His team eliminated from playoff contention, Broncos coach Vance Joseph spent a portion of his 11-minute Monday news conference equal parts shifting attention toward his staff/players and semi-acknowledging his tenuous status.
“Itap about winning football games,” Joseph said. “Itap not my job to hire or fire me. So I’m going to work. We have a game next week against Oakland and thatap my focus.”
Joseph’s status is the last remaining story line for the 2018 Broncos.
Sitting at 6-6 and expected to be favored in their next three games, the Broncos had a shot at the playoffs. But losses to San Francisco and Cleveland ended those hopes and put them one defeat away from consecutive losing seasons for the first time in 46 years.
“Thatap always a tough deal,” Joseph said of being eliminated from postseason contention. “I look back all the time about games we could have won and should have won. Thatap part of the process. But thatap over. We’re out of it. We have two weeks to prove our worth. Obviously, finishing 8-8 is better than 6-10.”
If the Broncos finish 8-8 and Joseph is still fired, then general manager John Elway’s mandate was clear: Playoffs or bust. Elway would then embark on his fourth coaching search since taking over the football operations in January 2011.
Despite chatter about a return by Mike Shanahan, a league source said if the Broncos job becomes available, he is not expected to be a candidate.
A report Monday by former Denver Post columnist Woody Paige said Shanahan and Elway discussed last December the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach replacing Joseph following his 5-11 debut season. The source said president/CEO Joe Ellis would have supported Elway’s decision to fire Joseph after one year but that a coaching search would need to be wide and not centered only on Shanahan. Elway opted to keep Joseph.
Joseph said he met with Elway on Monday about the report.
“To be honest, (an article) is the least of my worries,” Joseph said. “There have been worse things written about me, I’m assuming. … I can’t worry about that. Itap nonsense.”
Side-stepping his status, Joseph praised his staff several times, a tactical move in case there are changes and some of those assistants are on the job market or considered by the next head coach. He used the forum to tell the entire league about their ability.
“We have a great staff,” Joseph said. “It will be tough for me to find a better staff in this league. These coaches have coached a really, really young team and we’ve got young guys playing at a high level because of our coaches. Thatap my only focus and concern, not my future.”
Joseph said he “absolutely” has the support of upper management (Ellis/Elway) and “absolutely we have,” improved this season.
“We made some changes, obviously (and) we have a great, young (draft) class that has come in and played a lot of football for us,” Joseph said. “We have gotten better. The record is one game better, but overall, when you watch our team play, we have improved.”
