The Denver Broncos have yet to name a new head coach for the 2023 NFL season. The good news is, none of the other teams with a vacancy have either.
With that being said, the other teams still seem to be making some news in terms of advancing through that process.
The Arizona Cardinals have now gotten into the Sean Payton sweepstakes as they will interview the former head coach of the New Orleans Saints this Thursday. Early indications were that Payton would be a longshot to head to Arizona, but now there may be interest.
Staying with Payton, he also interviewed with the Carolina Panthers on Monday.
The Houston Texans plan to have second interviews with Mike Kafka and Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. Finally, the Indianapolis Colts are looking to have a second interview with Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is considered to be a top candidate for them.
Then you have the Broncos who interviewed eight candidates in their first wave of interviews but there has been no news since. No mention of a second interview for anyone and their top candidate could be anyone on their list, depending on who you talk to.
So what exactly is going on here? It could be a number of things, actually.
Jim Harbaugh may have been the Broncos’ guy
It is entirely possible that the top name on the wish list of Greg Penner of the rest of the front office was that of Jim Harbaugh. He was the top name for me too.
When it was announced that Harbaugh would be staying at the University of Michigan, choosing to continue building upon what he has started there, it may have forced the Broncos to backpedal.
With Harbaugh off the table, the Broncos may have had to redirect their process before it got too far into it. Harbaugh did interview with the Broncos, but he requested to do so virtually, calling into question how much interest he really had in the job.
Even though the Broncos’ ownership will be able to shell out any contract a new head coach is looking for, he still chose to stay at Michigan. While he never did agree to a new contract with the school, meaning his staying there is technically not official, the Broncos may have felt a bit spurned by him.
Does Sean Payton really want this job?
The news with Sean Payton changes daily and that could be a bit troubling. He interviewed with the Broncos but is still willing to talk to other teams which makes you wonder what kind of games he could be playing.
Is he just fishing around for the best possible deal, or did he really hope that the Los Angeles Chargers would fire Brandon Staley or that Sean McVay would walk away from the Los Angeles Rams?
Those could easily have been the two jobs that Payton really wanted. If he really wanted to be in Denver, why isn’t he? Why hasn’t a deal already been reached? Why is the situation so strange?
Recently, I ranked Payton as most likely to get the job from the list of known candidates, but now it looks like it could be just as likely that he stays in his role on television and waits for the job he really wants, perhaps next season.
If the Broncos miss out on both Harbaugh and Peyton, things are going to get a lot less exciting for those in Broncos Country.
The Broncos could be waiting for other teams to make a move
There are four other teams looking for a new head coach and it looks like a game of seeing who will be the first to blink.
The Broncos could be a little gun-shy after the horrible hire of Nathaniel Hackett last year and it is understandable that the organization wants to do its due diligence to find the right person for the job this year.
Considering the team has also had to get past other poor hires in recent years (Vance Joseph, Vic Fangio) it makes that fact all the more important. But if the team has had the interview it was looking for, waiting around could be risky.
If they have yet to make a clear decision, why are they not scheduling any follow-up interviews?
At this point, it is anyone’s guess as to how this will turn out. If Harbaugh and Payton are both out on the Broncos, many see someone like DeMeco Ryans or even David Shaw as the guy who could, somewhat surprisingly, end up with the position in the end.
With all of that being said, it’s highly likely that the search for a new head man in Denver has not gone according to plan.