Ronnie Bradford is on his way back to the National Football League.
Last season, Bradford’s first as Montana’s defensive coordinator, came with plenty of earned praise and accomplishment. The Griz had one of the best defenses in the FCS and Montana ripped off 10 straight victories on the way to the FCS national title game, where UM lost 23-3 to No. 1 South Dakota State.
Former NFL defensive back and assistant coach Ronnie Bradford, who was Montana’s defensive coordinator last season, is returning to the NFL and joining the Miami Dolphins as their Senior Special Teams Assistant.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 19, 2024
Bradford, who spent the last three seasons at Montana, is now headed back to the NFL, where he played 10 successful seasons with the Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. On Monday morning, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Bradford has been named a senior special teams assistant for the Miami Dolphins.
Bradford came to Montana as the cornerbacks coach ahead of the 2021 season. He helped mentor Justin Ford into an All-American. Corbin Walker and Trevin Gradney were each first-team All-Big Sky Conference picks at cornerback last season.
Previous to his stint at Montana, Bradford was the defensive backs coach at USC from 2016 until 2018 before taking some time away from coaching. Bradford played from 1993 until 1995 with the Broncos, in 1996 with the Cardinals, from 1997 until 2001 with the Falcons and his final season in 2002 with the Vikings.
From 2003 until 2008, he worked as a special teams assistant coach and defensive backs coach for the Broncos. The Colorado alum spent two seasons in Kansas City with the Chiefs before joining the staff at Cal in 2010.
Last season was Bradford’s first defensive coordinator job. Among Montana’s current defensive coaches, linebackers coach Roger Cooper was the defensive coordinator at Idaho State and defensive analyst Tim Hauck was the DC for head coach Bobby Hauck at UNLV.
