Denver Broncos head man Sean Payton is putting the finishing touches on his coaching staff for the 2026 season, hiring Drake University offensive coordinator Kyle Kempt as an offensive assistant, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg reported Monday.
The hire has yet to be officially announced by the team.
A former quarterback at Iowa State (where he later worked under HC Matt Campbell), Kempt, 31, began his coaching career with the Cyclones, beginning in 2019 as an offensive quality control assistant before graduating to pass-game work in 2024.
He was then tapped as Drake's coordinator/quarterbacks coach ahead of the 2025 campaign.
"In his six seasons, the Cyclones produced four of the most prolific offenses in the history of Cyclone football while appearing in five bowl games and two Big 12 Championship games," reads Kempt's university bio. "Iowa State broke the school record for total offense (444.3) and had the third-best scoring offense (32.2) in school history in 2019 and followed it up with the second-best scoring offense (32.9) and third-best total offense (436.3) totals in Cyclone history in 2020. During Kempt's time on staff, Iowa State posted a 45-32 record and recorded five of the school's eight winning league seasons in the 29-year history of the Big 12 Conference."
In his lone stint with the Bulldogs, Kempt's offense produced 363.0 total yards per game, 197.9 of which came on the ground with leading rusher Nick Herman averaging 7.2 yards per carry en route to 1,034 yards and six touchdowns.
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Denver's Staff Coming Together
Kempt
Drake offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kyle Kempt works with players during practice, Sept. 30, 2025. | Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Broncos experienced a fair amount of turnover following their AFC Championship loss, much of it self-directed as Payton opted to fire offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, wide receivers coach Keary Colbert, and cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch.
Denver replaced Lombardi by promoting passing-game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Davis Webb to OC, bumping offensive assistant Logan Kilgore to QBs coach, and bringing back John Morton as PGC.
The team also hired Ronald Curry as WRs coach and Doug Belk as secondary coach. In addition to filling Lynch's shoes, Belk is expected to help offset the departure of former defensive backs coach Jim Leonhard, who left in January to become the Buffalo Bills' defensive coordinator.
Payton and his new-look contingent will descend upon Indianapolis this week for the annual Scouting Combine where they'll start full-scale prepwork on upcoming NFL free agency and April's draft.