The first time Jim and Jeremy Bates took the field together in organized summer camp, Jeremy was a 5-year- old ball boy while dad worked on Texas Tech's coaching staff.

"And I had one rule to follow," Jeremy recalled. "I wasn't allowed to talk."

There have been many Augusts since then spent together with football as the backdrop. But never before has there been the dynamic presented this month, with Jim running Denver's defense for the first time and Jeremy overseeing wide receivers and quarterbacks.

Talking is actually the best part.

"To have Jeremy out there every day, eating lunch with him, it's special," Jim said.

Growing up, Jeremy, now 30, got to see his father by tagging along at various camps or visiting coaches' offices. Moving was a part of life and seemingly happened every two years.

Jeremy would absorb enough knowledge to become Rice's quarterback after a spell as Peyton Manning's backup at the University of Tennessee. And when the younger Bates moved into the coaching ranks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he worked hard to forge his own identity.

"Starting early in my career, I didn't want to coach with my father, just because I didn't want to be 'coach Bates' son' for a while.' "

But six years later, the timing was right.

Perhaps more important, Jim actually joined Jeremy on the staff, not the other way around.

"I think we're at the point now where we're both professional coaches. And bringing him on our team is a great addition, because I think he's a great coach," Jeremy said.

Not only is Jeremy nearby, Jim's other son, James, a co-captain of the University of Florida's 1996 national champions, is in the region, too. He lives in Boulder and serves as a broadcaster for Mountain West Conference football games. He has three children, so Jim Bates gets to see the grandkids, too.

"It's the right timing. And everything just fit," Jim Bates said about the Broncos' job opening after he had been out of the NFL for a year. "It's like a dream for me."