HASNT HAD IN A WHILE IS A DEEP THREAT WR SO WITH CUTLERS ARM I SAY Y NOT!
I don’t mean to repeat my quote, but my first one said that it was “awaiting moderation”.
Norm Chow excels, wtf is that? He excels in college, there’s a big difference between the pros and college. Drafting a MLB isn’t going to help us, our LB’s can’t get free because the linemen are getting pushed around up front. If the offensive linemen are getting free to the 2nd level it doesn’t matter who’s playing MLB. In D.J.’s first year at the position he had more tackles than Al ever had in a given season so all of you asking to move him and let a rookie play the position need to do your homework. How can we NOT draft a DT this year? Seriously, we have one true DT on the entire line and you think we shouldn’t draft one? We don’t have a 3rd roud pick either so all of you that keep asking for someone in the that round need to get a grip.
BRING IN ELWAY!!!
i couldnt agree more with hrdnokd….whats the point in drafting a MLB if our DL keeps getting pushed around??either get a solid DT from the free agency or get one early in the first round (second if there are still stud tackles in the second round). Try as much to keep Walker. You guys saw wud he did before he got injured,,,he was making impossible catches and gaining much needed yardage,,which led to game winning field goals. But he if really doesnt want to stick around, use him for leverage in the draft or get a DT in the FA.
I think a safety is much needed early in the draft. Phillips, or get DB Dwight Lowery from San Jose State in the later rounds..However, a safety first then a DT or other way around, then get a OLB in the third round…then maybe a OL…den a burner so Cutler can put his true talent on ( PA go Deep).
As for the coaches, please get Elway to work with Cutler on offense. Get a young Offensive coordinator (fresh mind) Put Rod Smith as a receivers coach.
Im not sorry to see the predictable playmaker go. Good luck! I would like to see a young coach with new ideas come in and be Shannahans next muse. Would probably be better if new coach comes from within our coaching staff. The offense is good, just needs some tweaking. The only forseeable issue on the offense seems to be Javon “me, myself and I” Walker. I think the O-line will be fine, especialy if Nalen and Hamilton can come back and teach some young good O-lineman that started to really gel even for just a year. The young lineman may have been the reason for alot of the suspect predictable playcalling. Looking forward to seeing what Denver does in the offseason.
Younger is Better!