ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- With former Assistant Special Teams Coach Keith Burns departing to Washington, the Broncos looked within the division for his replacement.
On Wednesday, the team hired Derius Swinton to Burns' vacant position. Swinton, entering his fifth NFL season, spent the 2012 campaign with the Kansas City Chiefs as the club's special teams quality control coach.
"He's got familiarity with the division, which is obviously a plus," Special Teams Coordinator Jeff Rodgers said. "He played against us twice last season, so it'll be a good perspective from a self-scout, just how other people see us."
In 2012, he helped coach Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt, who made his first Pro Bowl appearance after leading the NFL with more than 54 percent of his punts being downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
Rodgers said Swinton, who spent the 2009-11 seasons as quality control/special teams coach with the St. Louis Rams, impressed throughout the interview process.
"There were a ton of people that I know and I trust that had a lot of good things to say about him," Rodgers said. "I know (Head) Coach (John) Fox got the same kind of reaction."
During his stint with the Rams, Swinton helped coach a unit that ranked third in the NFL with a 39.3-yard net punting average and fourth in the league with a 11.0-yard punt return average from 2009-11.
Swinton, who played free safety at Hampton University from 2003-06, got his coaching start in the collegiate ranks as a defensive graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee for the 2007 and '08 seasons.
Rodgers said that in 2012, the Broncos' battles with the Chiefs were two of the club's toughest from a special-teams standpoint. But the team didn't exclusively look at hiring from within the AFC West.
"It just worked out that way," Rodgers said. "Most of all, he's a bright, young guy and he has a lot of good ideas. I think he'll be a great fit for what we're doing not only in the kicking game but as a total staff."
