ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- New Broncos coach Josh McDaniels has hired Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and added four other assistants to his staff.
The Broncos on Tuesday announced the hiring of McCoy and Mike Priefer as special teams coordinator, Adam Gase as wide receivers coach, Wayne Nunnely as defensive line coach and Ed Donatell as secondary coach.
McCoy, 36, spent the last nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers, where he's worked as offensive assistant, quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
The only holdovers from fired coach Mike Shanahan's staff will be running backs coach Bobby Turner and offensive line coach Rick Dennison.
When Shanahan was fired, Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler publicly criticized the move and pleaded for quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates to be retained.
But with his potential responsibilities shrinking, Bates opted to join Pete Carroll's staff at Southern California, where he'll serve as the Trojans' assistant head coach of the offense and quarterbacks coach.
Bates, 32, was Denver's quarterbacks coach for the last two years and took over play-calling duties last season, when Cutler set several franchise passing marks despite losing seven tailbacks to injured reserve.
Bates was given a two-year contract extension shortly before Shanahan's dismissal.
But owner Pat Bowlen hired another 32-year-old rising star in McDaniels, who coached New England quarterbacks Tom Brady and Matt Cassel, and will call the plays in Denver.
This is the second stint in Denver for Donatell, 51, who was the Broncos' secondary coach from 1995-99, tutoring the team's defensive backs during their back-to-back Super Bowl titles in 1997 and '98. He has 18 years of NFL coaching experience and spent last season as defensive coordinator at the University of Washington.
Priefer, 42, spent the last three seasons as Kansas City's special teams coach.
Gase was an offensive assistant in San Francisco last season, following six seasons in Detroit. Nunnely, 56, spent the last 12 seasons as San Diego's defensive line coach.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
