If the Denver Broncos wind up hiring odds-on favorite Dan Quinn as the team’s new head coach, who will they hire as offensive coordinator?
The Denver Broncos will have a new offensive coordinator in 2022. And all of Broncos Country rejoices.
With all due respect to Pat Shurmur, a longtime NFL coach who has had plenty of success in the past, it was time for the Broncos to move on and it’s only a matter of time before they officially do so.
The Broncos will soon either hire a head coach who will take over the offense and hire his own staff, or they will hire a head coach who is a defensive specialist and brings in an offensive coordinator. Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is the presumed favorite for the job, as well as the odds-on favorite.
Who might come with Dan Quinn as the Denver Broncos OC?
If Quinn is hired like many expect him to be, who would come with him as the offensive coordinator? There are probably a ton of options that don’t necessarily jump off the page, but here are six candidates that might be up for consideration.
1. Pep Hamilton (Texans QBs coach, passing game coordinator)
The last couple of years have been an interesting ride for Pep Hamilton.
He worked with Andrew Luck at Stanford as the team’s offensive coordinator and QBs coach before joining Luck in the NFL with the Colts in 2013. He stayed with the Colts until the end of the 2015 season when he joined the Cleveland Browns, where he was the assistant head coach and QBs coach.
He then went and worked for Jim Harbaugh (again) at Michigan from 2017-18 before joining the now-defunct AAF right before the pandemic hit in 2020.
As fate would have it, Hamilton would then join the Los Angeles Chargers as QBs coach and he’d get the opportunity to coach up Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert.
In 2021, he joined David Culley’s staff with the Houston Texans as QBs coach and passing game coordinator, and he really did an outstanding job with rookie Davis Mills out of Stanford.
Considering all of the work Hamilton has done in the last decade with young QBs, he might be one of the most attractive potential options for the Denver Broncos regardless of who is hired as the head coach.
Denver Broncos OC candidate no. 2: Luke Getsy (QBs/passing game, Packers)
The Denver Broncos have interviewed Luke Getsy for their head coach position, but he might not quite be ready for that just yet.
Nathaniel Hackett, the Packers’ offensive coordinator, seems like a much more likely candidate to become the Denver Broncos’ next head coach if they hire someone away from Green Bay for that job, but that doesn’t mean that Getsy won’t still join the Denver Broncos’ staff in some capacity.
Getsy is the QBs coach and passing game coordinator with the Packers, so he has some obvious ties to one Aaron Rodgers.
Even without those ties, he might be ready to take the next step in his career as an offensive play caller.
He’s under 40 years of age and has been an offensive coordinator at the collegiate level with Mississippi State.
The Broncos got the chance to pick his brain already about his offensive philosophy, so perhaps they were doing that to gauge where he might be as it relates to their offensive coordinator position in the event that they hire Dan Quinn.
If they do hire Quinn, Getsy would be an intriguing candidate to join as offensive coordinator.
Denver Broncos OC option no. 3: Joe Brady (Panthers OC)
Could former LSU passing game coordinator and top NFL head coach prospect Joe Brady be a strong rebound candidate as an offensive coordinator?
The great Cameron Parker (of Predominantly Orange and the Manely Broncos podcast) reminded me that Brady is available after being fired by the Carolina Panthers.
Of course, everyone in Broncos Country is going to want someone that has had more recent success than Brady has had, but he obviously did an outstanding job with the LSU Tigers and then was given two years of Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, and a handful of other backups to work with.
Just a year ago at this time, Brady was a head coach candidate for the Atlanta Falcons and got interviews with the Jets and Eagles as well.
It wouldn’t be shocking in the slightest to see him get another gig as an OC in the NFL, or maybe you could really score big and get him as a QB coach and passing game coordinator or something like that.
At the age of 32, the future is still bright for Brady. He might be an underrated selection for the team’s next offensive coordinator if Dan Quinn is the guy hired as head coach in the Mile High City.
