Coach Returns To Broncos Despite Being Fired In 2025
· Yahoo Sports
Training camps are generally full of reunions, and while many are conventional, some land on the strange side of NFL life. That’s definitely true when it comes to the return of former Denver Broncos linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite, who was fired 16 months ago after an incident at a Denver airport in which he was accused of punching a police officer, according to a report from Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post.
Wilhoite last served as the Broncos outside linebackers coach ub 2023-24, but he was fired in the spring of last year after he allegedly punched a police officer at Denver International Airport and drove off after being tased by the officer.
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Earlier this year, though, the felony charges against Wilhoite were moved to a county court and downgraded to a misdemeanor obstructing a peace officer and criminal mischief, which is a petty offense. They were then dropped altogether in early June when Wilhoite was accepted into a diversion program.
Wilhoite is still facing a civil suit, however, according to Gabriel’s report. The officer involved in the incident, Jesus Galvan Chavez, has filed the suit, claiming he was verbally and physically intimidated and threatened by Wilhoite and assaulted, “including trauma and damage to (his) jaw, hip and left lower and upper extremities.”
The civil case is set to go to a jury trial in March, but according to a late April court filing, lawyers for Chavez and Wilhoite have talked about a potential settlement and the parties agreed to conduct mediation before Dec. 22.
On the football side, coach Sean Payton obviously respected Wilhoite’s coaching talent when he was let go, saying,
“I appreciate Michael’s contributions to the Broncos, and I am confident he will move forward in a positive direction.”
There is a money angle in all this, as Wilhoite isn’t the modest type. In late 2024, he said his job was to get linebacker Nik Bonitto “$20 million per year,” and the following summer Bonitto signed a four-year contract worth $26 million a year at a total of $106 million.
Wilhoite was considered a promising young coach back then, and he was selected to participate in the now-changed accelerator program for minority coaches.
His task will be far different with linebackerJonathon Cooper facing an arraignment at the end of August related to his pair of arrests in June, and this is a very different group that will likely need someone else to be coached up to give Bonitto meaningful help at the position.