Courtesy of the Texans’ public relations staff, here are the connections (of which there are many) between the Texans and their Week 3 opponent, the Denver Broncos:
TEXANS WITH CONNECTIONS TO COLORADO
OLB Jesse Nading (Highlands Ranch; Colorado State); Offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison (Rocky Mountain H.S. in Fort Collins; CSU); OL Coach John Benton (Durango/Colorado State); Offensive Assistant Dan Hammerschmidt (played at CSU from 1982-85 and coached there in 1986, 1997-2006 and 2010-11); DB Coach Vance Joseph (played at Colorado from 1990-94 and coached there 1999-01 and 2002-03); Assistant WR Coach Marc Lubick (coached at CSU from 2000-02 and 2005-09).
BRONCOS WITH CONNECTIONS TO TEXAS
G/C Philip Blake (Baylor); LB Von Miller (DeSoto, Texas A&M); G Manny Ramirez (Houston, Texas Tech); C J.D. Walton (Baylor); Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio (played for Dallas Cowboys 1989-91); Special Teams Coordinator Jeff Rodgers (Westlake H.S.; North Texas); TE Coach Clancy Barone (coached at Texas State, University of Houston and Texas A&M); Secondary Coach Ron Milus (coached at Texas A&M); DL Coach Jay Rodgers (Austin); WR Coach Tyke Tolbert (Conroe).
FORMER BRONCOS ON THE TEXANS
C Chris Myers (2005-07); T Ryan Harris (2007-11); Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Rick Smith was an assistant defensive backs coach for the Broncos from 1996-99 before working in the personnel department from 2000-06; Head Coach Gary Kubiak (played for the Broncos, from 1983-91 and coached there from 1995-2005); Offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison (played there from 1982-90 and coached there from 1995-09); Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips (head coach from 1989-1994); QB Coach Karl Dorrell (coached there 2000-02); WR Coach Larry Kirksey (coached there in 2004); TE Coach Brian Pariani (coached there from 1995-04); Assistant OL Coach Jim Ryan (played there from 1979-88 and coached there from 2004-08); Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Cedric Smith worked there from 2001-06; Director of Football Operations Doug West was the head equipment manager for the Broncos from 1993-2003.
FORMER TEXANS ON THE BRONCOS
TE Joel Dreessen (2007-11); NT Mitch Unrein went to training camp with the Texans in 2010; LB Coach Richard Smith (was Texans defensive coordinator from 2006-08).
TEXANS-BRONCOS COLLEGE CONNECTIONS
Texans RB Arian Foster (2004-08) played at Tennessee with Broncos DE Robert Ayers (2004-08) and P Britton Colquitt (2004-08); Texans CB Brice McCain (2005-2008) played for Utah with Broncos G Zane Beadles (2005-09); Texans ILB Mister Alexander (2006-10) played for Florida State with Broncos CB Tony Carter (2004-08); Texans OLB Jesse Nading (2004-07) played for Colorado State with Broncos TE Joel Dreessen (2001-04) and QB Caleb Hanie (2004-07); Texans CB Brandon Harris (2008-10) played for Miami with Broncos T Orlando Franklin (2007-10); Texans NT Earl Mitchell (2006-09) and OLB Brooks Reed (2007-10) played at Arizona with Broncos FB Chris Gronkowski (2007-09); Texans TE Owen Daniels (2002-05) played for Wisconsin with Broncos S Jim Leonhard (2001-04); Texans WR Andre Johnson (1999-02) played for Miami with Broncos RB Willis McGahee (2000-02); Texans C Ben Jones (2008-11) played for Georgia with Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno (2006-08); Texans G Andrew Gardner (2005-08) played for Georgia Tech with Broncos WR Demaryius Thomas (2006-08); Texans LS Jon Weeks (2004-06) played for Baylor with Broncos C J.D. Walton (2006-09); Broncos WR Matthew Willis (2005) played at UCLA when Texans QB Coach Karl Dorrell (2003-07) coached there; Texans ILB Bradie James (1999-02) and P Donnie Jones (2000-2003) played at LSU when Denver QB Coach Adam Gase (2000-02) coached there; Dorrell (1992-93) coached at Colorado State with Broncos OL Coach Dave Magazu (1992-94); Dreessen (2001-04) played for Colorado State when Texans OL Coach John Benton (1995-03) coached there; Broncos DT Mitch Unrein (2005-09) played at Wyoming when Texans Offensive Assistant Dan Hammerschmidt (2009) coached there; Hanie (2004-07) played at Colorado State when Hammerschmidt (2001-07) and Texans Assistant WR Coach Marc Lubick (2005-07) coached there; Broncos DT Justin Bannan (1997-01) played at Colorado when Texans DB Coach Vance Joseph (1999-01) coached there; Texans Assistant LB Coach Bobby King (2006-07) coached at Baylor when Walton (2006-09) played there.
TEXANS-BRONCOS PRO CONNECTIONS
Texans RB Justin Forsett (2008) played for Indianapolis with Broncos RB Lance Ball (2008), TE Jacob Tamme (2008-11), and QB Peyton Manning (1998-2011); Texans P Donnie Jones (2007-11) played for St. Louis with Broncos DT Justin Bannan (2011); Texans QB John Beck (2009) played for Baltimore with Bannan (2006-09); Texans CB Alan Ball (2007-11) and ILB Bradie James (2003-11) played for Dallas with Broncos LB Keith Brooking (2009-11); Texans QB Matt Schaub (2004- 06) played for Atlanta with Brooking (1998-08); Texans CB Johnathan Joseph (2006-10), K Shayne Graham (2003-09), and T Andrew Gardner (2011) played for Cincinnati with Broncos WR Andre Caldwell (2008-11); Graham (2010) played for New England with Broncos CB Tony Carter (2010) and C Dan Koppen (2003-11); Ball (2007-11) and James (2003-11) played for Dallas with Broncos FB Chris Gronkowski (2010); Texans FS Danieal Manning (2006-10) played for Chicago with Broncos QB Caleb Hanie (2008-11); Texans FS Quintin Demps (2008-09) played for Philadelphia with Broncos LB Joe Mays (2008-09); Beck (2009) and Gardner (2010) played for Baltimore with Broncos RB Willis McGahee (2007-10); Texans NT Shaun Cody (2005-08) played for Detroit with Broncos G Manny Ramirez (2007-10); Forsett (2008-11) played for Seattle with Broncos WR Brandon Stokley (2010); Jones (2005-06) played for Miami with Broncos DT Kevin Vickerson (2006); Graham (2002) played for Carolina when Broncos Head Coach John Fox (2002-10), Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio (2002) and Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy (2000-08) coached there; Texans WR Coach Larry Kirksey (2003) coached at Jacksonville with Del Rio (2003-11); Texans ILB Tim Dobbins (2008-09) played for San Diego when Broncos Barone (2007-08) coached there; Schaub (2004-06) played for Atlanta when Barone (2004-06) coached there; Jones (2007-11) played for St. Louis when Milus (2006-08) coached there; Jones (2005-06) and LG Wade Smith (2003-05) played for Miami when Richard Smith (2005) coached there.
