Rex Ryan might be viewed as the 'favorite' to land the defensive coordinator job with the Denver Broncos, but there are other coaches in the running. After all, four years ago, it was Mike Munchak purportedly in the driver's seat to be named head coach of the Broncos, only to see Vic Fangio — the last interview through the door — emerge at the 11th hour to win the job.
It's possible that Vance Joseph could be Fangio to Ryan's Munchak. Confused yet?
Don't be.
Joseph, who served as Denver's head coach from 2017-18, was in town on Friday to interview with Sean Payton for the defensive coordinator vacancy. According to 9NEWS' Mike Klis, not only did the interview go well, but Payton hosted Joseph for eight hours at UCHealth Training Center.
"Vance Joseph spent about 8 hours at Broncos headquarters today interviewing for DCoord job. Interview went well. Both Joseph and Rex Ryan run attack 3-4. Decision may come within next couple days. Eagles interview with Joseph tentatively set up for early next week," Klis tweeted on Saturday.
After winning just 11 games in two seasons in Denver, Joseph was jettisoned following the 2018 campaign. He was immediately hired by the Arizona Cardinals as defensive coordinator, which was only the second time in his career he'd ever held that title.
Joseph presided over a couple of really good Cardinals defenses early on, but the unit took a major step backward in 2022, finishing second-to-worst scoring defense. However, the Cardinals ranked 11th in 2021 and 12th in 2020, after opening Joseph's tenure in 2019 as the 28th-ranked scoring defense.
In his first-ever job as a DC back with the Miami Dolphins in 2016, Joseph's unit finished as the 18th-ranked scoring defense. So, with five years of coordinating experience on his resume, the average ranking of a Joseph defense is No. 20 when it comes to scoring.
Yet, he's still a coveted defensive coach. If you're wondering why, it really boils down to his reputation as a 'leader of men.' While that didn't come out in the wash during his head-coaching tenure in Denver, that is Joseph's reputation around the league.
If nothing else, the 50-year-old Joseph is now a veteran coordinator with loads of management experience and leadership skills. Payton courted Fangio for his DC position in Denver before he ultimately signed with the Dolphins following the Super Bowl.
Perhaps Payton is just hell-bent on hiring a former Broncos head coach to work underneath him at Dove Valley. Stay tuned.
More must-reads: