Broncos' Payton Talks Up DC Vance Joseph Amid NFL HC Interest

Sean Payton has a problem on his hands -- a good problem: his Denver Broncos staff is in high demand around the NFL. His coaching tree appears destined to grow new roots.

Payton's most popular personnel asset is defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, who many expect to land a second bite at the head-coaching apple after interviewing for several vacancies, including in Baltimore, Las Vegas, Tennessee, Arizona, and New York.

Joseph, the club's head man from 2017-18, has engineered an elite defense that helped the 14-3 Broncos to its first No. 1 seed in a decade, finishing the regular season with a league-leading 64 sacks while ranking within the top-five in total yards allowed, points allowed, rushing yards allowed, and passing touchdowns allowed.

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To be sure, Joseph's resume speaks for itself. But just in case he needed a reference, Payton was happy to provide a glowing review to prospective employers.

“Well there’s a presence. No. 1, there’s a presence about him that’s very important," he told reporters on Friday. "You’re looking to hire the leader of your team and someone that has that command. I think he has a great command about him when he walks into a room. I think he’s one of those, in this day and age, which is real important, he has real good people skills. You can go department to department, and he’ll have a great relationship with those people. So he wears well in the building. That’s a good trait. I think his experience. I think having had that opportunity, and now come back full circle, he’s going to be successful. There’s a presence with him now, a confidence with him, but in a very guided and humbled way. He’s extremely smart. I would say he’s had a ton to do with our team’s success. I’ve known him for years. We never were on staff together, but we always seemed to play each other in the preseason, or we played games against Arizona. I think it’s not a matter of if, it’s when and who. I think it’s going to happen, and I know when that time comes, there’ll be 110 people on the other side of those doors super excited for him.”

Joseph was permitted to speak with outside organizations while Denver was on its playoff bye week. By rule, the team cannot block him from a promotion -- and it doesn't seem all that interested in doing so, anyway.

That the interviews were conducted virtually eliminated another concern as the Broncos began preparations for next weekend's Divisional Round tilt against an opponent yet to be determined.

[General Manager] George [Paton] will just shoot me an email and Vance … We all stay in touch," Payton said. "There’s a gap where the league set aside. It becomes easier if you have a bye. It becomes more difficult when you’re playing. I’m always more of, ‘Hey, if you need help, if there are any questions, if I can help you in any way, let me know, either with a call, or advice on anything.’ It wasn’t too long ago where all of these things were in person. I can recall, I’ve never had a Zoom. I wish I had a Zoom when I had seven days with [Pro Football Hall of Fame Executive] Al Davis.(Laughs)That’s three books. It was, I’m telling you… They have a pretty good handle on it.”

Aug 25, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph on the sidelines in the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Bigger Issues to Worry About

There are more than a few members of Broncos Country who met the news of the interview cycle with trepidation, worrying about possible distractions right as the team starts what it hopes to be a long playoff run.

In addition to Joseph, Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, and assistant head coach/defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard have all drawn significant league interest.

To which Payton says: Good for them. Next question.

“It’s Vance, it’s Jim, it’s Davis. I’d rather be worrying about navigating those issues than you guys asking me, ‘Any word yet on an assistant?’ and I’m like, ‘No one yet.’ It means we’ve done a good job of hiring the right people. I want to see them realize their dreams. So I think it’s really early in the process," he told reporters Thursday.

Webb interviewed with Baltimore for their head-coaching position; the Giants put in a request to speak with Rizzi about their opening; and the Dallas Cowboys want to sit down with Leonhard about their defensive coordinator gig.

Payton understands that losing some of his lieutenants is inevitable, despite an expectation that many of them will return for next season. But he also knows those same lieutenants remain focused on the task at hand this season even with the enticement of opportunity dangling over their heads.

“No, they’re good enough," he said. "It used to be more difficult. I’ll tell you what was hard is when ‘Billy’ has to get on a flight to go here, and then he’s going to get back, and then it took... To fly somewhere and interview, let’s just say minimum six to eight hours. To Zoom, it’s not nearly as extensive. These guys… When I say these guys, our staff members, they’ve done this, they’ve been a part of some of this before. For some of them, it’s their first go around. It’s always challenging. We all watched the challenged time frame in college with the hiring of another coach, and the bowl season and recruiting. I always felt like that cycle should be begin at the end of the Super Bowl season, but then there’s a great argument to be made for those teams that are waiting that want to start getting their program going, talking about our level. It’s always been a challenge to figure out the balance with that, but our guys have done a great job with it. It’s not the first time it’s happened. It’s happened a number of times. You’ll be getting ready for a key championship game and you know you have a member of your staff that’s a strong candidate to be the next head coach of the Lions. That’s why they’re special, though, because they can multitask. They understand what their goal is, and they can still perform their job. I just finished telling the team, ‘Hey, we have four weeks. Right at this stage, right now, we have a month.’ You really have a month left together as a team. There’s change, and let’s make the most of it.”