ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The sixteenth head coach in the Denver Broncos history is in the Mile High City to do one thing: win. On Thursday, at his introductory press conference, general manager John Elway introduced Vance Joseph as the head coach for the first time in his coaching career.
While Elway displayed the utmost confidence in the hiring of Joseph to lead the Broncos’ franchise moving forward, the focus quickly shifted to Joseph building a coaching staff of his own.
“First order of business, secure a great staff so we can move forward,” Joseph told the NFL Network shortly after being introduced to the media.
Although it’s the first order of business for Joseph on his first full day as the head coach, it isn’t something that will necessarily fall in place quickly, according to the coach.
“Hopefully a week, week and a half, we can start doing this thing today, and figure it out,” Joseph said on his timetable to complete his staff. “I’m not rushed, I’m not rushed because the staff is critical to our success. I’m not rushed, I want to find the right men for this football team, and it may be here, it may be not.”
The most notable name “here” is defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. After two seasons leading the Broncos defense to great heights, Phillips contract is set to expire on January 31. Even though Joseph actually worked under Phillips from 2011-2013 on the Houston Texans, there have been reports that Joseph would move on from Phillips.
On Thursday, while Joseph didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing Phillips back, he wasn’t avid in making sure he was a member of the organization next season.
“Wade is a free agent, he is free to go where he wants to go,” Joseph said. “Wade is one of my football dads, I spend a lot of time with Wade, we talk three or four times a week. So obviously that’s being considered. If Wade wants to be here, that’s going to be talked through and I would absolutely consider that because they have been a top five [defense] for two years. But it’s not worked out yet, it’s a work in progress and it takes time for those things to work out.”
If Joseph decides to move in another direction on the defensive side of the ball, defensive backs coach Joe Woods would be in consideration.
“Joe’s a bright coach, and he’s obviously ready to be a coordinator in this league, is it his time now? I’m not sure,” Joseph said. “But Joe is a guy who can obviously defend the NFL pass game, that’s tough. Most of the game plan starts in the back end, it’s a passing league so Joe is very capable…but that hasn’t been discussed yet.”
On the offensive side of the ball, Joseph wasted no time in the search process, interviewing former San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy just minutes after his press conference.
“I’ve known Mike [McCoy] for a long time, Mike’s a hell of a play caller and it will be a pleasure to talk to Mike about the job,” Joseph said.
If McCoy leaves the Broncos headquarters Thursday without a contract in place, the Broncos and Joseph are scheduled to interview former Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave Friday morning. While the rest of the staff may take a week or more to put in place, the offensive coordinator could be known fairly soon.
With the uncertainty of what Joseph’s staff will look like, one thing that Elway made clear was who will be making the decisions in putting together the coaching group.
“It’s Vance’s staff,” he said. “I think that any recommendations that he wants from me, I obviously know the staff that’s been here. Vance knows what he wants on a staff, as well as offensively. If I can give input, I will. But ultimately, it’s Vance’s staff.”
With just over 24-hours on the job, the keys to the team have already been passed to Joseph. Now it’s Joseph’s time to choose his staff, which could be the most important decision he makes, at least early on, in his time in Denver.
