The Broncos appear to have found their Jim Leonhard replacement on their defensive staff just up the road in Boulder.
Denver is set to hire Colorado defensive coordinator Robert Livingston as its defensive passing-game coordinator, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told The Denver Post on Wednesday. The move will fill out Denver’s defensive staff, after previous secondary and defensive passing-game coordinator Leonhard left to take the Buffalo Bills’ defensive-coordinator job in late January.
The 40-year-old Livingston was hired by Deion Sanders in February 2024 and has spent two seasons at the helm of Colorado’s defense. The Buffs took a major leap in Livingston’s first season in Boulder, improving from the 124th-ranked defense in the FBS in 2023 to the 42nd-ranked unit in 2024. Colorado’s defense fell back to earth in a turbulent 2025 season, though, and the Buffs recorded just six interceptions across 12 games.
Livingston has risen quickly through coaching ranks, first hired as a scout with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012 before joining the quality-control staff in 2015. He was promoted to coach the Bengals’ safeties and defensive backs in 2016, and coached in the same role in Cincinnati through the 2023 season.
Livingston has longstanding ties to Joseph from those early Cincinnati days. Joseph was the Bengals’ defensive backs coach in 2014 while Livingston was still on the scouting staff.
Denver has also landed former USC secondary coach Doug Belk in a defensive backs role, which replaces the absences of Leonhard and fired cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch, who’s since landed as a secondary coach with the New York Giants. Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph now has a full complement back on hand for the 2026 season, with a clear emphasis from head coach Sean Payton to generate more takeaways after the Broncos finished tied for 18th in the NFL in interceptions (10).
Payton said at his NFL Combine press conference Tuesday that Denver was “close” to filling out their staff, and would officially announce their finalized positions by the end of the week.
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