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1976 Denver Broncos season
1976 Denver Broncos season
Owner	Gerald Phipps
General manager	John Ralston
Head coach	John Ralston
Home field	Mile High Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	2nd AFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1975; Broncos seasons; 1977 →;

The 1976 Denver Broncos season was the team's 17th year in professional football and its seventh with the National Football League (NFL). The team finished the season with a winning record for the third time in the last four seasons. It was John Ralston's fifth and final season as the Broncos' head coach and general manager.^[1]^[2]

Denver was looking to improve on its 6–8 record from 1975 and finished 9–5, second in the AFC West;^[3] despite the winning record, the team again missed the playoffs, which included only eight teams. Oakland won the division at 13–1 and New England was the sole wild card team in the AFC at 11–3.^[4] Since their inception as an original AFL team in 1960, the Broncos had yet to play in the postseason.

Ralston was relieved of his duties as general manager in mid-December, succeeded by assistant GM Fred Gehrke.^[5]^[6] After several weeks in the restructured organization, Ralston resigned as head coach in late January 1977.^[1]^[2] Red Miller, the offensive line coach at New England under Chuck Fairbanks, was hired as head coach in early February.^[7]^[8] Miller had a previous stint with the Broncos as offensive line coach for three seasons (1963–65).

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1976 Denver Broncos draft
1	15	Tom Glassic	G	Virginia
2	43	Kurt Knoff	S	Kansas
4	107	Craig Penrose	QB	San Diego State
5	139	Lonnie Perrin	RB	Illinois
8	224	James Betterson	RB	North Carolina
9	252	Jim Czirr	C	Michigan
9	260	Jim Lisko	LB	Arkansas State
10	278	Art Gilliam	DE	Grambling State
11	306	Greg Pittman	LB	Iowa State
12	334	Randy Moore	DT	Arizona State
13	362	Donnie McGraw	DB	Houston
14	390	Larry Evans	LB	Mississippi College
15	418	Wilbur Summers	P	Louisville
16	446	John Huddleston	LB	Utah
17	474	Randy Cozens	DE	Pittsburgh
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

**1976 Denver Broncos staff**
	Front office Chairman of the Board – Gerald Phipps President – Allan Phipps Assistant General Manager/Director of Player Personnel – Fred Gehrke Director of Scouting – Carroll Hardy Head coaches Vice President/General Manager/Head Coach – John Ralston Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Backfield – Max Coley Quarterbacks – Charley Johnson Wide Receivers – Kay Dalton Offensive Line – Doc Urich Assistant Offensive Line/Director of Pro Scouting – Mike Giddings			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Joe Collier Defensive Line – Stan Jones Linebackers – Myrel Moore Defensive Backs – Bob Gambold

Roster

**1976 Denver Broncos roster**
Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Steve Ramsey 12 Craig Penrose Running backs (RB) 24 Otis Armstrong 31 Mike Franckowiak FB 32 Jon Keyworth 33 Jim Kiick 44 Floyd Little 35 Lonnie Perrin Wide receivers (WR) 82 Jack Dolbin 25 Haven Moses 80 Rick Upchurch 86 John Schultz Tight ends (TE) 87 Boyd Brown 88 Riley Odoms		Offensive linemen (OL) 75 Bill Bain T 62 Tom Glassic G 64 Harvey Goodman G 65 Glenn Hyde G 61 Tommy Lyons G 50 Bobby Maples C 71 Claudie Minor T 58 Phil Olsen C Defensive linemen (DL) 79 Barney Chavous DE 68 Rubin Carter DT 63 John Grant DT 72 Wayne Hammond DT 73 Marty Imhof DE 76 Randy Moore DT 70 Paul Smith DE 78 Jim White DE		Linebackers (LB) 54 Rich Baska 56 Larry Evans 53 Randy Gradishar 57 Tom Jackson 59 Joe Rizzo 51 Bob Swenson Defensive backs (DB) 43 Steve Foley CB 23 Billy Hardee CB 26 Calvin Jones CB 23 Chris Pane S 21 Randy Poltl S 36 Bill Thompson FS 20 Louis Wright CB Special teams 15 Jim Turner K 14 Norris Weese P		Reserve 77 Lyle Alzado DE (IR) -- Randy Cozens DE (IR) 60 Paul Howard G (IR) -- John Huddleston LB (IR) -- Kurt Knoff SS (IR) 42 Billy Van Heusen (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 7–17	0–1	Riverfront Stadium	53,464
2	September 19	New York Jets	W 46–3	1–1	Mile High Stadium	62,669
3	September 26	Cleveland Browns	W 44–13	2–1	Mile High Stadium	62,975
4	October 3	San Diego Chargers	W 26–0	3–1	Mile High Stadium	63,369
5	October 10	at Houston Oilers	L 3–17	3–2	Astrodome	45,298
6	October 17	Oakland Raiders	L 10–17	3–3	Mile High Stadium	63,431
7	October 24	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 35–26	4–3	Arrowhead Stadium	57,961
8	October 31	at Oakland Raiders	L 6–19	4–4	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	52,169
9	November 7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 48–13	5–4	Mile High Stadium	62,703
10	November 14	at San Diego Chargers	W 17–0	6–4	San Diego Stadium	32,017
11	November 21	New York Giants	W 14–13	7–4	Mile High Stadium	63,151
12	November 28	at New England Patriots	L 14–38	7–5	Schaefer Stadium	61,128
13	December 5	Kansas City Chiefs	W 17–16	8–5	Mile High Stadium	58,170
14	December 12	at Chicago Bears	W 28–14	9–5	Soldier Field	44,459
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders⁽¹⁾	13	1	0	.929	7–0	10–1	350	237	W10
Denver Broncos	9	5	0	.643	5–2	7–5	315	206	W2
San Diego Chargers	6	8	0	.429	2–5	4–8	248	285	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	5	9	0	.357	2–5	4–8	290	376	W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	0	14	0	.000	0–4	0–13	125	412	L14

References

^ ^a ^b "Following best year, Ralston quits Denver". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 1, 1977. p. 17.
^ ^a ^b "Ralston resigns: Miller slated for post". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. February 1, 1977. p. 4B.
^ "Pro grid stats: final standings". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). December 13, 1976. p. 14.
^ "'Skins in, Cards out of playoffs". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. December 13, 1976. p. D1.
^ "Ralston ponders Denver shakeup". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). Associated Press. December 20, 1976. p. 4D.
^ "Ralston duties are trimmed". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. December 20, 1976. p. 36.
^ "Broncs select Miller to succeed Ralston". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. February 1, 1977. p. 24.
^ "Broncos pick Miller". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. February 2, 1977. p. 5B.