The Denver Broncos are in the midst of a search for a new head coach and it seems they are going to interview a bunch of candidates.
George Paton is clearly looking to conduct a thorough search and for that, he should absolutely be applauded. If you take a look at this tracker over at NFL.com, the Broncos have several interviews planned, with many names you probably don’t recognize.
That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.
One thing is for certain, this is something the Broncos have to get right. The Broncos became the first team in NFL history to miss the playoffs six years in a row after winning a Super Bowl. Someone has to come along and help this franchise get back on the winning track and that starts with this hire.
If I’m being honest, the list of potential candidates does not greatly excite me, but Paton should be trusted to make the right call.
It remains to be seen who will ultimately get the job, but let’s examine four candidates the team would be better off not hiring.
Luke Getsy, Passing Game Coordinator, Green Bay Packers
Who? Exactly.
Luke Getsy’s name has come up in connection with the Broncos and while a recent trend in the league has been to bring in young offensive minds (see Sean McVay in Los Angeles and Zac Taylor in Cincinnati), this might be a bit of a stretch.
Getsy played quarterback in college and had a short run in the league but went into coaching as soon as his professional stint ended. He has spent a lot of time with the Green Bay Packers and is currently the team’s passing game coordinator.
Obviously, the Packers are successful passing the ball because they have Aaron Rodgers playing quarterback, but the 37-year old Getsy may be a bit green to be jumping right into a head coaching position.
Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who the Broncos will also look at, is probably a more complete and likely candidate. But hey, if Getsy (or Hackett) can somehow help the Broncos get Aaron Rodgers, which could be a costly move, to Denver, their name should shoot straight to the top of the list.
Aaron Glenn, Defensive Coordinator, Detroit Lions
This is another strange name under consideration, as Aaron Glenn, also a former player, is in his first year as a defensive coordinator after being a defensive backs coach since 2014. However, was the Lions’ defense good this year? Doesn’t seem like it.
Glenn is part of a staff where Dan Campbell is trying to build something with a long-term losing organization and if you ask me, he’s the right guy for that job. Glenn could certainly help him get there. But he’s not ready to be a head coach.
Could he be ready in the future? Absolutely. But for a team looking to turn its fortunes around after missing the playoffs every year since winning Super Bowl 50, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to hand the keys over to a guy who has been a defensive coordinator for just one year.
He would have to blow Paton away in the interview.
Jerod Mayo, Linebackers Coach, New England Patriots
Another former player, Jerod Mayo was also a highly successful player with the Patriots.
The 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year, Mayo spent his entire eight-year career in New England, helping the team win one Super Bowl. He is also the youngest player on this list at just 35 years old.
Mayo has coached the Patriots linebackers for the past three seasons and could certainly be building himself into a head coach, but it’s too soon for that, at least in Denver.
The Broncos should have learned a valuable lesson on bringing in anyone from New England after the Josh McDaniels debacle and that’s not to say that Mayo can’t be successful, but he comes from that same coaching tree and for that reason alone, it seems like a bad idea.
His inexperience as a coach and the fact that he is still a position coach should be the other factors that cause the team to take a step back.
Mayo might someday be a great coach. That might even be someday soon. But the Broncos should be looking for an experienced guy or at the very least, a guy who has been an offensive or defensive coordinator before jumping right into a coaching position.
Dan Quinn, Defensive Coordinator, Dallas Cowboys
One of the hottest names out there right now is that of Dan Quinn, who has had his name attached to pretty much every current vacancy. That is largely in part to do with what he has done with the Dallas Cowboys defense this year.
Quinn also took the Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl not long ago so he is certainly not the worst candidate. But he’s also not the best.
The Broncos just let go of a defensive-minded guy and it seems like it is time for the Broncos to invest in an offensive mind. Vic Fangio didn’t work out and neither did Vance Joseph before him. Both were defensive coaches, like Quinn.
It’s time to buck the trend. It’s time to take things in a different direction.
Quinn may be one of those guys who is just a great defensive coordinator, like Fangio. As quickly as the Falcons ran him out after a Super Bowl appearance, he shouldn’t come back to the head coaching ranks just as quickly based on one good defensive season in which he had the benefit of having a generational player (Micah Parsons) on his roster.
It’s not a hard pass on Quinn, but it’s a pass for me.