The search to coach the Broncos continued to be a fierce one. Over the past few days, we’ve learned that they’ve cordoned off 49ers Defensive Coordinator DeMeco Ryans as their man. But, Things changed today when the Ryans chose the Texas over the Broncos And he left them scrambling to figure out what to do next.
Their primary favorites drop like flies. Jim Harbaugh is back in Michigan, Sean Payton is still playing but there wasn’t much action there, Dan Quinn is back in Dallas, and now DeMeco Ryans looks like the next head coach for the Houston Texans.
Well, apparently the Broncos now have a few “mystery candidates” who are not publicly known at the moment. 9NEWS Denver’s Mike Klees was there and said he didn’t know who, but he knew the Broncos had talked to a couple of other candidates who weren’t in the top 8. Dave Logan confirmed he was told the same thing yesterday and now Mike Cleese has announced it.
Today @employee He said there could be a “mystery candidate” in the Broncos’ coaching search.
On 104.3 The Fan, Klis added, “I don’t know their names, but I do know that they spoke to a couple of other unknown candidates who aren’t in the top eight.”
– Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) January 27, 2023
This turns wild.
So, who could these mysterious candidates be? Benjamin Albright was at the Sports Zoo with Ryan Edwards, Dave Logan, and Big Al and said the Broncos are looking at candidates they met last year and brainstorming their interests. They can’t legally get to each other right now, but since they actually met last year, they can at least discuss it now that they’ve regrouped.
Albright states that the two they have access to are Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. Gannon says he was impressed with his interview last year and is a top candidate again this year. He was a finalist for the Texas job and was considered an early favorite before DeMeco Ryans emerged as the favorite. As for Callahan, he doesn’t call plays for the Bengals, but he’s part of one of the best offenses in the league and did an interview with the Broncos last year.
This isn’t official, but it makes sense if they were actually going back for the coaches they met last year. He went on to say that the Broncos left no stone unturned in their search. He even name-dropped veteran coach Mike Shanahan as a potential “bridge coach” for a few years.
I know many of you are tired of this research, and the reports, followed by the inevitable next report proving the previous one wrong. However, if they are correct, I love that the Broncos are regrouping and looking for other names.
Of the first eight, only four remain. Former Stanford coach David Shaw, veteran coach Jim Caldwell, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, and Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. Despite this, none of these four appear to be candidates they would like to hire. If they wanted Shaw, he’d probably be hired by now. Caldwell is 68 years old and has health issues (he will be the third oldest coach in the NFL), while Raheem Morris looks like the Colts’ front office pick, but owner Jim Irsay wants Jeff Saturday. Finally, Ejiro Evero doesn’t seem like a legitimate candidate for the Broncos job. So recompiling, looking at some other names, and going from there makes sense.
In the end, who knows what to believe, what new report will drop, and who these “surprise candidates” actually are? Stay tuned!
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