ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos‘ coaching staff is in high demand.
“I’d rather be worrying about navigating those issues,” head coach Sean Payton said on Friday. “It means we’ve done a good job of hiring the right people. I want to see them realize their dreams.”
The Broncos 14-3 and have the best odds to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. The team success has led to a number of inquiries into the Broncos’ assistant coaches. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is the hottest name in the group. He is interviewing with at least five of the seven teams with open head coach jobs. Quarterbacks coach Davis Webb has a pair of interviews for head jobs. Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi has one interview to be a head coach. Defensive passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard is interviewing to be a defensive coordinator.
Meanwhile the Broncos are eight or nine days away from their first home playoff game in a decade.
“Our guys have done a great job with it,” Payton said. “It’s not the first time it’s happened. It’s happened a number of times. You’ll be getting ready for a key championship game and you know you have a member of your staff that’s a strong candidate to be the next head coach of the Lions. That’s why they’re special, though, because they can multitask. They understand what their goal is, and they can still perform their job.”
Luckily, the Broncos earned a first-round bye in the playoffs, so they don’t have a game this week. Instead, they are practicing on Friday and Saturday before returning to their standard game-week schedule. The bye makes the schedule easier. Payton has more time to help his coaches out, too.
“We all stay in touch,” Payton said. “It becomes easier if you have a bye. It becomes more difficult when you’re playing. I’m always more of, ‘Hey, if you need help, if there are any questions, if I can help you in any way, let me know, either with a call, or advice on anything.’”
Payton is a Super Bowl winner with 18 years of experience as an NFL head coach. He’s been around the block. He’s interviewed with plenty of teams and nearly began his head coaching career as an Oakland Raider.
He says his best advice was the advice that was given to him: the right fit is everything.
“There’s only 32 of them, but there’s some that at that present time…” Payton said “I had a suit purchased and everything. At the last minute, stayed. It was good advice. I didn’t want to hear it. You’re looking at cap [space], you’re looking at… They’re open for a reason. There’s not a eutopia, but you are just looking for a chance. You have to have a chance. So even for myself looking a few years ago, I felt like we had a chance here because of ownership and front office. We weren’t choosing to be in the same division as [Chiefs QB Patrick] Mahomes, or… Some of the things that can prevent you from winning, those are the ones you want to try to avoid.”
The interview process is easier now than it used to be. The first round of interviews occurs over video calls. There’s no need for an assistant coach to fly across the country to interview while his team is prepping for a playoff game.
“It wasn’t too long ago where all of these things were in person,” Payton said. “I’ve never had a Zoom. I wish I had a Zoom when I had seven days with Al Davis. That’s three books.”
The Broncos’ coaches were off until Thursday, when they returned to the facility to begin ramping up for the playoffs. While the Broncos won’t know who they play until at least Sunday night, the field of potential opponents is down to four. Payton and the staff are studying up.
“Look, there are four options,” Payton said. “One is in the division. We’ve played one two years in a row—or it feels like that with Houston. Buffalo. We’ll break down kind of all four and then look at… We’ll have personnel reports on the four… You do have enough time to look at third down, look at personnel packages, study situational football. I think that’s pretty common when you look at playoff history. A lot of times, you end up with a division team sometimes in the first round. I know that’s happened a number of times over the years with me. It’s hard to gauge how these other games are going to go not having spent much time looking at New England. [We’ve] seen Jacksonville. It’s one of those where you just watch them. You’re working while you watch them. You’re working on each plan, and then you go from there.”
For now, the Broncos may lean a little heavier on the assistants who don’t have interviews scheduled.
