Ejiro Evero Let Out of Broncos Contract, Will Interview For Vikings DC Job

Former Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero has been allowed out of his contract with Denver and will interview with the Vikings for their DC vacancy, according to multiple reports. Evero and Brian Flores appear to be the top two candidates in Minnesota.

Sources: The #Broncos are allowing defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero out of his contract and he’s expected to interview with the #Vikings. He’s considered a strong candidate in Minnesota, along with Brian Flores.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 4, 2023

SUNDAY UPDATE: Evero was hired by the Panthers. The Vikings never reported any official interview with Evero. Original story continues below.

Evero is a very strong candidate. He has connections with both Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell from past stops and is highly regarded as a coach and leader. Evero is still in the mix for the two final head coach openings — the Cardinals and Colts have interviewed him — but the Vikings will be firmly in the mix if he doesn't land a head gig. The Panthers are also expected to interview Evero for their DC vacancy.

Up to this point, the Broncos and new head coach Sean Payton hadn't allowed Evero to interview for coordinator jobs elsewhere (teams can block coaches from making lateral moves). But Denver was also interviewing other candidates for DC, including Flores and Sean Desai, so letting Evero explore other options is the classy thing to do.

The head coach dominoes still need to fall before we'll know who the Vikings' next defensive coordinator will be. Evero is in the running for both and Flores is a candidate with the Cardinals. Once those hires are made, we'll know if Evero and/or Flores are still available. Flores could also end up being hired by Payton with the Broncos.

Here's more on Evero:

There's a ton of familiarity between the Vikings and Evero. He spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the 49ers in the early 2010s, overlapping with Minnesota GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah for three of those. Evero later spent five seasons with the Rams from 2017-21, overlapping with Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell for two years. In 2022, he was named the Broncos' DC after Vic Fangio was fired as head coach.

The Broncos struggled on offense this past season, but their defense was excellent. Evero's unit ranked tenth in DVOA (including seventh against the pass), ninth in opponent EPA per play, and seventh in yards allowed.

Evero has worked with numerous great defensive coaches during his career. His first NFL coaching job came with the Buccaneers in the late 2000s, under coordinator Monte Kiffin. Evero worked with Fangio in SF, Dom Capers for a year in Green Bay, and Wade Phillips, Raheem Morris, and Brandon Staley during his time with the Rams. That means he's been around a variety of different defensive schemes and approaches.

It's possible Evero would run a Fangio-style 3-4 defense if hired in Minnesota, similar to Ed Donatell. That's what he ran in Denver last season. But there would be notable changes, including an overall approach that would undoubtedly be more aggressive.

"You've got to affect the quarterback,"

Evero said in an interview last year

after being hired by the Broncos. "If you can't get there with four, you've got to bring five. If you can't get there with five, you've got to bring six. So we'll bring pressure if we need to.

When you talk about our philosophy on defense, we want to play with great energy," he said. "When people put our tape on, I want them to see a defense that's playing fast, that's playing aggressive, that's playing physical, we're flying around to the ball. ... We've got to be attacking the ball, and that's going to be a big point of our emphasis. We want to be situational masters. There's going to be all these situations, third down, red zone, two-minute — we want to own and dominate those situations."

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