Champ Bailey would love to win a Super Bowl this year.
But short of that, the Broncos cornerback would simply like to not learn a bunch of new names this offseason.
According to Andrew Mason of CBSSports.com, Bailey is on his 11th defensive coordinator in 14 seasons.
Bailey has played under Mike Nolan, Ray Rhodes, Kurt Schottenheimer, Marvin Lewis, George Edwards, Larry Coyer, Jim Bates, Bob Slowik, Nolan again, Don Martindale, Dennis Allen and now Jack Del Rio, and you have to wonder if that’s some kind of record.
“I know I’m up there,” Bailey said. “I’ve got to be up there.”
It’s not hard to draw a line from the instability to the Broncos’ defensive problems. With three defensive coordinators from 1995-2006, they were a top-10 defense seven times. They’ve only been in the top 10 once since then, though that will change unless things go badly wrong the next two weeks.
And given the way things ended badly for Del Rio in Jacksonville, it’s hard to imagine he’s going to get to ride the coaching carrousel this offseason. It’s not that Bailey’s trying to stifle Del Rio’s ambition, but he’s not excited about the alternative.
“I’d be happy for him,” Bailey said. “It would suck for us because we’d have to start all over again, but it is what it is. Everybody wants a promotion, so you’ve got to applaud guys that get them.”
You also have to applaud guys like Bailey, who have continued to play at a high level, even when forced to learn new schemes practically every year.