If and when the Ravens’ Eric DeCosta calls Sean Payton on Vance Joseph — or Giants GM Joe Schoen, or Raiders GM John Spytek, or one of six organizations pursuing the Broncos’ defensive coordinator for a head-coaching gig — Payton will tell them of a man who has a presence, now.
He will tell them that they’re looking for a leader, and that the 53-year-old Joseph has a command. A gravitas, important in this age, earned with time. Many in this business don’t get it right on the first go-around, and Joseph certainly didn’t in his two-year run in 2017 and ’18; instead, he built this runway back to a head coach job by returning to the scene of his failure and crafting one of the best defenses in the NFL.
“Having had that opportunity and now come back full-circle, he’s going to be successful,” Payton said on Joseph Friday.
“It’s not a matter of if,” Payton continued, a few sentences later. “It’s when, and who. I think it’s going to happen. And when that time comes, there’ll be 110 people on the other side of those doors super excited.”
It was a glowing endorsement from the Broncos’ head man. If Payton delivers that same glowing endorsement on Joseph to any organization that calls his line, though, Denver may soon not have a defensive coordinator.
That’d be less complicated if the Broncos’ man waiting in the wings, Jim Leonhard, wasn’t getting his own dosage of interest elsewhere — as Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer raved this week on Leonhard to reporters before the team even reached out on their defensive-coordinator opening.
“He has a lot of experience in this league, playing at a high level, and having that foundation in the room sets us up for a lot of success,” star cornerback Pat Surtain II said of Leonhard, who played 10 years in the NFL as a safety. “And he’s always honed in on practice habits – playing with the right habits, technique, and stuff like that. And we all just chime in and listen, and pick his brain.”
That widespread league interest in Denver’s staff has made for a nebulous bye week, as the team returned Friday after several days off, courtesy of securing the AFC’s No. 1 seed. Joseph has six different head-coaching interview requests as of Friday afternoon. Quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, 30, has three. Leonhard has Dallas in his ear. Even special-teams coordinator Darren Rizzi is interviewing with the New York Giants.
On Friday, Payton gathered his team after practice and told them: we’ve got four weeks left, at this stage. That applies to its roster. Also to its coaching staff. Come late January or early February, Denver could be down its defensive coordinator, a whiz-kid offensive mind, and a slightly older whiz-kid defensive mind.
Payton, however, would prefer it this way. Because the league’s attempts at poaching coaching talent are a sign of what’s gotten the 14-3 Broncos this far.
“I’d rather be worried about navigating those issues than you guys asking me, ‘Any word yet on an assistant?’ and I’m like, ‘Uh, not yet,'” Payton said.
“It means we’ve done a good job of hiring the right people. And I want to see them realize their dreams.”
With a caveat: those dreams need to be calculated. Not pipe dreams. Payton reflected Friday on times when he’d bought an introductory suit for head-coaching jobs that never were, only to turn them down at the last minute. His own advice to his assistants: look for a chance.
It was the same analysis he’d done in 2023, seeing a Denver organization with new ownership that boasted deeper pockets than any other franchise in the NFL.
“We weren’t choosing to be in the same division as Mahomes,” Payton reflected. “But some of the things that can prevent you from winning — those are the ones you want to try to avoid.”
It was a not-so-subtle message to those walking the plank, toward open waters. Some teams reaching out, Payton said Friday, are organizations where jobs come up “every three years.”
It wasn’t hard to pinpoint who he was talking about.
The Raiders, who have now interviewed both Joseph and Webb, have had five different head coaches since 2021. The Giants have had four since 2018, and general manager Schoen is on a blazing-hot seat. The Cowboys, meanwhile, will be looking for the fourth defensive coordinator in the last four years.
“Our guys are smart to understand – there’s no utopia,” Payton said. But there’s some places that are tough to win.”
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“I wish I had a Zoom, where — seven days with Al Davis,” Payton cracked, referring to a long stretch of days interviewing with the Raiders before his first head-coaching job in New Orleans. “That’s three books.”
The clock is ticking loudly on this staff, which Payton called a “tremendous group of teachers.” It ticks, though, for the same reason the Broncos are skipping the AFC’s wild-card round this weekend.
“Obviously, when you’re winning,” Surtain said, “everything shines differently.”
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