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The Broncos found Wade Phillips' successor in a familiar face. Joe Woods, the team's secondary coach the past two years, was reportedly promoted to defensive coordinator to replace Phillips, who landed with the Rams after the Broncos chose not to renew his contract.

The plan to promote Woods was originally reported earlier this month by Sporting News' Alex Marvez. And on Sunday, The Denver Post's Nicki Jhabvala reported that Woods will be named defensive coordinator under new head coach Vance Joseph, who also has a defensive background.

Members of the Broncos' defense appear to be happy with that decision. Linebacker Brandon Marshall told The Denver Channel that the Broncos' defense "won't miss a beat" under Woods' command. And cornerback Chris Harris Jr. only had good things to say.

"Joe Woods has natural leadership qualities. Everybody stops and listens when he talks. He's 100 percent focused on winning. I can promise you that no one puts in more time than Joe," he said. "He's a great motivator."

It helps, of course, that Woods is inheriting a Super Bowl-caliber unit. The Broncos rode their historically great defense to last season's Super Bowl and, though they fell short of the playoffs this year, their defense still ranked fourth in both yards and points allowed.

While Von Miller and the Broncos' pass rush often gets most of the credit, don't overlook the work Woods did with the secondary -- then again, coaching players like Harris, Aqib Talib, and T.J. Ward isn't the most difficult job in the world. As The Post's Jhabvala pointed out, Woods actually improved the secondary last year. They allowed just 185.8 passing yards per game a season after they averaged 199.6 per game.

It's clear that by hiring Woods, the Broncos valued at least some continuity after losing Gary Kubiak and Phillips in the same offseason. And that makes sense. The Broncos' problem is their offense, not their defense.