The Denver Broncos lost a defensive assistant coach to another NFL team for the second time this week.
Marcus Dixon, the defensive line coach with the Broncos, was hired by the Minnesota Vikings on Friday and will serve in the same capacity.
Dixon is leaving Denver with Christian Parker, the former defensive backs coach. After three seasons in Denver, Parker will join the coaching staff of the Philadelphia Eagles, according to sources who spoke with The Post on Monday.
Dixon played with the Broncos for two seasons, 2022 and 2023, under defensive coordinators Ejiro Evero and Vance Joseph. There were only two remaining members of Evero’s staff: Dixon and Parker.
Prior to the 2023 season, Sean Payton, head coach of the Broncos, gave Parker and Dixon a lot of praise.
“Those guys were very impressionable, but there weren’t many people from last year’s staff that I knew,” Payton remarked. “I think there’s a lot of potential for both of those guys; they’re very talented and driven.”
Prior to taking over as head coach in Denver, Dixon was the Los Angeles Rams’ assistant defensive line coach in 2021, the year the team won Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals. Dixon was a player for the Chiefs, Cowboys, Jets, and Titans.
Dixon will report to defensive coordinator Brian Flores in Minnesota.
The Broncos made changes to their scouting staff last month. According to sources who spoke with The Post, they hired Cody Rager, an associate director of college scouting from New Orleans, to fill the newly established role of vice president of player personnel. Pete Carmichael Jr., a former offensive coordinator for the Saints, is also anticipated to join the Broncos as a senior offensive assistant.
However, these modifications pale in comparison to the extensive overhauls the team performed with the coaching staff during the preceding two offseasons, during which Denver replaced both the offensive and defensive coordinators in addition to the head coach.
In order to carry on his custom of appointing coaches from his time in New Orleans, Payton might want to replace Dixon with Saints pass rush specialist Brian Young.
Before joining the coaching staff in 2009, the former UTEP standout played five seasons for the Saints as a defensive tackle. He began as an unpaid intern before moving up to assistant defensive line coach and pass rush specialist.
Kris Richard, a former defensive backs coach with the Saints, might be able to take over for Parker. Prior to taking on the role of co-defensive coordinator this season, Richard worked alongside Payton in 2021. Following the 2023 season, Richard was let go by the Saints.
Richard was the defensive backs coach in Dallas and Seattle before taking the reins in New Orleans. It was there that he helped shape players like Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor, who were all former Seahawks.
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