By Matt Buck
Staff Writer
The Broncos have added Tim McGarigle as their new linebacker coach and Thad Ward to take over as the new receiver coach.
The moves coincide with the loss of former linebacker coach Dave Cohen, who chose to take a position at Rutgers, and former receiver coach Josh Gattis, who has left the team to coach in the SEC at Vanderbilt.
Along with the two new additions to the coaching staff, head coach Bill Cubit also promoted Rich Nagy to the defensive coordinator role.
McGarigle had a very successful career at Northwestern, as he currently holds the Football Bowl Subdivision record for most tackles in a collegiate career. His positional coach was Pat Fitzgerald, who is now the head coach of the Wildcats.
After being drafted in the 7th round of the 2006 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams, McGarigle played a total of 12 games with the team before being released in 2008. He then joined the United Football League’s Florida Tuskers in 2009, where he recorded 34.5 tackles in an undefeated season.
McGarigle returned to Northwestern last season as a graduate assistant, where he saw his squad finish with bowl eligibility.
Ward, on the other hand, took a very different path into football.
As a 2001 graduate of Central Florida University, Ward went on to become a graduate assistant and safeties coach at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical School in 2002.
After taking various jobs at the high school and collegiate levels, Ward went to Western Illinois where he became a running back coach.
In six seasons with the program, Ward helped build one of the best scoring offenses in the nation, averaging 35.6 points per game in the
2010 season.
Ward will take over a crew of receivers that will not include Jordan White, who had one of the best seasons of any receiver in college football history last season.
White will be entering the 2012 NFL draft, where he’s projected by many to go in the 3rd or 4th round.
The Broncos will open their 2012 season on the road against Illinois, where Ward once coached as a graduate assistant. Western Michigan also has non-conference games against Connecticut, Eastern Illinois and Minnesota.
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