Eleven things about the Broncos and their head coaching search as the world turns, candidates start making decisions and crunch time approaches.
1. A lot of folks interested in Denver and Houston will have their eyes on the NFC Championship Game on Sunday because of San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. He’s considered a top candidate for both franchises, each hiring a head coach for the second straight offseason. Interestingly, both of Philadelphia’s coordinators are also prominent young head coaching candidates in defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.
2. The Broncos have only talked to Ryans of that trio, but they did interview Gannon last year before eventually hiring Nathaniel Hackett. Houston interviewed Gannon twice last year and again this year but, according to the NFL Network, considers Ryans to be its top candidate for the job this time around.
3. A couple of process notes: A team cannot formalize a head coaching hire until the candidate’s season is concluded. So, if the 49ers win Sunday and punch their ticket to the Super Bowl and if Ryans ends up getting a head coaching job in either place, then he could not be formally introduced until the middle of February. Same goes for Gannon or Steichen if the Eagles win.
4. That doesn’t mean, however, that nothing happens in the two weeks before the title games and the Super Bowl. Last year, Minnesota had to wait until after the Super Bowl to formally introduce Kevin O’Connell, who was the offensive coordinator for eventual champion Los Angeles Rams. He was introduced as the head coach by the franchise on Feb. 16 — the Vikings’ intent to hire him was first reported Feb. 2, the Wednesday after the NFC Championship Game — and one day later the team finalized terms with nine assistant coaches.
5. Some staff positions are subject to the Rooney Rule as the NFL continues to expand its efforts to increase the number of interviews minority candidates get for jobs. Clubs are required to interview two external minority candidates and/or women for coordinator positions and at least one such candidate for quarterbacks coaches.
6. If Denver loses out on Ryans to the Texans, then they’ll be back to the drawing board regardless of whether the 49ers or Eagles win Sunday. They’ve kept in touch with several candidates over the course of the past week, but it’s unclear whether they feel good enough about another candidate on the list to offer the job straight away or if they’d consider interviewing other candidates.
7. With a caveat that things can and do change quickly in these searches: Despite all the twists and turns the Broncos’ coaching search has taken so far, there’s no indication that their own defensive coordinator, Ejiro Evero, has been in serious contention for the job to this point. He’s certainly attracted attention elsewhere, however, completing multiple interviews with Houston and Indianapolis and getting a second interview opportunity with Arizona.
8. One editorial note: If you’re not on social media, good for you. If you are, you probably noticed a substantial dose of Sean Payton, uh, stuff over the past week. It is the season of smokescreening and posturing, no doubt. But until Payton takes a job — Arizona looks like the only other possibility this winter — or announces publicly that he’s returning to FOX to do another year of television, he’s worth at least keeping in mind as it pertains to Denver’s search. There’s a lot to work through — trade compensation for New Orleans, salary, roster control, organizational setup, etc. — and it stands to reason that a 15-year head coach would have stronger feelings on some of those items than a rookie coach, but it’s not impossible the sides end up deciding they need each other.
9. Sunday will make 54 of the past 385 days that the Broncos have not had a permanent head coach. The search between Vic Fangio’s firing and Nathaniel Hackett’s hiring lasted 19 days and Sunday makes 35 days since Hackett’s firing. That’s 14% of the past year and change, if you’re scoring at home.
10. Speaking of Hackett, it will be fascinating to see how he fares as the offensive coordinator in New York. He’s working for a guy he knows well in Robert Saleh and the Jets players should be somewhat familiar with the terminology considering their last coordinator was Mike LaFleur, the younger brother of Packers coach Matt LaFleur, whom Hackett worked for the three years before getting to Denver. Now Mike LaFleur is off to work with Sean McVay, who used to have Matt LaFleur on his Los Angeles Rams staff. Once upon a time, both LaFleurs and McVay were on Washington’s staff with Mike and Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel, Raheem Morris and more. Small world.
11. Once the coaching carousel settles out a little bit, it will be on to the veteran quarterback carousel. Will Aaron Rodgers get traded? Where will Derek Carr land? Will Seattle re-sign Geno Smith? Can the Ravens and Lamar Jackson find common ground? Daniel Jones is slated to be a free agent. Some guy named Tom Brady, too. Bottom line: The NFL rarely ever slows down.
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