DC Ejiro Evero Rumored to be Broncos' 'Potential' HC Candidate
Barring a miraculous turnaround, most NFL insiders forecast another head-coaching search for the Denver Broncos come January. The Nathaniel Hackett hire, in tandem with the selling of the farm for, and subsequent regression of, Russell Wilson has been a colossal swing and a miss for an organization that badly needed to end its head-coaching carousel.
With the Broncos at 3-7, insiders the league over have circled the team as one of the most likely head-coaching vacancies to come in the not-too-distant future. If Hackett turns out to be a one-and-done head coach, the Broncos' new ownership — the Walton/Penner group — will have plenty of options, and capital, to throw at a potential replacement.
Names like Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and the still-retired former New Orleans head coach Sean Payton are the two most common names uttered around league circles when it comes to the 2023 hiring cycle. The Broncos came close to hiring Quinn back in January, as he, Hackett, and Kevin O'Connell were reportedly GM George Paton's trio of finalists for the head coach job.
Denver went with Hackett, Minnesota hired O'Connell, and Quinn returned to Dallas, where he's got the Cowboys' defense firing on all cylinders. Only time will tell which direction the Broncos go, if Hackett is indeed fated for the unemployment line, but believe it or not, there is one internal option Denver could "potentially" be interested in as head coach.
Earlier this week, ESPN NFL insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano reported a few juicy nuggets relative to the Broncos' coaching situation, one of which was the revelation that defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero could very well be on the brain trust's shortlist of candidates to succeed Hackett.
Graziano: On the assistants front, Denver defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero is a candidate of interest to multiple teams -- including, potentially, Denver, if it moves on from Hackett and doesn't turn to someone like Dan Quinn.
Fowler may not have fully corroborated Graziano's intel on how Denver views Evero, but he did confirm that the Broncos' defensive coordinator will most definitely be on NFL teams' radar when the hiring cycle begins.
Fowler: As you mentioned with defensive guys, Dan, I also hear positive things about Evero's candidacy -- he should have interest -- though the Broncos sitting at 3-7 with little signs of life could hurt his case. That's not his fault - the defense has been lights out, ranking third in scoring defense at 17.1 points allowed per game -- but teams typically gravitate toward winning teams. At the very least, though, he should get interviews.
Indeed, Evero has done a bang-up job, taking over the Broncos' defense in the wake of Vic Fangio's dismissal. As Fowler reports, Evero's defense ranks third in scoring, while also standing top-10 in several other key categories, including yards per game (third), passing yards (third), third-down efficiency (fourth), and red-zone efficiency (first).
Considering the amount of hay Evero has made with the number of starters who've missed multiple games — like safety Justin Simmons (five games), rush linebacker Randy Gregory (six), inside linebacker Josey Jewell (four), cornerback Ronald Darby (five), rush linebacker Baron Browning (two), and nickel corner K'Waun Williams (about to miss his second) — it's understandable how the Broncos' defensive coordinator could become a hot commodity around the NFL.
However, this is the 41-year-old's first year as a coordinator, previously holding jobs as an NFL assistant since 2011. That is, unless you're inclined to count Evero's one-year stint as the Los Angeles Rams' secondary coach/passing game coordinator.
The Broncos will be in search of clear, commanding competency in their next head coach, and Evero's albeit one-year resume at the helm of the defense has been the epitome of the word. But, after going with first-time head coaches in each of their past three hires (Vance Joseph, Fangio, and Hackett), the Broncos might be reticent to throw in with a rookie headman once again.
But unless Evero ends up being promoted to interim head coach in Denver (in the event of Hackett being fired in-season), the Broncos will still control his rights in 2023 and beyond, barring an outside team swooping in and making him a head coach. But as we inch ever closer to the end of the 2022 season, it's becoming all the more likely that Evero could find himself atop many teams' list of head-coaching candidates.
There is a recent precedent for first-time defensive coordinators getting head-coaching jobs, especially in the AFC West. The Raiders hired Dennis Allen away from Denver back in 2012, the Broncos hired Joseph after his one-year stint as a DC in Miami back in 2017, and the Los Angeles Chargers hired Brandon Staley after a single season as a coordinator under Sean McVay in L.A.
Hackett's next opportunity to prove he deserves another year is on Sunday as the Broncos travel to take on the 3-8 Carolina Panthers.
Stay tuned.
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