Favian Upshaw enters his third season as an offensive quality control coach for the Denver Broncos in 2025. He was hired by the club on March 25, 2023.
In Upshaw's first two seasons with the Broncos, he helped oversee the development of undrafted running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who recorded 189 rushing attempts for 906 yards (4.8 avg.) with two touchdowns along with 55 receptions for 236 yards (4.3 avg.) with four scores. Among Broncos undrafted running backs in their first two seasons, McLaughlin ranks second in receptions (55), third in rushing yards (906) and fourth in scrimmage yards (1,142).
McLaughlin recorded a career-high 496 yards on 113 rushes (4.4 avg.) with one score while catching 24 passes for 76 yards (3.2 avg.) with two touchdowns with the help of Upshaw in 2024. Additionally, rookie running back Audric Estime also tallied 310 rushing yards—the sixth most among rookie running backs—on 76 carries (4.1 avg.) with two touchdowns.
With the assistance of Upshaw's coaching, Denver also posted its first winning season in eight years in 2024 as well as its first playoff appearance since the 2015 season.
Joining the Broncos in 2023, Upshaw helped oversee a running backs room that included running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who posted the fifth-most scrimmage yards (570) by a Broncos undrafted rookie in a season. He also helped in the development of running back Javonte Williams, who recorded a team-high 774 yards on 217 carries (3.6 avg.) with three touchdowns, as he returned from his season-ending injury the season prior.
Accumulating five seasons of coaching experience, including four at the collegiate level, Upshaw joined the Broncos after spending the 2022 season as an offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach for Tulane University. He has also spent time with Georgia Southern (2021), Benedict College (2020), Savannah State (2020) and Tulane (2018-19).
In 2022, Upshaw was part of a coaching staff that helped the Green Wave to its first American Athletic Conference Football Championship and a victory over USC in the Cotton Bowl. Among teams in the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Tulane's offense ranked first in touchdowns (66), second in total yards (6,179) and third in points per game (36.0 ppg).
Prior to Tulane, Upshaw rejoined his alma mater, Georgia Southern, for the 2021 season and served running backs coach. Upshaw's unit helped the Golden Eagles led the Sun Belt Conference in rushing attempts (585) while ranking second in yards per rush (5.0) and third in rushing offense (193.5 ypg). Georgia Southern's 193.5 rushing yards per game also ranked 32nd nationally.
In 2020, Upshaw spent time with Benedict College and Savannah State, working as quarterbacks and running backs coach, respectively. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, neither institution played a season in 2020.
Beginning his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant for Tulane from 2018-19, Upshaw helped the team capture back-to-back bowl wins for the first time in school history. Prior to Tulane, Upshaw was co-offensive coordinator and a teacher at Astronaut High School in Titusville, Fla.
An alumnus of Georgia Southern, Upshaw racked up over 2,400 yards of total offense in four years as a co-starter at quarterback for the Golden Eagles. In 2015, he produced a breakout season, totaling 583 rushing yards with six touchdowns to go along with four passing scores. He was named MVP of the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl, the first bowl game in program history.
A native of Titusville, Fla., Upshaw graduated from Georgia Southern with a bachelor's degree (sport management) in 2016. He earned his masters degree (liberal arts) from Tulane in 2020.
Offensive Quality Control 2023-25
Offensive analyst/assistant QBs 2022
Graduate Assistant 2018-19
Georgia Southern University
Savannah State University
Wide Receivers/Running Backs 2020
Co-Offensive Coordinator 2017
