Nathaniel Willingham enters his third season as a defensive quality control coach with the Denver Broncos in 2021. He was hired by the club on Jan. 30, 2019.
Willingham has contributed to a defensive staff that has helped the Broncos become the first team since red zone statistics began being tracked in 1995 to lead the league in red zone defense in consecutive years (43.9% on 47-of-107 attempts).
In his first year with the Broncos in 2019, Willingham assisted the defensive staff and helped run the scout team during practices. He contributed to Denver finishing the 2019 season ranked in the Top 12 in several key defensive categories: scoring (10th, 19.8 ppg), pass defense (11th, 225.6 ypg) and total defense (12th, 337.0 ypg).
In addition to his two seasons with the Broncos, Willingham has 10 years of coaching experience at the college and high school levels. He spent four seasons coaching on the defensive side at Stanford University (2015-18) and one year as tight ends coach for Menlo College (2014).
With the Cardinal, Willingham served in several roles, including football quality control analyst (2018), defensive assistant (2016-17) and recruiting assistant. Stanford posted a 40-14 (.741) record in Willingham's four years on staff while playing in two Pacific 12 Championship games (2015, '17) and winning one Rose Bowl (2015).
Willingham, who received his bachelor's degree from Menlo College (Atherton, Calif.) in 2016, coached tight ends for the school in 2014—the last season of the football program's existence.
From 2008-12, Willingham coached at his alma mater, Skyline High School, in Sammamish, Wash. During his three seasons coaching the varsity squad, the school won a pair of state championships and posted a 37-5 (.881) record.
A former prep center and defensive tackle at Skyline, Willingham was born on July 9, 1990. His father, Tyrone, was a head coach for 17 seasons at Stanford (1995-2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002-04) and the University of Washington (2005-08).
Willingham is married to Rachel and the couple has a son, Augustus. Nathaniel Willingham was born on July 9, 1990.
