Vance Joseph is shaping up to have a busy week.
Sure, Broncos players are off until Friday after the franchise secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC and a bye through the Wild Card round with their 19-3 win Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Denver defensive coordinator, though, is set to be a popular figure as teams with head coaching vacancies start to put out requests for interviews.
It didn’t take long for Joseph to land his first interview request, which came from Tennessee on Monday morning, a source told The Denver Post.
Other vacancies at the moment include the New York Giants, Atlanta, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Arizona.Joseph, of course, was Denver’s head coach from 2017 to 2018 before getting fired. Then he spent four years as the defensive coordinator in Arizona before joining Sean Payton back in Denver when Payton got the head coaching job in January 2023.
Joseph’s group struggled at first, but he’s built one of the league’s most dominant, disruptive defenses over the past two seasons. Along the way, he says he’s learned a lot from Payton about how to run a team.
Joseph got interviews last year, too, though his candidacy has likely only improved with another terrific season in Denver.
“He deserves every opportunity in the world,” inside linebacker Alex Singleton told The Post on Sunday night. “I think he’s one of the best coaches in the world. The best coach in the world. He deserves every opportunity.”
Joseph can start having virtual, first-round interviews with hiring teams this week because Denver has the first-round bye. He can begin interviewing with teams as soon as Wednesday and they can take place through the Wild Card games.
Once that mark passes, subsequent follow-up interviews can only take place either once the Broncos have been eliminated from the playoffs or, if Denver makes the Super Bowl, on the off week between the AFC Championship Game and the start of Super Bowl week.
Joseph, of course, has particular familiarity with the Cardinals job since he worked there with then-head coach Kliff Kingsbury from 2019-22.If Joseph gets a head coaching job, the Broncos would receive a third-round compensatory pick in each of the next NFL drafts as part of the league’s Rooney Rule, which aims to promote diversity among team leadership roles.
