Eric Studesville

Eric Studesville (born May 29, 1967) is the current Denver Broncos Running Backs coach. Studesville is best known as the former head coach of the Denver Broncos, a position he held on an interim basis in December 2010. He replaced Josh McDaniels after 12 games in the 2010 NFL Season. He was the first African American head coach in Broncos history, although only on an interim basis.

College career
Studesville played defensive back at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.

Coaching career
Studesville began his NFL coaching career working for the Chicago Bears in the year 1997 handing their offensive quality control duties.

2001–03
In 2001, he was hired as the New York Giants running backs coach. There, he guided running back Tiki Barber to two consecutive 1,000 yard rushing seasons and paved the way for Barber to become one of the best offensive weapons for the Giants in the coming years. In 2002, Barber recorded 1,387 rushing yards which was not only a career high for the running back, but the second-most total in Giants franchise history.

2004–09
He left the Giants in 2004 and joined the Buffalo Bills as their running backs coach. In his first year, he helped 2003 first-round draft choice Willis McGahee to reach 1,000 yards rushing. The following year in 2005, McGahee again rushed for over 1,000 yards. In 2006, McGahee fell 10 yards short of his third consecutive 1,000 yard season as he finished the year with 990 rushing yards.

In 2007, the Bills selected running back Marshawn Lynch with the 12th overall pick. Studesville guided Lynch to a total of 1,115 rushing yards, making Lynch the fifth rookie in team history to reach the 1,000 yard milestone.

Studesville was promoted to running backs coordinator in 2008. That year, he helped Lynch earn a Pro Bowl selection with his second consecutive 1,000 yard rushing year, rushing for 1,036 yards. The following year, however, an injury to Lynch opened the door to undrafted running back Fred Jackson who rushed for 1,082 total yards.

2009–present
In January 2010, Studesville was hired by the Broncos as the running backs coach. By week 13 of the 2010 season, starting running back Knowshon Moreno had rushed for 633 yards and 4 total touchdowns for a 4.3 yards-per-carry average, including rushing for a career high 161 yards that week in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.

On December 6, 2010, then-Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels was fired by owner Pat Bowlen and Studesville was promoted to interim head coach in his place. The choice of Studesville to replace McDaniels was viewed by some as a surprise. He held the interim head coaching position for the final four games of the 2010 season, during which the team went 1-3. His sole win as a head coach came December 26, 2010 when the Broncos defeated the Houston Texans 24-23. On January 13, 2011, the Broncos announced they had hired John Fox as the new head coach. Fox retained Studesville as running back coach for the 2011 season.