Denver Broncos OC option no. 4: Mike Kafka (Chiefs QB coach, passing game coordinator)
Is it not shocking to anyone else how little Andy Reid’s coaching tree has been picked from in recent years?
Yes, there are examples of guys that have not exactly worked out for other teams (Matt Nagy) but you would think that with all of the offensive success the Chiefs are having, coaches would be getting plucked from Reid left and right.
Mike Kafka is one of the guys I fully expect to be an offensive coordinator somewhere in the league sometime soon.
A former fourth-round pick out of Northwestern, Kafka actually should already know Denver Broncos GM George Paton since he played for the Vikings in 2015.
It’s well-documented that Paton has a healthy respect for the Northwestern program and Pat Fitzgerald, someone whose name has come up a couple of times as a candidate from the college ranks that Paton might try and lure to the NFL.
Even if that doesn’t happen, the idea of Kafka leaving a division rival and coming to the Denver Broncos as an offensive coordinator might be appealing to all parties.
Kafka won’t be coaching Patrick Mahomes anymore, but he might get the opportunity to resurrect the Broncos’ offense and become a head coach candidate as soon as the 2023 circuit.
Denver Broncos OC option no. 5: Tim Kelly (Texans OC)
Can someone please explain what is in the water at Eastern Illinois?
This is a program that over the last few decades has produced Saints head coach Sean Payton, former Cowboys QB Tony Romo, 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo, the late Mike Heimerdinger, and of course Denver Broncos Ring of Famer Mike Shanahan.
Tim Kelly may not be the most notable Eastern Illinois alum, but man — the hit rate from that program of guys that actually make it to the NFL in some capacity seems to be pretty high.
Kelly, most recently, was the offensive coordinator of the Houston Texans.
Since 2014, he’s held many different roles with the Texans including quality control, offensive line coach, tight ends coach, quarterbacks coach, and offensive coordinator.
Having his hand in so many areas as a coach is obviously a plus, and the fact that Kelly was obviously around for Deshaun Watson’s development on the field as a player is something worth noting as well.
This past season, with a new head coach and an ugly situation at the QB position, Kelly and the rest of the Texans’ offensive staff made lemonade out of some seriously bitter lemons.
They helped Davis Mills develop into a pretty good-looking rookie starter at the QB position. Given how impressive it was to see Mills in Houston this past year after barely a dozen games started at Stanford, I would not be opposed to the idea of Tim Kelly joining the staff in Denver in some capacity.
Denver Broncos OC option no. 6: Mike McDaniel (49ers OC)
There are very few situations I think that Kyle Shanahan would actually approve McDaniel leaving the 49ers for in the offseason.
The opportunity to call plays with Dan Quinn might be one of them.
During his time in Atlanta with Shanahan and Quinn, McDaniel got through one of the roughest parts of his life, a battle with alcohol addiction.
Considering all they have been through together, could there be a chance of this kind of “lateral” move for McDaniel?
We shouldn’t count him out of the mix for the head coaching gig with the Miami Dolphins, but if there’s another option outside of the 49ers and Dolphins HC job, it might be as OC of the Denver Broncos.
McDaniel is a Colorado native who has always been around Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan is clearly the primary play-caller in San Francisco but McDaniel also obviously plays a major role in designing the offense.
Known for being one of the smartest coaches a lot of players have been around, it’s kind of shocking that McDaniel has not been requested to interview with the Denver Broncos.
If Quinn is hired as head coach, it wouldn’t be shocking if the Broncos at least asked permission to poach McDaniel away from the 49ers. Would Shanahan grant permission this time as he once did with Rich Scangarello?
Denver Broncos 2022 mock draft any head coach will love
The Denver Broncos don't have a head coach yet, but this is a 2022 mock draft scenario that any prospective head coach candidate will love.
We’ll have to wait and see, but this might be the option that most excites Denver Broncos fans should Dan Quinn get the head coaching job.