Report: Broncos Eliminate Four Candidates From HC Search

Denver Broncos fans are dying to know what's really going on with the team's head-coaching search. In the same report confirming the news that Broncos CEO Greg Penner and GM George Paton had traveled to Michigan last week for a second swing at Jim Harbaugh, NFL.com's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero revealed that a handful of candidates for the team's head-coaching vacancy have been informed they're out of running.

Rams DC Raheem Morris, former Stanford coach David Shaw, former Lions and Colts coach Jim Caldwell and Broncos DC Ejiro Evero interviewed for the job, but all were told this week the team was going another direction.

But, wait. There's more.

In the wake of Penner and Paton returning from Michigan empty-handed, the intrepid NFL.com reporting duo claimed that perhaps the Broncos could re-examine their decision to pass on those four coaches.

Now, everything is back on the table.

It's possible the Broncos could also expand the search, potentially including coaches who impressed the teams in interviews for the job a year ago, such as Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan.

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Things may have changed for the Broncos since they informed that quartet of coaches that they're no longer in consideration for the head job, but I'd find it hard to believe that a Penner or Paton would then go back hat-in-hand and say, "Our bad. Let's talk again."

More likely, the Broncos are trying to close a deal with either DeMeco Ryans or Sean Payton. And maybe, just maybe, Harbaugh even.

Barring that trio of tier-one candidates, Sunday's reporting linked three new names to the Broncos' head-coaching search, including the aforementioned Gannon, Callahan, and also New York Giants OC Mike Kafka. If Denver's interest in any of those three coaches is true, one wonders why none were included in the Walton/Penner group's initial sweep of the hiring pool.

All will be known in due time. For now, it's clear as mud.

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