By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a year out of football, former Highland Park and Washburn University standout Michael Wilhoite is back in the NFL with the Denver Broncos.
Former Highland Park and Washburn standout Michael Wilhoite, who was back in Topeka last month to co-host his annual youth camp, has rejoined the Denver Broncos coaching staff as a defensive assistant. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Multiple Denver news outlets have reported that the Broncos have added former assistant Wilhoite to their coaching staff as a defensive assistant.
Wilhoite, who previously coached outside linebackers for the Broncos, was let go in March of 2025 after an incident at the Denver airport, but all criminal chargers were eventually dropped, opening the door for Wilhoite's return.
A member of the Topeka Shawnee County Sports Hall of Fame, Wilhoite put together a seven-year NFL career as a linebacker with San Francisco and Seattle, including a Super Bowl appearance, before coaching in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints, San Diego Chargers and Broncos.
Wilhoite was back in Topeka last month to co-host the Mental Performance And Wellness Night and Big Kev Give Back lineup at Washburn along with close friend and fellow Hall of Famer Kyle Weems.
"Over my past year being out of work and being out of sports I spent a lot of time on myself and therapy and on mental performance and just growing and learning and gaining new tools for myself to help me stay confident in those times of lapses, those times of insecurity, those times of questioning,'' Wilhoite said during his return to Topeka. "I've been able to find different tools to help me to continue to move forward in a positive manner.
"I'm out of football for a year and that was tough. That had essentially become my identity and that had become who I was -- football coaching -- and that being taken away it kind of stripped me of that with it. It got tough, so I went and sought out help and it changed my life. It gave me perspective that I hadn't had before in my life.''
