{"id":719586,"date":"2026-01-31T17:54:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T17:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/719586\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T17:54:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T17:54:23","slug":"more-bad-news-for-denver-broncos-as-key-coach-joins-rivals-amid-quarterback-bo-nixs-clash-with-sean-payton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/719586\/","title":{"rendered":"More bad news for Denver Broncos as key coach joins rivals amid quarterback Bo Nix’s clash with Sean Payton"},"content":{"rendered":"

By DANIEL MATTHEWS, US SENIOR SPORTS WRITER<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 11:52 EST, 31 January 2026 | Updated: 11:52 EST, 31 January 2026 <\/p>\n

The Denver Broncos<\/a> are set to lose assistant head coach Jim Leonhard to the Buffalo Bills<\/a> in another blow to Sean Payton.<\/p>\n

It has been a brutal few days in Denver, who suffered Super Bowl<\/a> heartbreak when they lost the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi was fired <\/a>after the Broncos’ playoff loss and then\u00a0head coach Payton was sensationally called out by star quarterback Bo Nix<\/a>\u00a0for revealing too much detail about his injury history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now another coach is set to leave the staff, with Leonhard joining the Bills as defensive coordinator. He served as assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator in Denver.<\/p>\n

Leonhard, who spent a decade as a safety in the NFL, joined the Broncos as defensive backs coach\/pass game coordinator in 2024 before being promoted ahead for the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old has been hired by new Buffalo head coach Joe Brady, who stepped up to replace Sean McDermott.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Denver Broncos are set to lose assistant head coach Jim Leonhard to the Buffalo Bills<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The departure of Leonhard comes as another blow for Broncos head coach Sean Payton<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The 43-year-old has been hired by new Bills coach Joe Brady, who replaced Sean McDermott<\/p>\n

McDermott was fired by the Bills in the wake of their playoff loss to the Broncos. It was in the closing minutes of that game that Nix broke his ankle.<\/p>\n

The injury\u00a0ruled him out of the rest of the postseason and required surgery.\u00a0Payton later claimed that Nix’s history of ankle issues meant an injury of this severity was destined to happen sooner or later – not ‘a matter of if, it was a matter of when’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The quarterback suffered a fractured ankle back in high school and at college. He also had ankle surgery after his rookie year with the Broncos. Payton said this latest procedure ‘found a condition that was predisposed – they always find a little more when they go in.’<\/p>\n

But his comments irked Nix, who later set the record straight. ‘I don’t think he really should share how many surgeries I’ve had in the past, to be honest with you, he doesn’t even really know that,’ the quarterback said, per ESPN.<\/p>\n

He explained of his surgery, carried out in Birmingham, Alabama: ‘Nothing predisposed, nothing that was there originally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘That might have gotten confused. (The injury was) just a simple step with my foot up in the air, my body weight came down on it, sort of got twisted up.<\/p>\n

‘It could have been a worse landing, but I think all that force went into the only place it could.’<\/p>\n

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\n More bad news for Denver Broncos as key coach joins rivals amid quarterback Bo Nix’s clash with Sean Payton<\/p>\n