For a long stretch of the 2023 season, the Denver Broncos had one of the better defenses in the league. After starting the season 1-5 with one of the worst starts in franchise history defensively, Vance Joseph's unit turned things up and, at one point, was the third-best team in the NFL in points allowed over an 8-week stretch. That stretch also included an obscene amount of turnovers, and the Broncos' defensive turnaround helped get this team back in the playoff discussion.
There is undoubtedly some tension over where the Broncos will go from here when it comes to sticking with Vance Joseph and buying the team's highs in 2023, or whether Sean Payton will look at the whole of the season and be left with a bad taste in his mouth.
Considering I don't think Joseph was Payton's first choice in the first place, I wouldn't be shocked if he move on. But for who?
1. Christian Parker, DBs coach, Broncos
One interesting candidate would be in-house candidate Christian Parker. You could argue over the last handful of seasons that no coach has done a better job with player development than Christian Parker. The question at this point is -- is he in the right lane at this point? Does he have defensive play-caller in his future?
It will be fascinating to see what happens with this ascending coach. Sean Payton clearly thinks a lot of him for him to be kept on as one of only two holdovers from the previous regime. There could be some consideration here if Payton wants to go with a young option and someone who could have huge upside in the coaching world.
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2. Michael Wilhoite, OLBs coach, Broncos
Michael Wilhoite is a newcomer to the Denver Broncos' coaching staff this year and a former player who has spent his first year in Denver coaching up the outside linebackers group. Wilhoite's unit includes a handful of players who did a really good job for Denver this season on the whole, including players like Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, who were the team's top two in the sack department.
A former player himself, Wilhoite spent a couple of seasons (2019-20) with the Saints and has a history of familiarity with Broncos head coach Sean Payton. After just a year in Denver as the OLBs coach, is he ready for the expanded role of calling plays?
Wilhoite did interview for the Saints defensive coordinator job when Dennis Allen was promoted to head coach in 2022. Perhaps he has spent enough time being groomed for the role.
3. Michael Hodges, LBs coach, Saints
The Saints promoted Michael Hodges to the linebackers coach position in 2020 after he'd spent a couple of years prior to that as an assistant on the defensive side of the ball. He's still on Dennis Allen's defensive staff, and you can't help but wonder if he's spent enough time in the incubator for Sean Payton to call him up with a new opportunity in the Mile High City.
Again, what we're talking about here is replacing Vance Joseph. I think Payton is going to have to be extremely confident that he's got the right guy. Is Hodges, just 37, ready for this kind of pressure?
4. Ryan Nielsen, DC, Falcons
I think Sean Payton would have loved to have hired Ryan Nielsen this past cycle, but he had his sights initially set on Vic Fangio, and when Fangio turned him down, Nielsen had already taken a job with Arthur Smith's Falcons.
In short order, those Falcons may no longer be "Arthur Smith's" Falcons. If the Falcons make wholesale changes to their coaching staff and Nielsen becomes a free agent again, perhaps Payton would go to someone he's familiar with.
Nielsen was an assistant on Payton's staff in New Orleans starting in 2017, and has steadily risen up the ranks ever since.
5. Brandon Staley, former HC, Chargers
The much maligned and fired former Chargers head coach might not be the most popular choice, but Staley did once coach the #1 overall defense in the NFL when he was with the Los Angeles Rams, a major reason why he got the Chargers job in the first place.
Staley is a disciple of Vic Fangio, which seems to be a defense Sean Payton wants to run, and Staley is not far removed from his own stint in Denver as one of Fangio's assistants. Since Staley won't be in charge of making decisions on the game management side of things and would only be in charge of calling the defense, I think this could be a solid option, not just for the Broncos but for Staley also to rehab his image overall.
6. Jerod Mayo, DC, Patriots
If the New England Patriots' coaching staff gets dismantled, how about the Broncos hiring Bill Belichick as defensive coordinator? Okay, maybe that's more of the pie-in-the-sky type of talk. But if Belichick's staff gets dismantled, then I wouldn't be surprised to see Jerod Mayo get a lot of consideration around the league.
Mayo has seemingly turned down a number of offers in recent years while interviewing for head coaching jobs and undoubtedly being offered a variety of opportunities to leave New England. Most people believe Mayo is being primed as Bill Belichick's successor, but if that's not the case, he should be a hot DC candidate.
7. Rex Ryan, analyst, ESPN
Sean Payton interviewed Rex Ryan last offseason for the defensive coordinator job, and ultimately passed on him in favor of Vance Joseph. And Rex Ryan seemed to revel in the Broncos defense's struggles early on because he was passed up for the gig.
But maybe if money speaks loud enough in 2024, this opportunity and possibility could arise once again. Rex Ryan hasn't been a defensive coordinator in the NFL for a long time, but perhaps he could bring back his aggressive style with a fresh perspective having watched the league from a bird's eye view now for a number of years.