The Denver Broncos are very likely looking for a new head coach for 2023 and beyond. Could they benefit from a surprising firing from another team? Already looking for new head coaching candidates is absolutely warranted given what the fanbase has been put through with Nathaniel Hackett.
Simply put, he is not turning this ship around and could be fired as early as the bye week, in my opinion. George Paton and his front office staff are surely thinking to themselves perhaps of coaches who could right the ship in Denver.
In all likelihood, if this route is indeed traveled down, the Broncos are likely going to hire someone who had had head coaching experience. Guys like Dan Quinn, Leslie Frazier, and Doug Marrone may all get interviews.
Denver Broncos need for an experienced head coach is apparent
To me, as of now, those are my top three choices. If I had any say in it, the team would not hire a first-time head coach, and I don’t think George Paton is going to go down that road again. General managers in the NFL don’t get a ton of chances to get the coach right, and I think the next head coach will be Paton’s last chance to do so.
There surely will be more head coaches fired during the season and perhaps at the end of the season. Could there be some surprising coaching firings that the Denver Broncos could take advantage of?
I’m referencing Kevin Stefanski and Kyle Shanahan of the Browns and 49ers. Just reading some Cleveland Browns’ blogs, and I get the impression that Stefanski is losing a bit of grip on a team he once led to the divisional round. He went 11-5 in his first year, went 8-9 in year two, and is 2-5 in year three, so I think a parting of ways could be on its way.
To be fair to Stefanski, he’s had to deal with bad QB play with Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett. I think he’d have a fun time with Russell Wilson and does have his hands on some good offenses. He’s 22-20 in his career and has largely done solid work in Cleveland.
I do think he could be fired at the end of the season, and I’m not sure Deshaun Watson playing for six games will be enough to get the Browns back to the playoffs. Maybe the upper folks in Cleveland would rather start fresh with their Deshaun Watson era with a new head coach.
Kyle Shanahan is also someone who I think could be given the boot, as his tenure has had some very high highs, but very low lows. He’s 46-48 in his career as a head coach and is 3-4 this year. If his 49ers finish with a losing season, he’d have four of those in his six seasons as a head coach.
The 49ers, under Shanahan, appear to be right on the cusp of a Super Bowl but haven’t been able to break through. Shanahan coached teams in San Francisco always seem to be heavily injured too, which is something to make note of.
I think the Broncos would benefit from either man as the head coach. Many head coaches usually do better at their second gig than their first, so perhaps Shanahan or Stefanski would have a better go as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
Denver Broncos may have to trade a star player after Jets loss
The Denver Broncos dropped to 2-5 with a loss to the New York Jets, which may ultimately prompt the trade of a star player on defense.
Any possibility of this happening is still a long way away, but I think the scenarios of it happening aren’t that unreasonable.