Former Broncos coach Gary Kubiak must have gotten bored in retirement because he's already decided to make a comeback.
Less than seven months after stepping down as Denver's head coach, the Broncos announced Tuesday that Kubiak will be returning to the team as a senior personnel adviser.
"It's an honor for me to continue to be part of this great organization," Kubiak said in a statement. "John [Elway] and I talked long ago about any opportunity like this, and I'm very happy to be able to contribute on the personnel side."
Kubiak's new role with the team will allow him to be based in Texas. However, he will show up to Denver for "various personnel meetings" throughout the year, Elway said.
"With as much experience as he has evaluating players, Gary's going to be a tremendous resource for our personnel department," Elway said. "He'll primarily help on the college side and assist us in free agency as well."
Kubiak, 55, surprisingly stepped down as Broncos coach in January after leading the team to a 9-7 season. Kubiak had been dealing with health problems that included an incident in 2016 where he was was hospitalized following a 23-16 loss to the Falcons in Week 5, which caused him to miss the team's Week 6 game against the Chargers.
When Kubiak stepped down, he didn't sound like a guy who was finished with the NFL.
"I said when I left that I still wanted to be involved in football," Kubiak said Tuesday. "This gives me an opportunity to be involved with the game, and I'm excited to get to work."
At this point, Kubiak seems destined to be a Broncos employee for the rest of time.
Kubiak's career with Denver started as a player in 1983 when the Broncos made him an eighth-round pick in the NFL Draft. After retiring in 1991, the former quarterback joined the Broncos coaching staff as an assistant in 1995. Kubiak then served as a Broncos assistant coach until after the 2005 season, when he was hired as the Texans' coach.
After nine seasons away from Denver, Kubiak returned in 2015 to take the head coaching job. In his first year back, Kubiak led the Broncos to a win in Super Bowl 50. The upcoming season will mark Kubiak's 23rd year as an employee of the organization.
Kubiak's return shouldn't make things awkward for new Broncos coach Vance Joseph, and that's mainly because that two are close. Kubiak tried to hire Joseph as Denver's defensive coordinator, but the Broncos' interview request was rejected by the Bengals, who employed Joseph at the time.
Joseph also coached in Houston for three years while Kubiak was coach of the Texans.
