Report: Rams' Dwayne Stukes 'In Mix' for Broncos Special Teams Coordinator
On the same day Tom McMahon landed an interview with Josh McDaniels' Raiders, his presumed successor emerged for the Denver Broncos.
9News' Mike Klis reported Wednesday that Los Angeles Rams assistant special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes is "in [the] mix" to become Denver's special teams boss.
"Stukes in popular demand so Broncos have other candidates," Klis cautioned.
Stukes will cap off his first season with the Rams in Super Bowl 56, taking on Cincinnati. That Los Angeles reached the Big Game is due, in part, to its third side of the ball — the NFL's fourth-best special teams unit, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA ratings. (Denver ranked 30th under McMahon in 2021.)
Per StatMuse, the Rams allowed the fewest punt-return yards (60) to opponents while finishing sixth in punt-return average (11.3 yards per game). The club also boasts the league's second-most accurate kicker, Matt Gay, who connected on 94.1% of field goal attempts, and the fifth-best punter, Johnny Hekker, in net average per game (42.6).
Prior to landing in L.A., Stukes held coaching stints in Jacksonville (defensive assistant), New York (assistant special teams coordinator), Chicago (assistant STC), and Tampa Bay (special teams quality control coach, assistant defensive backs coach, special teams coordinator). As a former player, he had cups of coffee in the NFL, NFL Europe, and the Arena Football League.
The Broncos are prohibited from hiring Stukes until after the Super Bowl. Ditto for his coworker, Rams secondary coach Ejiro Evero, who's expected to land Denver's defensive coordinator position when eligible.
These waiting moves are the next dominoes to fall for new head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who's already tapped Justin Outten as offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak as quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator, and Butch Barry as offensive line coach.
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