Clancy Barone enters his third season with the Broncos, including his second stint as the club’s tight ends coach, after tutoring the offensive line during the 2010 season.
Barone, who owns five years of experience as a tight ends coach, was hired by the Broncos on Jan. 23, 2009, after coaching tight ends for the San Diego Chargers (2007-08) and Atlanta Falcons (2005-06) in his previous two stops. Now in his 25th season coaching, Barone spent his first 17 years working at the collegiate level before beginning his NFL coaching career with the Falcons in 2004 as their assistant offensive line coach.
Clancy Barone enters his third season with the Broncos, including his second stint as the club’s tight ends coach, after tutoring the offensive line during the 2010 season.
Barone, who owns five years of experience as a tight ends coach, was hired by the Broncos on Jan. 23, 2009, after coaching tight ends for the San Diego Chargers (2007-08) and Atlanta Falcons (2005-06) in his previous two stops. Now in his 25th season coaching, Barone spent his first 17 years working at the collegiate level before beginning his NFL coaching career with the Falcons in 2004 as their assistant offensive line coach.
During five seasons coaching tight ends in the NFL, Barone instructed a Pro Bowl selection in four consecutive years with San Diego’s Antonio Gates (2007-08) and Atlanta’s Alge Crumpler (2005-06) earning multiple Pro Bowl berths under his direction. Gates was named to the 2000s NFL All-Decade Team as voted on by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, while Crumpler finished in the top five among tight ends for USA Today’s 2000s All-Decade Team.
Last season, he instructed Denver’s offensive line, tutoring rookie offensive linemen J.D. Walton and Zane Beadles. Walton was one of five NFL rookie offensive linemen to start all 16 games in 2010, and Beadles became the first league rookie in eight seasons to start at least six games (eight at left guard and six at right tackle) at two of the three positions along the line (T, G, C), while earning All-Rookie honors from The Sporting News.
In his first year with the Broncos in 2009, Barone instructed a group of tight ends that included
Daniel Graham, who further cemented his reputation as one of the NFL’s best blockers at his position. Tony Scheffler also placed fourth among league tight ends in yards per reception (13.4).
Gates continued to be one of the league’s most productive tight ends in two seasons with Barone as his position coach in San Diego from 2007-08, earning consecutive Pro Bowl
appearances. Barone’s instruction helped the Charger tie for first among NFL tight ends in touchdown catches (17), rank third in receiving yards (1,688) and tie for fourth in receptions (135) over that span.
During Barone’s final year as San Diego’s tight ends coach in 2008, Gates earned his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl selection after registering the second-most receiving touchdowns (8) in the NFL at his position group. He also placed sixth among league tight ends in receptions (60) and seventh in receiving yards (704).
Barone’s first year coaching the Chargers’ tight ends in 2007 saw Gates average a career-best 13.1 yards per reception that ranked second among league tight ends. He also picked up Pro Bowl accolades, finishing the year second among NFL tight ends in touchdown catches (9) while ranking fourth at the position in receptions (75) and receiving yards (984).
Crumpler benefited from Barone’s guidance with the Falcons from 2005-06, appearing in the Pro Bowl during both of those seasons and totaling the third-most receiving yards (1,657) among NFL tight ends in that two-year period. He also tied for third in the league in touchdown catches (13) and ranked eighth in receptions(121) at his position in two
years under Barone.
In addition, the blocking of Atlanta’s tight ends with Barone on staff helped the club average an NFLbest 171.4 rushing yards per game from 2005-06 and lead the league in rushing during each of those two seasons.
Crumpler was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl with Barone coaching Atlanta’s tight ends in 2006 after leading NFC tight ends (2nd in NFL) with a career-high eight touchdown grabs and ranking fourth in the league at his position in receiving yards (780). His 877 receiving yards and 65 receptions working with Barone in 2005 represented Falcons single-season records for tight ends and resulted in a Pro Bowl selection.
In 2004, Barone began his NFL coaching career as an assistant offensive line coach with a Falcons team that advanced to the NFC Championship Game. Atlanta’s offensive line helped the club lead the NFL and set franchise records in both yards per rush (5.1) and rushing yards per game (167.0). Barone spent seven seasons as an offensive coordinator in college from 1997-2003, working in that capacity for Texas State University (2003), the University of Houston (2000-02) and the University of Wyoming (1997-99). He had additional responsibilities as assistant head coach for Texas State while also coaching the offensive lines for Houston and Wyoming.
Texas State’s offense was one of the best in the nation under Barone’s direction in 2003, ranking seventh in the country in yards per game (443.4) en route to setting numerous school offensive records. He was named Division I-A Offensive Line Coach of the Year by the National Offensive Line Coaches Association following his final year at Houston in 2002, a season in which Cougars running back Joffrey Reynolds ranked ninth in the nation in rushing (128.8 ypg. / 1,545 yds.).During his three years at Wyoming from 1997-99, Barone’s offensive line gave up a total of just 35
sacks.
An offensive lineman at the University of Nevada and Sacramento State University, Barone’s coaching career began at American River College (Sacramento, Calif.), where he coached its offensive line from 1987-90. He spent two seasons coaching the offensive line at Sacramento State from 1991-92 before serving as assistant offensive line coach at Texas A&M University in 1993 and coaching Eastern Illinois University’s offensive line from 1994-96.
Barone was a four-sport star at Red Bluff High School in Red Bluff, Calif., and was born on July 26, 1963, in San Andreas, Calif. He and his wife, Rosie, have three children: Gianna, Stefano and Isabella.
