Broncos 2023 Head Coach Tracker: Denver kicks off their search by swinging for Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh

The search to find the next Denver Broncos’ head coach is officially underway.

For the first time since buying the team in the summer, Greg Penner and the Broncos’ new ownership group is leading the quest to find Nathaniel Hackett’s replacement.

As expected, the Broncos are swinging for the fences out of the gate.

Here are the latest updates about where the head coaching search stands and what to know about all of the candidates.

Most recent updates

Saturday, Jan. 14

• The Broncos will interview DeMeco Ryans on Thursday and Dan Quinn on Friday.

Thursday, Jan. 12

• Denver’s first week of interviews have wrapped up. In the first week since the season ended, the Broncos interviewed Jim Harbaugh (virtually), Ejiro Evero, Jim Caldwell and David Shaw. The team has four more first interviews on deck next week with Sean Payton, Raheem Morris, Dan Quinn and DeMeco Ryans.
• The Broncos’ head coach search committee, so far, has consisted of Greg Penner, Condoleezza Rice and George Paton.
• Sean Payton will have his first interview with the Broncos in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Jan. 17 in the morning.

Wednesday, Jan. 11

• The Broncos interviewed former Stanford coach David Shaw on Wednesday. Shaw played receiver at Stanford before beginning his coaching career. He spent nine years coaching in the NFL, making his way from quality control coach with the Eagles in 1997 to the Ravens receivers coach in 2005, before going back to the collegiate level as a coach. Shaw worked under Jim Harbaugh at the University of San Diego in 2006 before following him to Stanford, where he was Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator. Once Harbaugh left Stanford to coach the 49ers, Shaw became the team’s head coach. Shaw, 50, coached his alma mater from 2011 to 2022 where he had a 96-54 record, including three Pac-12 Championships and four Pac-12 Coach of the Year Awards.
• Raheem Morris will interview with the Broncos on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
• Jim Calwell is interviewing with the Broncos on Wednesday. Caldwell is a highly respected coach, who has had two different stints as a head coach in the NFL. From 2009-2011, he was the Colts head coach, leading Indianapolis to 14-2 and 10-6, before going 2-14 in his final season when Peyton Manning was injured. In his second stint, he coached the Lions from 2014-2017, where he led Detroit to the playoffs twice.
• Caldwell had an in-person interview with Denver.

Tuesday, Jan. 10

• Ejiro Evero had his in-person interview with the Broncos on Tuesday morning.
• The Broncos conducted a virtual interview with Jim Harbaugh on Monday. Less than 24 hours after Denver’s season ended, they conducted their first interview.
• Harbaugh’s virtual interview with the Broncos lasted over two hours.
• Denver will conduct their first in-person interview of the cycle on Tuesday with Ejiro Evero. Denver’s defensive coordinator is the only internal candidate the Broncos have an interview scheduled with. The Texans, who fired Lovie Smith, have requested to interview Evero for their open job too.

Monday, Jan. 9

• Requested permission from the Rams to interview their defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
• Requested permission from the 49ers to interview their defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.
• Requested permission from the Cowboys to interview their defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
• Quinn, Morris, Ryans and Payton cannot have in-person interviews with Denver until after Wild Card. Weekend since all of them are under contract with other NFL teams.

Sunday, Jan. 8

• Sean Payton spoke with Broncos ownership and confirmed Denver is the only team he has spoke with.
  • Payton cannot interview with a team in-person until Jan. 17.
  • Payton’s top two qualities he’s looking for in next team are ownership and functionality of the front office, not the quarterback situation.
• Jim Harbaugh will have a virtual interview with the Broncos early this week.
• Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero is expected to have an in-person interview this week.

Updates before the end of the season

• The Broncos reached out to Jim Harbaugh.
• George Paton stated he hoped to interview Ejiro Evero for the open job.
  • Evero later confirmed he is interested in becoming a head coach.

Candidate list

Interviews scheduled

• Sean Payton
  • The former Saints coach will interview with the Broncos in the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 17.
• Raheem Morris
  • The Rams’ defensive coordinator will interview with the Broncos on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
• DeMeco Ryans
  • The 49ers’ defensive coordinator will interview with Denver on Thursday, Jan. 19.
• Dan Quinn
  • Dallas’ defensive coordinator will interview with the Broncos on Friday, Jan. 20.

Completed interviews

• Jim Harbaugh
  • Harbaugh had his first interview with Denver virtually on Monday, Jan. 9.

• Ejiro Evero
  • Denver’s defensive coordinator was the first candidate to have an in-person interview with the team on Tuesday, Jan. 10.
• Jim Caldwell
  • Caldwell interviewed with the Broncos on Wednesday, Jan. 11.

• David Shaw
  • The former Stanford coach interviewed with the Broncos on Wednesday, Jan. 11.

Full candidate list

• Jim Harbaugh
• Sean Payton
• Ejiro Evero
• DeMeco Ryans
• Raheem Morris
• Dan Quinn
• Jim Caldwell
• David Shaw