What would the Denver Broncos be getting in Ejiro Evero?

One of the advantages of hiring an older coach — particularly as a defensive coordinator — is that they have generally seen just about everything when it comes to tactics and concepts.

It was the case for Wade Phillips, who worked for a decade under his father in Houston and New Orleans, then evolved after three seasons on the staff of Buddy Ryan in Philadelphia. It was also true for Larry Coyer, a wise, grizzled coach who became an NFL defensive coordinator with the Broncos for the first time in 2003 at the age of 60, and then proceeded to have four defenses in the NFL’s top 5 in scoring defense in four years on the job before he was unceremoniously dismissed early in 2007.

Ejiro Evero doesn’t have the same broad base of experience that Phillips and Coyer possessed when they assumed Denver’s defensive reins. Having just turned 41, Evero will be the the Broncos’ youngest defensive coordinator since Dennis Allen in 2011 if — as expected — he is named the Broncos’ defensive coordinator next week.

But in a relatively short time, Evero — currently in his first season as the Rams’ secondary coach and passing-game coordinator after four years as their safeties coach — been exposed to three schools of thought that have helped define NFL defense in the 21st century.

In his first pro job, as a Buccaneers quality-control coach on defense from 2007-09, he immersed himself in “Tampa Two” concepts, spending the first two seasons of that time working under the guru of the Buccaneers’ iteration of the Cover-Two look, Monte Kiffin.

After a year spent on the staff at the University of Redlands, he returned to the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011 as a coaching assistant, staying there five seasons. He worked on offense before moving to defense in 2014. The 49ers’ defensive coordinator? Vic Fangio — whose zone concepts would return to a defense on which Evero worked with the Los Angeles Rams six years later.

In 2017, when he joined the Rams after a year as Green Bay’s defensive-quality control coach, he assumed the role of safeties coach under Phillips, who emphasized man coverage and minimal blitzing. Phillips stayed in Los Angeles for three seasons before giving way to former Broncos assistant Brandon Staley, who pivoted the Rams to more zone looks in 2020.

At this time last year, Evero was considered one of the favorites to become the Packers’ defensive coordinator, replacing Mike Pettine. Evero and former Broncos safety Jim Leonhard — the defensive coordinator at the University of Wisconsin — were both on the Packers’ radar. But Leonhard turned down the job, while Evero was ultimately bypassed in favor of Joe Barry, who had two previous stints as an NFL defensive coordinator and had been the Rams’ assistant head coach under McVay from 2017-20.

Green Bay’s defense was effective, so the move worked. That extended Evero’s wait for one more year, although it gave him a chance to work with Raheem Morris, with whom Evero worked in his first NFL gig with the Buccaneers from 2007-09.

Although Morris’ background is with the Tampa Two, he largely maintained the Fangio-oriented principles installed by Staley.

So, what can we expect from Evero? Don’t be surprised to see a hybrid scheme, one that maintains continuity from Fangio’s zone scheme with the flexibility to use man coverage when the situation dictates it.

Ejero is regarded as one of the game’s best teachers in the secondary, which will serve him well as he likely revamps a Broncos defensive backfield that will see two of its top five players set to become unrestricted free agents. His relationship with Nathaniel Hackett, which goes back to when the two were at UC-Davis together, provides a basis of familiarity.

The Broncos job will represent a level jump for Evero. But having been around Kiffin, Fangio, Phillips and now Morris, he has plenty of defensive intellectual heft in his corner.

The calendar says Evero is 41. But he possesses the kind of philosophical experience that one would expect for a coach two decades older. That should put him in position to annually adapt to the talent on hand.