The Denver Broncos will soon begin a coaching search that will be looking for the guy to turn around a franchise that has long been going in the wrong direction.
That direction has never been further from the destination than it is right now.
For a couple of reasons, the Broncos need to be wary of hiring any first-year head coach. Yes, there are some quality candidates, but in my opinion, the team should steer clear of them all.
The Broncos will soon begin conducting interviews for the vacancy. It remains to be seen how many candidates the team will speak to, but last year, general manager George Paton brought in 10 candidates before settling on Nathaniel Hackett.
This must be a more calculated search than it was last time. Almost every candidate that Paton brought in last year had never been a coach before. Though Hackett was terrible, an argument could be made that none of those that he looked at would have been a good choice.
Here are three other reasons why the team can’t afford an inexperienced leader.
Broncos have struck out on first-year head coaches
Since winning Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have had four different head coaches.
Gary Kubiak stuck around for one more season before leaving following a 9-7 campaign in which the team missed the playoffs. The team has since hired three different guys who have been three of the worst head coaches in NFL history.
No, really.
All three of those guys had one thing in common — it was the first head coaching job for each.
Vance Joseph came in after several stops as a pretty average defensive coordinator. But he had connections. He was a former college teammate of Matt Russell, John Elway’s right hand man at the time and the team’s former director of player personnel.
He is best remembered for talking about how good practices went every week. Well that, and being a really bad head coach.
In came Vic Fangio who despite being on NFL sidelines for decades, had never been a head coach. Elway decided to roll with him anyway. That didn’t work, at all.
Hackett came in with fans thinking there was nowhere to go but up but the first-year coach didn’t even get out of year one. The trio of Joseph, Fangio and Hackett had a win-loss record of 34-52.
The Broncos were a contender year in and year out with Kubiak and the guy before him, John Fox. Both of those coaches had previous experience.
The Broncos need a guy who has done this before. Hiring another first-year guy could put them right back in the same position in 2024 if the first year goes bad.