ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The story of the Denver Broncos' special teams over the past season read, for the most part, like an instruction manual: No pizzazz, just functional.
Sure, the group had some moments, especially the play called "leaper" to block an extra point and return it for two points and the win at New Orleans. There were also some bobbled footballs, most notably by punt returner Jordan Norwood to go with some missed field goals and some errant punts in the early going as rookie Riley Dixon found his way.
But overall it was just a season of the mundane, a weekly march with little game-changing impact.
Enter perhaps the most crank-it-up-a-notch live wire of the Broncos' new coaching staff, Brock Olivo. He's young and shall we say enthusiastic about his first chance to be a team's special teams coordinator, having been an assistant to the highly-respected Dave Toub with the Kansas City Chiefs for the last three years.
"We're going to have our identity, which is going to be fast, smart, tough," Olivo said. "We're going to bring that to town."
Toub was the first of three candidates interviewed to replace Gary Kubiak as the Broncos head coach. The Broncos believed any of the three candidates -- Toub, Kyle Shanahan and Vance Joseph -- were ready, but chose Joseph. And after taking a look at several candidates to run the Broncos' special teams, Joseph settled on Olivo, who was carefully groomed by Toub.
Olivo's job with the Chiefs was his first coaching job in the NFL -- he had been a special teams ace in his four seasons as a player with the Detroit Lions. So, while Toub wasn't hired by the Broncos, his playbook was.
"I have to tell you, it was like a father sending his son off to school that just won a scholarship," Olivo said. "(Toub) was very proud, he was so elated, fired up for me. Even though it's an inter-divisional rival, he didn't care. He was more excited for me and proud at my opportunity than he was about where I was going or the fact that we had to play each other twice a year now. That was Dave and that was him being sincere, I can say that for sure."
Last season the Broncos had one punt return of more than 17 yards and they have one punt return or kickoff return for a touchdown in the last three seasons. That touchdown return was a punt return for a score by Omar Bolden in 2015 when he returned just three punts all season.
Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, and Wes Welker before him, have even been used as a punt returner at times to reliably make a fair catch rather than risk a turnover with another player. Long-time NFL writer Rick Gosselin has annually ranked the league's special team units, including a wide-ranging selection of categories. The Broncos were 19th in Gosselin's rankings this year after a seventh-place finish in 2015, when the Broncos closed out the year with a win in Super Bowl 50.
"(Olivo) gets it, the importance of special teams and winning on Sunday," Joseph said.
The Broncos do face the potential loss of their special teams captain for the second consecutive season. David Bruton Jr. left in free agency after the 2015 season and Kayvon Webster is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this time around.
The Broncos like where they are in the kicking game with Brandon McManus, who is scheduled to be a restricted free agent, and Dixon. But they'll have an eye on speed players for their coverage teams and it's possible they'll consider using a draft pick on a return specialist for the first time in executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway's tenure.
The Broncos expect to have as many as 10 draft picks after the compensatory picks are awarded next month, so that could give them some flexibility to consider the move after the last two seasons when their work in the return game was largely a tepid affair.
"It's important to me," Joseph said. "You can change games with one play, control field position, keep yourself in good situations. We need to excel in all of it."
